Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws > Chapter 5-22 - Shows and Exhibitions

• Account: means the uninsured motorist identification restricted account created in Rhode Island General Laws 31-47.4-1
• Administrator: means the tax administrator. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-36.1-2
• Administrator: means the administrator of the division of motor vehicles in the department of revenue. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47-2
• 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.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• 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.
• 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
• 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.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Bond: means :

  (i)  A bond duly executed by a motor carrier as principal with a corporate surety qualified under the provisions of the laws of this state, which bond shall be payable to this state, conditioned upon the basic performance of all requirements of this chapter, including the payment of all taxes, penalties and other obligations of the motor carrier arising out of this tax; or

  (ii)  A deposit with the state treasury by the motor carrier under any terms and conditions that the administrator may prescribe, in like amount of lawful money of the United States or bonds, or other obligations of the United States, this state, or any county of this state, of an actual market value not less than the amount so fixed by the administrator. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-36.1-2

• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• CMAQ: means the federal congestion mitigation and air quality improvement program, reauthorized by congress in 2005 by Sections 1101, 1103 and 1808 of the safe, accountable, flexible, efficient transportation equity act: a legacy for users (SAFETEA-LU) (Pub. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47.3-2
• Commissioner: means the insurance commissioner of this state. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47-2
• 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.
• Compliance certificate: means a written statement, instrument or device indicating that a motor vehicle complies with the standards and criteria for motor vehicle emissions inspection. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47.1-2
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Contractor: means any person contracting directly or indirectly with the state to provide labor, services, materials and/or equipment for the performance of a public works contract. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47.3-2
• 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.
• Database: means the uninsured motorist identification database created in Rhode Island General Laws 31-47.4-1
• Dealer engaged in the business of leasing motor vehicles: means any person engaged in the business of regularly making available, offering to make available, or arranging for another person to use a motor vehicle pursuant to a bailment, lease, or other contractual arrangement. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47-2
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• DEM: means the Rhode Island department of environmental management. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47.3-2
• Department: means the department of business regulation. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-44-1
• Department: means the department of business regulation. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-44.2-2
• Department: means the department of revenue. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47.1-2
• Designated agent: means the third party the division of motor vehicles contracts with under Rhode Island General Laws 31-47.4-1
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Director: means the director of the department of business regulation. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-44-1
• Director: refers to the director of the department of environmental management (DEM). See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47.3-2
• 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:
• Division: means the division of motor vehicles. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47.4-1
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• DOT: means the Rhode Island department of transportation. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47.3-2
• Driver: means every person who drives, or is in actual physical control of, a motor vehicle. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47-2
• 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.
• Entry requirements: means any written, nondiscriminatory criteria for resident selection incorporated into the rules and regulations of a mobile- and manufactured-home park which are equally applied by the licensee to all purchasers and prospective residents. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-44-1
• Equipment list: means a list of all equipment owned, rented, or leased to be used on site. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47.3-2
• 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}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• 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.
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Fee schedule: means an itemized list of fees for goods or services sold or performed by a mobile- and manufactured-home park licensee including, but not limited to, the entrance fee, hook-up fee, and maintenance fee, if any. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-44-1
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Financial security bond: means for each motor vehicle a bond executed by the owner and by a surety company duly authorized to transact business in this state. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47-2
• Financial security deposit: means for each motor vehicle the deposit with the assistant director of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) in cash or securities, such as may legally be purchased by savings banks or trust funds, of a market value of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000). See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47-2
• 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.
• Fleet owner: means a person, business or the state that owns ten (10) or more heavy duty vehicles operating in Rhode Island. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47.3-2
• 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.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• 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}
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• Gross receipts: means the total amount of money for the value of other consideration received by a renter of motor vehicles from motor vehicles rented in the state of Rhode Island. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-34.1-1
• 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.
• Hook-up fee: means a reasonable fee for the services required to install a mobile and manufactured home on a mobile- and manufactured-home space or lot. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-44-1
• 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.
• 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}
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Joint resolution: A legislative measure which requires the approval of both chambers.
• 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}
• Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
• License: includes any license, permit, or privilege to operate a motor vehicle issued under the laws of this state including:

  (i)  Any temporary instruction permit or examiner's driving permit;

  (ii)  The privilege of any person to drive a motor vehicle whether or not the person holds a valid license; or

  (iii)  Any nonresident's operating privilege. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47-2

• Licensee: means any person or agent licensed under Rhode Island General Laws 31-44-1
• 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.
• magistrate: may be construed to mean a justice, or a clerk acting as a justice, of a district court. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
• Mobile and manufactured home: means a detached residential unit designed:

  (i)  For a long term occupancy and containing sleeping accommodations, a flush toilet, and a tub or shower bath and kitchen facilities, and having both permanent plumbing and electrical connections for attachment to outside systems;

  (ii)  To be transported on its own wheels or on a flatbed or other trailer or detachable wheels; and

  (iii)  To be placed on pads, piers, or tied down, at the site where it is to be occupied as a residence complete and ready for occupancy, except for minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations and connection to utilities systems. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-44-1

• Mobile and manufactured home: means a detached residential unit designed:

  (i)  For a long-term occupancy and containing sleeping accommodations, a flush toilet, and a tub or shower bath, and kitchen facilities, having both permanent plumbing and electrical connections for attachment to outside systems;

  (ii)  To be transported on its own wheels or on a flatbed or other trailer or detachable wheels; and

  (iii)  To be placed on pads, piers, or tied down, at the site where it is to be occupied as a residence complete and ready for occupancy, except for minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations and connection to utilities systems. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-44.2-2

• Mobile- and manufactured-home space or lot: means a plot of ground within a mobile- and manufactured-home park designed for the accommodation of one mobile and manufactured home. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-44-1
• 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.
• Motor carrier: means every person, association of persons, firm, or corporation, or any other legal entity, wherever resident or located, who operates or causes to be operated qualified motor vehicles on the public highways of this state. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-36.1-2
• Motor vehicle: means a private passenger motor vehicle designed to transport fifteen (15) or fewer passengers that is rented without a driver and is part of a fleet of five (5) or more passenger vehicles used for that purpose, owned or leased by the same person or entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-34.1-1
• Motor vehicle: means every vehicle required to display registration plates for operation upon public highways of this state. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47-2
• Motor vehicle: means every vehicle which is self-propelled and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires, but not operated upon rails, except vehicles moved exclusively by human power and motorized wheelchairs. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47.1-2
• motor vehicle accident: means any accident involving a motor vehicle that results in bodily injury to, or death of, any person, or damage to the property of any person in excess of five hundred dollars ($500). See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47-2
• Motor vehicle emissions inspection: means a test of the emissions of air contaminants from a motor vehicle and any visual and functional checks related to the emission of air contaminants from a motor vehicle conducted pursuant to this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47.1-2
• Nonresident: means every person who is not a resident of this state. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47-2
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Owner: means a licensee or permittee or any person who owns, operates, or maintains a mobile- and manufactured-home park. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-44-1
• Owner: means a person who holds the legal title of a motor vehicle. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47-2
• park: means a plot of ground upon which four (4) or more mobile and manufactured homes, occupied for residential purposes are located. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-44-1
• 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: includes every natural person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47-2
• person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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}
• Pro se: A Latin term meaning "on one's own behalf"; in courts, it refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Program: means the uninsured motorist identification database program created in Rhode Island General Laws 31-47.4-1
• Proof of financial security: means proof of ability to respond in damages for liability arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle as evidenced by an owner's policy of liability insurance, a financial security bond, a financial security deposit, or qualification as a self-insurer under this title, or in the case of a nonresident, under self-insurance provisions of the laws of the jurisdiction of that nonresident. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47-2
• Prospective resident: means an applicant for admission to a mobile- and manufactured-home park who is ready, willing, and able to buy a mobile and manufactured home owned and offered for sale by a licensee or resident, and who is able to meet the entrance requirements of the rules of the park. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-44-1
• Protected lawful action: means any report of a violation of this chapter, or of any applicable building or health code, or any other justified complaint to a governmental authority, or any other justified lawful act by the resident(s) or prospective resident(s). See Rhode Island General Laws 31-44-1
• 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 works contract: means a contract with a state agency for a construction program or project involving the construction, demolition, restoration, rehabilitation, repair, renovation, or abatement of any building, structure, tunnel, excavation, roadway, park or bridge; a contract with a state agency regarding the preparation for any construction program or project involving the construction, demolition, restoration, rehabilitation, repair, renovation, or abatement of any building, structure, tunnel, excavation, roadway, park or bridge; or a contract with a state agency for any final work involved in the completion of any construction program or project involving the construction, demolition, restoration, rehabilitation, repair, renovation, or abatement of any building, structure, tunnel, excavation, roadway, park or bridge. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47.3-2
• Qualified motor vehicles: means a motor vehicle used, designed or maintained for transportation of persons or property and:

  (A)  Having two (2) axles and a gross vehicle weight or registered gross vehicle weight exceeding twenty-six thousand pounds (26,000 lbs. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-36.1-2

• Qualified sale: means the sale of a mobile- and manufactured-home park to a resident organization with the goal of resident ownership by at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the homeowner households residing in the park. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-44-1
• 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
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Recreational vehicle: means vehicles such as motor homes, pickup trucks with attached campers, and buses when used exclusively for personal pleasure by an individual. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-36.1-2
• Registration: means registration certificates and registration plates issued under the laws of this state pertaining to the registration of motor vehicles. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47-2
• 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.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Rental company: means any business entity engaged in the business of renting motor vehicles in the state of Rhode Island. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-34.1-1
• Rented in this state: means any vehicle if it is picked up by or delivered to the renter in this state. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-34.1-1
• Reprisal: means any act taken against the resident(s) which is intended as a penalty for any protected lawful action taken by the resident(s). See Rhode Island General Laws 31-44-1
• Resident: means an owner or renter occupying a mobile and manufactured home in a mobile- and manufactured-home park with the consent of the owner as defined in subdivision (11) of this section. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-44-1
• Resident organization: means a group of mobile- and manufactured-home park residents who have formed a nonprofit corporation, cooperative corporation, or other entity or organization for the purpose of acquiring the mobile home park in which they reside and converting the mobile home park to resident ownership. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-44-1
• Resident ownership: means , depending on the context, either the ownership, by a resident organization, as defined in this section, of an interest in a mobile- and manufactured-home park which entitles the resident organization to control the operations of the mobile home park, or the ownership of individual interests in a mobile home park, or both. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-44-1
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Security deposit: means a sum not to exceed the monthly rental which a licensee may require a resident of a rented mobile or manufactured home to deposit as security in case of damage caused by the resident in excess of ordinary wear and tear. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-44-1
• 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.
• Standards for mobile and manufactured homes: means any written, nondiscriminatory minimum specifications for structural soundness, safety, and habitability adopted by the department or any other government agency. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-44-1
• State: when used in this chapter, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, means any state, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or any province of the Dominion of Canada. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47-2
• state: shall mean state agencies or when related to "contractors" in this statute, the "state" shall mean the procuring agency or procuring agent. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47.3-2
• State agency: means each state board, commission, department, or officer, other than quasi-public corporations, the legislature or the courts, authorized by law to make rules or to determine contested cases. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47.3-2
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• 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.
• 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.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. ^{Source: OCC}
• United States: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8
• Use: means the consumption by a motor carrier of fuels in the propulsion of qualified motor vehicles over the highways of this state unless the fuel consumed is specifically excluded by law from the tax. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-36.1-2
• vehicle: means any on-road or nonroad vehicle powered by diesel fuel and having a gross vehicle weight of greater than fourteen thousand (14,000) pounds, or in the case of a nonroad vehicle, powered by diesel fuel and an engine with a rating of at least seventy-five (75) horsepower, including, but not limited to, non-stationary generators. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47.3-2
• Waiver certificate: means a written statement, instrument or device indicating the requirement of compliance with the standards and criteria for motor vehicle emissions inspection for a particular motor vehicle has been waived. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-47.1-2
• Writ of certiorari: An order issued by the Supreme Court directing the lower court to transmit records for a case for which it will hear on appeal.