Maine Revised Statutes > Title 22 > Subtitle 1 – Departmental Organization and Operation

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Terms Used In Maine Revised Statutes > Title 22 > Subtitle 1 - Departmental Organization and Operation

Adult: means a person who has attained the age of 18 years. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72
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.
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.
another department: means a department of the State other than the Department of Health and Human Services. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 22 Sec. 21
another program: means a program of the department not defined as a program in subsection 10 or a program of another department that is approved for addition to the EBT system. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 22 Sec. 21
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.
Appraisal: A determination of property value.
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
Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
Association: means a corporation organized under this subchapter, or a similar domestic corporation, or a foreign association or corporation if authorized to do business in this State, organized under any general or special Act as a cooperative association for the mutual benefit of its members, as agricultural producers, and which confines its operations to purposes authorized by this subchapter and restricts the return on the stock or membership capital and the amount of its business with nonmembers to the limits placed thereon by this subchapter for associations organized hereunder. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 13 Sec. 1774
Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
Attending physician: means the physician who has primary responsibility for the treatment and care of the patient. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 11001
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.
Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
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}
Buyer: means a person who buys or contracts to buy goods. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 11 Sec. 2-103
Chief administrative officer: means the head of a correctional facility or a detention facility. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-A Sec. 1001
Child or children: means a person who has not attained the age of 18 years. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72
Child support: means money paid directly to a parent, to another person or agency awarded parental rights and responsibilities with respect to a child or to the department on behalf of a child receiving public assistance and medical or dental insurance coverage provided on behalf of a child pursuant to court order. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 19-A Sec. 1501
Client: means a person who receives services from a provider. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 13002
Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Health and Human Services, a designee or an authorized representative. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 19-A Sec. 101
Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Corrections or his designee, except that, when the term "commissioner and only the commissioner" is used, the term applies only to the person appointed Commissioner of Corrections and not to any designee. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-A Sec. 1001
Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
Contract for sale: includes both a present sale of goods and a contract to sell goods at a future time. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 11 Sec. 2-106
Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
Correctional facility: means any facility that falls under the jurisdiction of the department, but does not include any facility for which the department is required to establish standards pursuant to section 1208 or 1208?A. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-A Sec. 1001
Correctional program: includes , but is not limited to, probation and parole, court intake and jail inspection. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-A Sec. 1001
Creditable service: means a person's membership service, the person's prior service and service for which credit is allowable under sections 17755 and 17756; section 17760, subsection 3; section 18258; sections 18355 and 18356; and section 18360, subsection 2. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001
Custodian: means the person having care and custody over the individual seeking sterilization or the individual for whom sterilization is sought. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 7003
Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
Debit card: means an encoded plastic card distributed by the department or another department or a contractor with that department for use in an automated teller machine or a point of sale device. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 22 Sec. 21
Decedent: A deceased person.
Declaration: means a written document voluntarily executed by the declarant in accordance with the requirements of subsection 2 regardless of form. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 11001
Department: means the Department of Health and Human Services and its agents and authorized representatives. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 19-A Sec. 101
Department: means the Department of Corrections. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-A Sec. 1001
Department: means the Department of Health and Human Services. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 1001
Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
Dependent child: means any minor child who is not emancipated. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 19-A Sec. 2101
Detention facility: means the Long Creek Youth Development Center. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-A Sec. 1001
Device: means any instrument or contrivance, other than a firearm, that is intended for trapping, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest or any other form of plant or animal life, other than a human being and other than a bacterium, virus or other microorganism on or in a living human being or other living animal. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 7 Sec. 604
Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
Disinterested expert: means an appropriately licensed or certified professional not associated with an institution serving the person for whom sterilization is being sought and not personally related to the petitioner. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 7003
Earnable compensation: includes :
(1) Workers' compensation benefits;
(2) Maintenance, if any;
(3) Any money paid by an employer to a 3rd party under a tax sheltered annuity contract or a deferred compensation plan for the future benefit of an employee provided that the money is not derived from amounts excluded from earnable compensation by paragraph B; and
(4) Pick-up contributions. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001
Earnings: means compensation paid or payable for personal services, whether denominated as wages, salary, commission, bonus or otherwise, and specifically includes periodic payments pursuant to pension or retirement programs, or insurance policies of any type, and all gain derived from capital, from labor or from both combined, including profit gained through sale or conversion of capital assets, and unemployment compensation benefits and workers' compensation benefits. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 19-A Sec. 2101
EBT: means a system for the delivery of benefits to recipients by means of credit or debit card services, automated teller machines, point of sale devices or access to online systems for the withdrawal of funds or the processing of a payment for merchandise or a service. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 22 Sec. 21
EBT card: means a card issued by the department under an electronic benefits transfer system for the delivery of benefits to recipients. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 22 Sec. 21
Emergency: means a situation, physical condition, financial condition or one or more practices, methods or operations that present imminent danger of death or serious physical or mental harm to individuals served or funded by the department, including, but not limited to, imminent or actual abandonment of a facility or service. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 13002
Employee: means :

A. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001

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}

Facility: means any residential facility funded in whole or in part by the department but does not include hospitals licensed pursuant to Title 22, chapter 405. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 13002

Federal Reserve System: The central bank of the United States. The Fed, as it is commonly called, regulates the U.S. monetary and financial system. The Federal Reserve System is composed of a central governmental agency in Washington, D.C. (the Board of Governors) and twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks in major cities throughout the United States. ^{Source: OCC}

Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.

Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.

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

Grantee: means the person to whom a freehold estate or interest in land is conveyed. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72

Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.

Grantor: means the person who conveys a freehold estate or interest in land. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72

Guardian: means a person who has qualified as a guardian of a minor or incapacitated person pursuant to testamentary or court appointment, but excludes one who is merely a guardian ad litem. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 7003

Habitual violation: means a violation of state or federal law that, due to its repetition, presents a reasonable likelihood of serious physical or mental harm to residents. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 13002

Health care facility: includes any program, institution, place, building or agency or portion thereof, private or public, whether organized for profit or not, used, operated or designed to provide medical diagnosis, treatment or rehabilitative or preventive care to any person. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 11001

Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}

Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.

Informed consent: means consent that is:

A. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 7003

Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.

Intangible property: Property that has no intrinsic value, but is merely the evidence of value such as stock certificates, bonds, and promissory notes.

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.

Joint tenancy: A form of property ownership in which two or more parties hold an undivided interest in the same property that was conveyed under the same instrument at the same time. A joint tenant can sell his (her) interest but not dispose of it by will. Upon the death of a joint tenant, his (her) undivided interest is distributed among the surviving joint tenants.

Juvenile client: means a juvenile committed to a juvenile correctional facility who is either residing at the facility or is on community reintegration status, or ordered confined in a juvenile correctional facility pursuant to Title 12, section 6004, 8004 or 10608; Title 15, section 3314, subsection 1, paragraph H; Title 15, section 3314, subsection 7; or Title 29?A, section 115. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-A Sec. 1001

Land: means all land and water areas, including airspace, and all plants, animals, structures, buildings, contrivances and machinery appurtenant thereto or situated thereon, fixed or mobile, including any used for transportation. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 7 Sec. 604

Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}

Legal tender: coins, dollar bills, or other currency issued by a government as official money. ^{Source: U.S. Mint}

Legislative session: That part of a chamber's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).

Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.

Licensee: means any person or any other legal entity, other than a receiver appointed under section 13003, who is licensed or required to be licensed to operate a facility or to provide services. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 13002

Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.

Life estate: A property interest limited in duration to the life of the individual holding the interest (life tenant).

Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.

Marital deduction: The deduction(s) that can be taken in the determination of gift and estate tax liabilities because of the existence of a marriage or marital relationship.

Marketing contract: includes a contract related to the marketing of agricultural products and a contract by an independent agricultural contractor for furnishing services and facilities in raising or growing agricultural products. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 13 Sec. 1774

Medicaid: means the Medicaid program under the provisions of the United States Social Security Act, Title XIX, and successors to it, and related rules of the department pursuant to chapter 855. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 22 Sec. 21

Medical support: means an amount ordered to be paid toward the cost of health insurance provided by a public entity or by another parent through employment or otherwise or for other medical costs not covered by insurance. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 19-A Sec. 1501

Member: includes the holder of a membership in an association without capital stock and the holder of common stock in an association organized with capital stock. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 13 Sec. 1774

Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.

Municipal officers: means the mayor and municipal officers or councilors of a city, the members of the select board or councilors of a town and the assessors of a plantation. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72

National Association of Insurance Commissioners: means the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or its successor organization of insurance regulators. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 24-A Sec. 15

Oath: A promise to tell the truth.

Oath: includes an affirmation, when affirmation is allowed. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72

Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.

Owner: means the holder of the title to the real estate in which the facility is maintained. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 13002

Parent: means a natural or adoptive mother or father of a person. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 7003

Parent: means the legal parent or the legal guardian when no legal parent exists. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 19-A Sec. 101

Parents as Scholars: means the program established in chapter 1054?B. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 22 Sec. 21

Person: means an individual, trust, estate, partnership, association, company, corporation, political subdivision of the State, instrumentality of the State or other entity. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 19-A Sec. 101

Person: means any individual, partnership, association, fiduciary, corporation or any organized group of persons whether incorporated or not. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 7 Sec. 604

Person: includes an individual, a partnership, a corporation and an association. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 13 Sec. 1774

Personal property: All property that is not real property.

Pesticide: includes a highly toxic pesticide. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 7 Sec. 604

Physician: means any person licensed to practice medicine under Title 32, chapter 48, subchapter II, or under Title 32, chapter 36, subchapters II and IV. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 7003

Physician: means an individual licensed to practice medicine. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 11001

Pick-up contributions: means member contributions to the retirement system which are assumed and paid by the employer through a reduction of members' salaries for services rendered, in accordance with the United States Internal Revenue Code, Section 414(h), in lieu of employee contributions. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001

Point of sale device: means a machine that accepts a debit card distributed to recipients; electronically processes transactions at the vendor's place of business; and records and reports individual recipient benefit entitlement and distribution. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 22 Sec. 21

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.

Prison: means the Maine State Prison. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-A Sec. 1001

Prisoner: means an adult person sentenced and committed to, transferred to or detained in the custody of the department, including a person on supervised community confinement. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-A Sec. 1001

Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.

Program: means SNAP or the Medicaid program or another program. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 22 Sec. 21

Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.

Provider: means a business entity or subdivision of a business entity, whether public or private, proprietary or nonprofit, engaged in providing services licensed or funded, in whole or in part, by the department but does not include a hospital licensed pursuant to Title 22, chapter 405. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 13002

Psychiatrist: means a physician licensed to practice medicine under Title 32, chapter 48, subchapter II, who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 7003

Psychologist: means any person licensed to practice psychology under Title 32, chapter 56, subchapter III. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 7003

Psychotic condition: means any disease, illness or condition commonly referred to by the medical profession according to ordinary standards of current medical practice as any disorder characterized by psychotic tendencies or manic-depressive behavior or schizophrenia or other similar condition that, without the administration of appropriate medical treatment, including the use of psychotropic drugs, would constitute a danger to the patient or to others and would result in a patient being gravely disabled. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 11001

Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.

Real estate: includes lands and all tenements and hereditaments connected therewith, and all rights thereto and interests therein. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72

Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.

Recipient: means a recipient of benefits under SNAP or the Medicaid program or another program. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 22 Sec. 21

registered mail: when used in connection with any requirement for notice by mail shall mean either registered mail or certified mail. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72

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).

Resident: means any person who lives in and receives services or care in a facility. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 13002

Resident: means a person residing in a state institution or in any other institution which provides services which fall under the jurisdiction of the department. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 1001

Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.

Retirement: means termination of membership with a retirement allowance granted under this chapter. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001

Revocable trust: A trust agreement that can be canceled, rescinded, revoked, or repealed by the grantor (person who establishes the trust).

Segregation: means the separation of a prisoner from the general population of a correctional facility for administrative or punitive reasons. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-A Sec. 1001

Seller: means a person who sells or contracts to sell goods. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 11 Sec. 2-103

Service: means service as an employee for which compensation was paid. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001

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.

SNAP: means the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program established pursuant to section 3104. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 22 Sec. 21

state: means any state, territory or possession of the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 19-A Sec. 101

State employee: means any regular classified or unclassified officer or employee in a department, any employee of the Maine Community College System except those who make the election provided under Title 20?A, section 12722, any employee of the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf except as provided in Title 20?A, section 7407, subsection 3?A, any employee of the Maine Military Authority, any employee of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, any employee of the Maine Port Authority, any employee of the Efficiency Maine Trust who on June 30, 2009 is an employee of the Public Utilities Commission energy efficiency or renewable energy programs who elects to remain a state employee, any employee of the Efficiency Maine Trust who accepts employment with the Efficiency Maine Trust prior to July 1, 2010 who was a state employee immediately prior to accepting such employment who elects to remain a state employee and any employee transferred from the Division of Higher Education Services to the Finance Authority of Maine who elects to be treated as a state employee, but does not include:

A. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001

State institution: means :

A. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 1001

Statute: A law passed by a legislature.

Sterilization: means a medical or surgical procedure, the purpose of which is to render an individual permanently incapable of procreation. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 7003

Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.

Subpoena duces tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.

Substantial violation: means a violation of state or federal law that presents a reasonable likelihood of serious physical or mental harm to residents. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 13002

Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.

Teacher: includes a person who is on a one-year leave of absence from a position as a teacher and is participating in the education of prospective teachers by teaching and supervising students enrolled in college-level teacher preparation programs in this State. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: means the program established in chapter 1053?B. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 22 Sec. 21

Tenancy in common: A type of property ownership in which two or more individuals have an undivided interest in property. At the death of one tenant in common, his (her) fractional percentage of ownership in the property passes to the decedent

Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.

This subchapter: means the "Uniform Agricultural Cooperative Association Act. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 13 Sec. 1774

Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.

Town: includes cities and plantations, unless otherwise expressed or implied. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72

Transfer trauma: means the combination of medical and psychological reactions to abrupt physical transfer that may increase the risk of grave illness or death. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-B Sec. 13002

Under age: means under the age of 18. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72

United States: when used to signify place includes those geographical areas and the lands and waters adjacent to those geographical areas under the jurisdiction of the United States. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 24-A Sec. 1110

Vendor: means an authorized retailer, wholesaler or health care provider that provides food, cash benefits or health care services to a recipient. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 22 Sec. 21

Written political material: means flyers, handbills or other nonperiodical publications, which are subject to the restrictions of Title 21?A, chapter 13. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 34-A Sec. 1001