Terms Used In Kentucky Statutes > Chapter 187 - Financial Responsibility Law

• Action: includes all proceedings in any court of this state. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Attorney: means attorney-at-law. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• Cabinet: means the Transportation Cabinet. See Kentucky Statutes 187.290
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Judgment: means any judgment which has become final by expiration without appeal of the time within which an appeal might have been perfected, or by final affirmation on appeal, rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction of any state or of the United States, upon a cause of action arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of any motor vehicle, for damages, including damages for care and loss of services, because of bodily injury to or death of any person, or for damages because of injury to or destruction of property, including the loss of use thereof, or upon a cause of action on an agreement of settlement for such damages. See Kentucky Statutes 187.290
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• License: means any operator's license, temporary instruction permit, or temporary license issued under the laws of this state pertaining to the licensing of operators. See Kentucky Statutes 187.290
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• Motor vehicle: means every self-propelled vehicle which is designed for use upon a highway, including trailers designed for use with such vehicles (except traction engines, road rollers, farm tractors, tractor cranes, power shovels, mopeds, and well drillers) and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead wires but not operated upon rails. See Kentucky Statutes 187.290
• Nonresident: means every person who is not a resident of this state. See Kentucky Statutes 187.290
• Operator: means every person who is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle. See Kentucky Statutes 187.290
• Owner: means a person who holds the legal title of a motor vehicle, or in the event
  a motor vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease
  thereof with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee or in the event a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then such conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purposes of this chapter. See Kentucky Statutes 187.290
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Proof of financial responsibility: means proof of ability to respond in damages for liability, on account of accidents occurring subsequent to the effective date of said proof, arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of a motor vehicle in
  amounts meeting the requirements of KRS §. See Kentucky Statutes 187.290
• Registration: means registration certificates and registration plates issued under the laws of this state pertaining to the registration of motor vehicles. See Kentucky Statutes 187.290
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• State: means any state, territory or possession of the United States, the District of
  Columbia, or any province of the Dominion of Canada. See Kentucky Statutes 187.290
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Violate: includes failure to comply with. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
• Year: means calendar year. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010