Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws > Chapter 23-27.3 > Article 1 - Administration and Enforcement

• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• 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.
• 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.
• Attest: means providing the following services:

  (i)  Any audit or other engagement to be performed in accordance with the Statements on Auditing Standards (SAS);

  (ii)  Any review of a financial statement to be performed in accordance with the Statement on Standards for Accounting and Review Services (SSARS);

  (iii)  Any examination of prospective financial information to be performed in accordance with the Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE);

  (iv)  Any engagement to be performed in accordance with the standards of the public company accounting oversight board;

  (v)  Any examination, review, or agreed-upon procedures engagement to be performed in accordance with the SSAE, other than an examination described in subsection (1)(iii); and

  (vi)  The statements on standards specified in this definition shall be adopted by reference by the board pursuant to rulemaking and shall be those developed for general application by recognized national accountancy organizations, such as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-3.1-3

• Authority: means an authority to practice as a public accountant in this state granted by the public accountants advisory commission under former § 5-3-6 (P. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-3.1-3
• billiard table: means and shall include billiard tables, pool tables, and pocket billiard tables. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-2-3.1
• Board: means the board of accountancy, a public authority created by Rhode Island General Laws 5-3.1-3
• Certificate: means a certificate as certified public accountant issued under this chapter or corresponding provisions of prior law, or a corresponding certificate as certified public accountant issued after examination under the law of any other state. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-3.1-3
• Clinically ill: means an illness that is apparent to a licensed veterinarian based on observation, examination, or testing of the dog. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-25-1
• coal: as used in this chapter , includes both anthracite and bituminous coal and other fuels containing coal. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-4-21
• Compilation: means providing a service to be performed in accordance with the Statement on Standards for Accounting and Review Services (SSARS), as adopted by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, that is presenting in the form of financial statements, information that is the representation of management without undertaking to express any assurance on the statements. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-3.1-3
• 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: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• council: means the Rhode Island livestock welfare and care standards advisory council act of 2012 established pursuant to § 4-26-4. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-26-3
• CPA: means a person holding a certificate issued under this chapter or corresponding provisions of prior law or under the accountancy act or similar law of any other state. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-3.1-3
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Director: means the director of the Rhode Island department of environmental management. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-26-3
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. ^{Source: OCC}
• Entity: includes a general partnership, limited-liability company, limited-liability partnership, corporation, sole proprietor, trust, and joint venture. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-3.1-3
• 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.
• 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.
• Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Grace period: The number of days you'll have to pay your bill for purchases in full without triggering a finance charge. ^{Source: Federal Reserve}
• in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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}
• Legislative session: That part of a chamber's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).
• Licensee: means the holder of a certificate, authority, or permit issued under this chapter or under the prior laws of this state. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-3.1-3
• Livestock: means any bovine, equine, caprine, ovine, camelid, swine, poultry, or other animal that is raised for production of food or fiber, or is used for work, commerce, or exhibition. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-26-3
• Majority: refers to more than fifty percent (50%) ownership in terms of financial interests and voting rights. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-3.1-3
• 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.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• 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.
• Peer review: means a study, appraisal, or review of one or more aspects of the professional work of a practice unit engaged in the practice of public accountancy in this state, by a licensee or licensees who are not affiliated with the practice unit being reviewed. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-3.1-3
• Permit: means a permit to practice public accountancy issued under Rhode Island General Laws 5-3.1-3
• person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
• Practice unit: means a sole proprietorship, corporation, partnership, or other entity engaged in the practice of public accounting in this state. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-3.1-3
• 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.
• Principal residence: means the state in which a person has the right to register to vote for, or the right to vote in, general elections and in which he or she qualifies to file a resident state income tax return. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-3.1-3
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Purchaser: means any person purchasing a dog from a seller, as defined in this section. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-25-1
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• real estate: may be construed to include lands, tenements, and hereditaments and rights thereto and interests therein. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-10
• 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.
• report: includes any form of language that disclaims an opinion when that language is conventionally understood to imply any positive assurance as to the reliability of the attested information or compiled financial statements referred to and/or any special competence on the part of the person or practice unit issuing that language; and it also includes any other form of language that is conventionally understood to imply that assurance and/or special knowledge or competence. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-3.1-3
• seal: shall be construed to include an impression of the seal made with or without the use of wax or wafer on the paper. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-15
• Seller: means any person, business or other entity engaging in the sale of dogs, except that this definition does not encompass the sale of dogs on the premises of and by a public shelter, pound or other entity operating as a nonprofit organization pursuant to Rhode Island law. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-25-1
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• State: means the states of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-3.1-3
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Substantial equivalency: means a determination by the board of accountancy that the education, examination, and experience requirements contained in the statutes and administrative rules of another state or jurisdiction are comparable to or exceed the education, examination, and experience requirements included in this chapter or that an individual CPA's education, examination, and experience qualifications are comparable to or exceed the education, examination, and experience requirements contained in this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-3.1-3
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• this state: means the state of Rhode Island. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-3.1-3
• town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9
• town council: include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9
• 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.
• United States: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8