Terms Used In Michigan Laws > Chapter 206 > Act 281 of 1967 > Part 1 > Chapter 6

• 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.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Authority: means the underground storage tank authority created in section 21523. See Michigan Laws 324.21502
• Bonds or notes: means the bonds, notes, commercial paper, other obligations of indebtedness, or any combination of these, issued by the finance authority pursuant to this part. See Michigan Laws 324.21502
• Claim: means the submission by the owner or operator or his or her representative of documentation on an application requesting payment by the authority. See Michigan Laws 324.21502
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: means a final conviction, the payment of a fine, a plea of guilty or nolo contendere if accepted by the court, or a finding of guilt or probate court disposition on a violation of this part, regardless of whether the penalty is rebated or suspended. See Michigan Laws 324.82101
• 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.
• 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.
• Department: means the director of the department of natural resources or his or her designee to whom the director delegates a power or duty by written instrument. See Michigan Laws 324.301
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Employee: means a person who performs a service for wages or other remuneration under a contract of hire, written or oral, express or implied. See Michigan Laws 15.361
• Employer: means a person who has 1 or more employees. See Michigan Laws 15.361
• 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}
• 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.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Finance authority: means the Michigan finance authority created by Executive Reorganization Order No. See Michigan Laws 324.21502
• Financial responsibility requirements: means the financial responsibility for taking corrective action and for compensating third parties for bodily injury and property damage caused by a release from a refined petroleum underground storage tank system that the owner or operator of a refined petroleum underground storage tank system must demonstrate under part 211 and the rules promulgated under that part. See Michigan Laws 324.21502
• 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.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fund: means the underground storage tank cleanup fund created in section 21506b and includes the bond proceeds account established within the fund. See Michigan Laws 324.21502
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• in writing: shall be construed to include printing, engraving, and lithographing; except that if the written signature of a person is required by law, the signature shall be the proper handwriting of the person or, if the person is unable to write, the person's proper mark, which may be, unless otherwise expressly prohibited by law, a clear and classifiable fingerprint of the person made with ink or another substance. See Michigan Laws 8.3q
• Involuntary statement: means information provided by a law enforcement officer, if compelled under threat of dismissal from employment or any other employment sanction, by the law enforcement agency that employs the law enforcement officer. See Michigan Laws 15.391
• 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.
• Law enforcement agency: means the department of state police, the department of natural resources, or a law enforcement agency of a county, township, city, village, airport authority, community college, or university, that is responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and enforcement of the criminal laws of this state. See Michigan Laws 15.391
• Law enforcement officer: means all of the following: