Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes > Title 12 > Chapter 27 - Benefit Corporations

• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Administrator: means the state treasurer. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:153
• Affiliate: means , in relation to a person, a subsidiary of the person or an entity which owns beneficially or of record a majority of the outstanding equity interests of the person. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:1803
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Allocated value: means (1) the par value of par-value shares, plus any amounts in excess of par value transferred from surplus to stated capital in respect of such shares, less any part of such amounts transferred from stated capital to capital surplus as permitted by this Chapter, and (2) the amount allocated to stated capital upon issuance of shares without par value, plus any amounts thereafter transferred from surplus to stated capital in respect of such shares, less any part of such amounts transferred from stated capital to capital surplus as permitted by this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:201
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Applicant: means a person who applies for designation as a certified market participant. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:3703
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Bailiff: a court officer who enforces the rules of behavior in courtrooms.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Benefit enforcement proceeding: means any claim or action for one or both of the following:

  (a)  Failure of a benefit corporation to pursue or create general public benefit or a specific public benefit set forth in its articles. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:1803

• Benefit officer: means the individual designated as the benefit officer of a benefit corporation pursuant to Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:1803
• Board: means the Agricultural Industry Board established by La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:3703
• Business corporation: means a corporation for profit formed under the laws of this state. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:201
• Certified market participant: is a n applicant approved by the board to participate in a cooperative endeavor authorized under this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:3703
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
• Commissioner: means the Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:3703
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Conservation servitude: means a nonpossessory interest of a holder in immovable property imposing limitations or affirmative obligations the purposes of which include retaining or protecting natural, scenic, or open-space values of immovable property, assuring its availability for agricultural, forest, recreational, or open-space use, protecting natural resources, maintaining or enhancing air or water quality, or preserving the historical, archaeological, or cultural aspects of unimproved immovable property. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:1272
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Cooperative endeavor: means a contractual relationship between the state of Louisiana through the board with a person for a public purpose. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:3703
• Court reporter: A person who makes a word-for-word record of what is said in court and produces a transcript of the proceedings upon request.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Department: means the Department of Agriculture and Forestry. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:1
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Earned surplus: means the excess of surplus over capital surplus. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:201
• En banc: In the bench or "full bench." Refers to court sessions with the entire membership of a court participating rather than the usual quorum. U.S. courts of appeals usually sit in panels of three judges, but may expand to a larger number in certain cases. They are then said to be sitting en banc.
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Escheat: Reversion of real or personal property to the state when 1) a person dies without leaving a will and has no heirs, or 2) when the property (such as a bank account) has been inactive for a certain period of time. ^{Source: OCC}
• Ethanol: means an ethyl alcohol which meets all of the following conditions in that it:

  (a)  Has a purity of at least ninety-nine percent, determined without regard to any added denaturants. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:3703

• Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Extradition: The formal process of delivering an accused or convicted person from authorities in one state to authorities in another state.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• General public benefit: means a material positive impact on society and the environment, taken as a whole, assessed against a third-party standard, from the business and operations of a benefit corporation. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:1803
• Germane: On the subject of the pending bill or other business; a strict standard of relevance.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Governing authority of a nutrition program provider: means any authority which has executed an agreement or contract with the state Department of Education to participate in a nutrition program authorized by this Subpart. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 17:191
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Holder: means a person obligated to hold for the account of, or deliver or pay to, the owner of property that is subject to this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:153
• Holder: means :

  (a)  A governmental body empowered to hold an interest in immovable property under the laws of this state or the United States; or

  (b)  A charitable corporation, charitable association, or charitable trust, the purposes or powers of which include retaining or protecting the natural, scenic, or open-space values of immovable property, assuring the availability of immovable property for agricultural, forest, recreational, or open-space use, protecting natural resources, maintaining or enhancing air or water quality, or preserving the historical, archaeological, or cultural aspects of unimproved immovable property. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:1272

• In forma pauperis: In the manner of a pauper. Permission given to a person to sue without payment of court fees on claim of indigence or poverty.
• Independent: means having no material relationship with a benefit corporation or a subsidiary of the benefit corporation. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:1803
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party of an opposing party, who must answer them in writing under oath; a discovery device in a lawsuit.
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Material relationship: means the relationship between a person and a benefit corporation or any of its subsidiaries if any of the following apply:

  (a)  The person is, or has been within the last three years, an employee, other than a benefit officer, of the benefit corporation, or an affiliate of the benefit corporation. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:1803

• member of the fire department: as used in this Part is defined as an employee of the Fire Department of the City of Alexandria who has been regularly appointed and confirmed as such. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:3113
• Membership: means an interest in a corporation entitling the holder thereof to participate in the control of the corporation or to a pro rata share of its net assets upon dissolution. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:201
• Minimum vote: means :

  (a)  In the case of a business corporation, the approval by holders of two-thirds of the shares present and voting of each class or series and any other approval or vote required under the Business Corporation Law or the articles. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:1803

• Nutrition program: means a program under which meals or snacks are served by any governing authority of a nutrition program provider in this state on a nonprofit basis to individuals in attendance, including any such program under which a nutrition program provider receives assistance out of the funds appropriated by the Congress of the United States. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 17:191
• Owner: means a person who has a legal or equitable interest in property subject to this Chapter or the person's legal representative. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:153
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: means any individual, partnership, association, corporation, or other legal entity. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:3703
• Person: means an individual, business association, estate, trust, partnership, government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, public corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:153
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Political subdivision: means a parish, municipality, and any other unit of local government, including a school board and a special district, authorized by law to perform governmental functions. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 18:581
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probate: Proving a will
• property: means any portion of immovable property, including servitudes and other rights in or to immovable property, where there are no buildings or structures for support or shelter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 19:121
• property: means any portion of immovable property, including servitudes and other rights in or to immovable property, and the term "governing authority" means the governing authority of the parish of East Baton Rouge and the city of Baton Rouge. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 19:131
• property: means any portion of immovable property, including servitudes, rights-of-way, and other rights in or to immovable property, where there are no buildings or structures for support or shelter; the term "governing authority" means the governing authority of the city of Alexandria or the governing authority of the city of New Orleans. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 19:132
• property: means any portion of immovable property, including servitudes, rights of way, and other rights in or to immovable property; the term "governing authority" means the governing authority of the town of Colfax; and the term "project" means the Aloha-Rigolette Area Louisiana Project. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 19:133
• Property: means a fixed and certain interest in intangible property that is held, issued, or owed in the course of a holder's business, or by a government or governmental entity, and all income or increments therefrom. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:153
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Reclassification of stock: means amendment of the articles to change the authorized number of shares of an existing class or series; to authorize shares of a new class or series; to change the designation, par value (including change of par-value shares to shares without par value or vice versa), preferences, limitations or relative rights, including cancellation or modification of the right to receive accumulated dividends which have not been declared, or variations in relative rights, of the issued, and authorized but unissued, shares of any existing class or series; or to change the issued shares of any existing class or series into a greater or smaller number of shares of the same class or series (subject to such changes as the reclassification may make in the designation, par value, preferences, limitations or relative rights, or variations in relative rights, thereof) or of another class or series, and to cancel any issued shares in connection with a reduction in the number thereof. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:201
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• 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.
• Sole ownership: The type of property ownership in which one individual holds legal title to the property and has full control of it.
• Specific public benefit: means any of the following:

  (a)  Serving low-income or underserved individuals or communities. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:1803

• State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:153
• Stated capital: means the aggregate amount of:

  (a)  The aggregate allocated value of the issued shares; and

  (b)  Any other amounts transferred from surplus to stated capital; less

  (c)  Transfers from, or other reductions in, stated capital required or permitted by this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:201

• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Subsidiary: means , in relation to a person, an entity in which the person owns beneficially or of record fifty percent or more of the outstanding equity  interests. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:1803
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• taxidermist: means a person who, for a consideration, mounts, preserves, or otherwise prepares the body of any bird, animal, or fish, or any part thereof, for display. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:191
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Third party right of enforcement: means a right provided in a conservation servitude to enforce any of its terms granted to a governmental body, charitable corporation, charitable association, or charitable trust, which, although eligible to be a holder, is not a holder. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:1272
• Third-party standard: means a recognized standard for defining, reporting, and assessing the performance of corporations in producing general public benefit and specific public benefits which is all of the following:

  (a)  Comprehensive in that it assesses the effect of the corporation and its operations in producing general public benefit and any specific public benefit specified in the articles. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:1803

• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Voting member: means a person entitled to vote in accordance with the articles or by-laws. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:201