Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes > Title 38 > Chapter 10 - Public Contracts

• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Agency: means the state of Louisiana or any board, commission, department, corporation, institution, or other agency of the state which may require capital outlay projects for the construction of or additions, renovations, and restorations, or any of them, to buildings, plants, and related facilities. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2310
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Alternate: means an item on the bid form that may either increase or decrease the quantity of work or change the type of work within the scope of the project, material, or equipment specified in the bidding documents, or both. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2211
• Annual basin plan: means the list of projects or stages of projects to be undertaken in any single fiscal year. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:214.8.2
• Annual plan: means the state integrated coastal protection plan submitted annually to the legislature as provided in this Part including amendments to the plan, as determined by the board. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:214.2
• 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.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Architect: means any architect holding a certificate of registration and a license under the laws of the state of Louisiana. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2310
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Atchafalaya Basin: means the area located within the guide levees of the Atchafalaya Basin and those areas directly adjacent to the levees bounded on the north by U. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:214.8.2
• Attorney-in-fact: A person who, acting as an agent, is given written authorization by another person to transact business for him (her) out of court.
• Authority: means the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:214.2
• Authority: means the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:214.8.2
• Basin master plan: means the plan developed by the state in accordance with the federal Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System, Louisiana Project, pursuant to federal law, including the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 1985, Public Law 99-88, and the Water Resources Development Act of 1986, Public Law 99-662, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act of 1991, Public Law 101-514, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act of 1997, Public Law 104-206, the Water Resources Development Act of 2000, Public Law 106-541, and the Water Resources Development Act of 2007, Public Law 110-114. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:214.8.2
• 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}
• Bidding documents: means the bid notice, plans and specifications, bid form, bidding instructions, addenda, special provisions, and all other written instruments prepared by or on behalf of a public entity for use by prospective bidders on a public contract. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2211
• Bidding documents: means the advertisement, plans and specifications, bidding form, bidding instructions, addenda, special provisions, and all other instruments prepared by or on behalf of the department for use by prospective bidders on a public contract. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 48:251.9
• Board: means the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:214.8.2
• Boards: means the professional services selection boards created under the provisions of this Part. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2310
• Caucus: From the Algonquian Indian language, a caucus meant "to meet together." An informal organization of members of the legislature that exists to discuss issues of mutual concern and possibly to perform legislative research and policy planning for its members. There are regional, political or ideological, ethnic, and economic-based caucuses.
• Change order: means any contract modification that includes an alteration, deviation, addition, or omission as to a preexisting public work contract, which authorizes an adjustment in the contract price, contract time, or an addition, deletion, or revision of work. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2211
• Change order outside the scope of the contract: means a change order which alters the nature of the thing to be constructed or which is not an integral part of the project objective. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2211
• Claimant: as used in this Chapter , means any person to whom money is due pursuant to a contract with the owner or a contractor or subcontractor for doing work, performing labor, or furnishing materials or supplies for the construction, alteration, or repair of any public works, or for transporting and delivering such materials or supplies to the site of the job by a for-hire carrier, or for furnishing oil, gas, electricity, or other materials or supplies for use in machines used in the construction, alteration, or repair of any public works, including persons to whom money is due for the lease or rental of movable property used at the site of the immovable and leased to the owner, contractor, or subcontractor by written contract, and including registered or certified surveyors or engineers or consulting engineers, or licensed architects, or their professional subconsultants employed by the owner or by the contractor or subcontractor in connection with the building of any public work. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2242
• Claimant: as used in this Chapter , means any person to whom money is due pursuant to a contract with the owner or a contractor or subcontractor for doing work, performing labor, or furnishing materials or supplies for the construction, alteration, or repair of any public works, or for transporting and delivering such materials or supplies to the site of the job by a for-hire carrier, or for furnishing oil, gas, electricity, or other materials or supplies for use in machines used in the construction, alteration, or repair of any public works, including persons to whom money is due for the lease or rental of movable property, used at the site of the immovable and leased to the contractor or subcontractor by written contract, and including registered or certified surveyors or engineers, or licensed architects, or their professional subconsultants, employed by the contractor or subcontractor in connection with the building of any public work. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 48:256.5
• 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.
• Coastal area: means the Louisiana Coastal Zone and contiguous areas subject to storm or tidal surge and the area comprising the Louisiana Coastal Ecosystem as defined in Section 7001 of P. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:214.2
• comprehensive master coastal protection plan: means the long-term comprehensive integrated coastal protection plan combining coastal restoration, coastal zone management, storm damage reduction, hurricane protection, flood control, and the protection, conservation, restoration, and enhancement of coastal wetlands, marshes, cheniers, ridges, coastal forests, and barrier shorelines or reefs, including amendments, as determined by the board to the plan. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:214.2
• contract: means any contract awarded by any public entity for the making of any public works or for the purchase of any materials or supplies. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2211
• Contract: means any contract awarded by the department for construction or maintenance of transportation facilities or work authorized by Louisiana Revised Statutes 48:251.9
• Contractor: means any person or other legal entity who enters into a public contract. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2211
• Contractor: means any individual, partnership, joint venture, firm, corporation, limited liability partnership, limited liability company, or any acceptable combination thereof contracting for performance of public work for the department. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 48:251.9
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Director: means the executive director of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:214.8.2
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Emergency: means an unforeseen mischance bringing with it destruction or injury of life or property or the imminent threat of such destruction or injury or as the result of an order from any judicial body to take any immediate action which requires construction or repairs absent compliance with the formalities of this Part, where the mischance or court order will not admit of the delay incident to advertising as provided in this Part. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2211
• Emergency: shall mean an unforeseen mischance bringing with it destruction or injury of life or property or the imminent threat of such destruction or injury, the result of an order from any judicial body to take immediate action which requires construction or maintenance without time to comply with the formalities of this Part. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 48:251.9
• Engineer: means any engineer registered under the laws of the state of Louisiana. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2310
• Equipment-lease-purchase contract: means the lease-purchase contract in the form approved by the State Bond Commission between the local governmental entity and a nonprofit lessor providing for an obligation to lease equipment approved by the governmental entity pursuant to this Part and the lease of selected equipment designated by a local governmental entity. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2319.2
• 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}
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Executive director: means the person appointed to serve as the head of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:214.2
• extreme public emergency: means a catastrophic event which causes the loss of ability to obtain a quorum of the members necessary to certify the emergency prior to making the expenditure to acquire materials or supplies or to make repairs necessary for the protection of life, property, or continued function of the public entity. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2211
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: A government corporation that insures the deposits of all national and state banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• 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.
• Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Fund: means the Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:214.2
• Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
• Hurricane protection: means systems to provide protection against tidal and storm surges. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:214.2
• in writing: means the product of any method of forming characters on paper, other materials, or viewable screen, which can be read, retrieved, and reproduced, including information that is electronically transmitted and stored. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2211
• Infrastructure: means facilities or systems in the coastal area that are negatively impacted by coastal land loss or rising seas, and that serve a critical public purpose and are consistent with the priorities stated in the master plan and the eligible uses of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:214.2
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Integrated coastal protection: means plans, projects, policies, and programs intended to provide hurricane protection or coastal conservation or restoration, and shall include but not be limited to coastal restoration; coastal protection; infrastructure; storm damage reduction; flood control; water resources development; erosion control measures; marsh management; diversions; saltwater intrusion prevention; wetlands and central wetlands conservation, enhancement, and restoration; barrier island and shoreline stabilization and preservation; coastal passes stabilization and restoration; mitigation; storm surge reduction; or beneficial use projects. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:214.2
• 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}
• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• Landscape architect: means any landscape architect registered under the laws of the state of Louisiana. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2310
• Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
• Legatee: A beneficiary of a decedent
• Lessee: means the local governmental entity which is designated as lessee under an equipment-lease-purchase contract. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2319.2
• lessor: means a public corporation or public trust organized pursuant to state law having for its beneficiary the state, organized as a not-for-profit entity, no portion of the net earnings or other assets of which inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual, and which shall be authorized under state law to issue obligations for equipment acquisition the interest on which is exempt from calculation of gross income for federal income tax purposes. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2319.2
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Licensed design professional: means the architect, landscape architect, or engineer who shall have the primary responsibility for the total design services performed in connection with a public works project. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2211
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Local governmental entity: means municipalities, parishes, school boards, clerks of court, levee districts, law enforcement districts, all special service districts, port commissions, and other political subdivisions of the state of Louisiana. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2319.2
• Louisiana resident contractor: includes any person, partnership, association, corporation, or other legal entity and is defined as one of the following:

  (i)  An individual who has been a resident of Louisiana for two years or more immediately prior to bidding on work. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 48:251.9

• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• Negotiate: means the process of making purchases and entering into contracts without formal advertising and public bidding with the intention of obtaining the best price and terms possible under the circumstances. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2211
• Negotiate: means to participate in the process of entering into contracts or plan changes without formal advertising and public bidding with the intention of obtaining the best price and terms possible under the circumstances. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 48:251.9
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Person: means any architect, engineer, or landscape architect. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2310
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plan change: means an alteration, deviation, addition, or omission as to a preexisting department construction or maintenance contract. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 48:251.9
• 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.
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Prime professional: means the architect, landscape architect or engineer with whom the state may sign a contract for professional design services, who shall have the primary responsibility under the contract for the total professional services to be performed in connection with a capital outlay project. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2310
• Probable construction costs: means the estimate for the cost of the project as designed that is determined by the public entity or the designer. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2211
• Professional services: means those services performed by an architect, engineer, or landscape architect. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2310
• Program: means a management strategy with procedures, projects, schedules, operations, and related activities to achieve a stated goal or objective. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:214.2
• Program: means the Atchafalaya Basin Program. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:214.8.2
• Project: means a physical structure or structures designed and constructed according to the annual plan. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:214.2
• Public entity: means and includes the state of Louisiana, or any agency, board, commission, department, or public corporation of the state, created by the constitution or statute or pursuant thereto, or any political subdivision of the state, including but not limited to any political subdivision as defined in Article VI Section 44 of the Constitution of Louisiana, and any public housing authority, public school board, or any public officer whether or not an officer of a public corporation or political subdivision. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2211
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Public work: means the erection, construction, alteration, improvement, or repair of any public facility or immovable property owned, used, or leased by a public entity. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2211
• Public work: means the erection, construction, alteration, maintenance, improvement, or repair of any highway, bridge, transportation facility, or immovable property owned, used, or leased by the department or any public entity for which the department is acting pursuant to an agreement. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 48:251.9
• 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.
• Selected equipment: means the equipment, as determined by the local governmental entity, which shall be the subject of a lease-purchase contract under the provisions of this Part. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2319.2
• Selected vendor: means a supplier, manufacturer, retailer, wholesaler, dealer, or other source for selected equipment which has been selected by the local government entity pursuant to state law. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2319.2
• 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.
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Supplemental professional services: means any service in addition to the prime professional service in connection with the capital outlay project which the prime professional may be required to provide. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2310
• Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• User agency: means the state agency, department, or institution undertaking a specific project. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2310
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Wetlands: means an open water area or an area that is inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances does support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, but specifically excluding fastlands and lands more than five feet above mean sea level which occur within the designated coastal area of the state. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:214.2
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.