Terms Used In South Carolina Code > Title 59 > Chapter 151 - South Carolina Lightrail Consortium

• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• Boat: means a vessel. See South Carolina Code 50-21-10
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• convicted: means adjudication at trial or civil hearing and includes the entry of a plea of guilty, or nolo contendere, or the forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure a defendant's appearance in court. See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Defense attorney: Represent defendants in criminal matters.
• Department: means the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources unless otherwise stated. See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
• 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.
• 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}
• 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.
• Marina: means a facility which provides mooring or dry storage for watercraft. See South Carolina Code 50-21-10
• 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.
• Operate: means to navigate, steer, drive, or be in control. See South Carolina Code 50-21-10
• Operator: means the person who operates or has charge or command of the navigation or use of a vessel or watercraft. See South Carolina Code 50-21-10
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Owner: means a person, other than a lienholder, who claims lawful possession of a vessel or outboard motor by virtue of legal title or equitable interest in it which entitled him to possession. See South Carolina Code 50-21-10
• 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: means an individual, a partnership, a firm, a corporation, an association, or other legal entity. See South Carolina Code 50-21-10
• 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.
• 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.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Take: means to harass intentionally, hunt, capture, gather, harvest, remove, catch, wound, or kill or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, gather, harvest, remove, catch, wound, or kill. See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Vessel: means every description of watercraft, other than a seaplane regulated by the federal government, used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water. See South Carolina Code 50-21-10
• Water device: means a motorboat, boat, personal watercraft or vessel, water skis, an aquaplane, surfboard, or other similar device. See South Carolina Code 50-21-10
• Watercraft: means anything used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on the water but does not include: a seaplane regulated by the federal government, water skis, aquaplanes, surfboards, windsurfers, tubes, rafts, and similar devices or anything that does not meet construction or operational requirements of the state or federal government for watercraft. See South Carolina Code 50-21-10