Terms Used In South Carolina Code > Title 44 > Chapter 20 > Article 3 - Organization and System for Delivery of Services

• 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.
• 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.
• Applicant: means a person who is believed to have intellectual disability, one or more related disabilities, one or more head injuries, one or more spinal cord injuries, or an infant at high risk of a developmental disability who has applied for services of the South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs. See South Carolina Code 44-20-30
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Client: is a person who is determined by the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs to have intellectual disability, a related disability, head injury, or spinal cord injury and is receiving services or is an infant at risk of having a developmental disability and is receiving services. See South Carolina Code 44-20-30
• Commission: means the South Carolina Commission on Disabilities and Special Needs, the policy-making and governing body of the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs. See South Carolina Code 44-20-30
• 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.
• County disabilities and special needs boards: means the local public body administering, planning, coordinating, or providing services within a county or combination of counties for persons with intellectual disability, related disabilities, head injuries, or spinal cord injuries and recognized by the department. See South Carolina Code 44-20-30
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Department: means the South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs. See South Carolina Code 44-20-30
• Director: means the South Carolina Director of the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, the chief executive director appointed by the commission. See South Carolina Code 44-20-30
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• 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.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• 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.
• Intellectual disability: means significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period. See South Carolina Code 44-20-30
• 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}
• Least restrictive environment: means the surrounding circumstances that provide as little intrusion and disruption from the normal pattern of living as possible. See South Carolina Code 44-20-30
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• 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.
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Related disability: is a severe, chronic condition found to be closely related to intellectual disability or to require treatment similar to that required for persons with intellectual disability and must meet the following conditions:
  
  (a) It is attributable to cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, or any other condition other than mental illness found to be closely related to intellectual disability because this condition results in impairment of general intellectual functioning or adaptive behavior similar to that of persons with intellectual disability and requires treatment or services similar to those required for these persons. See South Carolina Code 44-20-30
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• 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.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.