Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 26 > Chapter 1 > Part 1 - General Provisions

• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• 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.
• Agency contract: means an agreement in which a student athlete authorizes a person to negotiate or solicit on behalf of the athlete a professional-sports-services contract or endorsement contract. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2102
• Agriculture: means :
  (i) The land, buildings and machinery used in the commercial production of farm products and nursery stock. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• 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.
• Athletic director: means the individual responsible for administering the overall athletic program of an educational institution or, if an educational institution has separately administered athletic programs for male students and female students, the athletic program for males or the athletic program for females, as appropriate. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2102
• Athletic program: means an intercollegiate athletic program at an institution. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2801
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Certified athlete agent: means an athlete agent registered under this part who is certified to be an athlete agent in a particular sport by a national association that promotes or regulates intercollegiate athletics and establishes eligibility standards for participation by a student athlete in that sport. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2102
• Code: includes the Tennessee Code and all amendments and revisions to the code and all additions and supplements to the code. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Commission: means the Tennessee higher education commission. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2902
• Commission: means the Commission on Interstate Registration of Athlete Agents. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2102
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of economic and community development. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2902
• 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.
• consortium: means an organization or association comprised of two (2) or more HBCU institutions, the purpose of which is to facilitate and implement the strategic plans and objectives developed by and between the consortium and the Tennessee HBCU technology partnership. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2902
• 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.
• 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.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the department of economic and community development. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2902
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Educational institution: includes a public or private elementary school, secondary school, technical or vocational school, community college, college, and university. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2102
• Endorsement contract: means an agreement under which a student athlete is employed or receives consideration to use on behalf of the other party any value that the athlete may have because of publicity, reputation, following, or fame obtained because of athletic ability or performance. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2102
• Enrolled: means registered for courses and attending athletic practice or class. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2102
• 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.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• faculty: shall include tenured and non-tenured professors, adjunct professors, visiting professors, lecturers, graduate student instructors, and those in comparable positions, however titled. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2404
• faculty member: means any person, whether or not the person is compensated by a public institution of higher education, and regardless of political affiliation, who is tasked with providing scholarship, academic research, or teaching. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2404
• 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.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• 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.
• Forbearance: A means of handling a delinquent loan. A
• 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}
• Free speech: means speech, expression, or assemblies protected by the First Amendment to the . See Tennessee Code 49-7-2404
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• Germane: On the subject of the pending bill or other business; a strict standard of relevance.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• HBCU: means and includes any historically black college or university located in this state, namely Fisk University, Knoxville College, Lane College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Meharry Medical College and Tennessee State University. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2902
• Institution: means a four-year public or private institution of higher education located in this state. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2801
• Institution: means an institution of public higher education in this state. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2404
• Institution of higher education: includes any college, community college or university, including the state colleges of applied technology, whether public or private, that is required to submit a copy of the statistics of certain criminal offenses to the secretary of education under Tennessee Code 49-7-2202
• Intercollegiate athlete: means a student who is enrolled in an institution and participates in an athletic program. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2801
• Intercollegiate sport: means a sport played at the collegiate level for which eligibility requirements for participation by a student athlete are established by a national association that promotes or regulates collegiate athletics. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2102
• Interscholastic sport: means a sport played between educational institutions that are not community colleges, colleges, or universities. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2102
• 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.
• Lands: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Minor: means any person who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Month: means a calendar month. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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.
• partnership: means an organization or association formed pursuant to the terms of a memorandum of cooperation by and among the department, the commission, the institutions participating in the consortium and participating organizations from private industry, the purpose of which is to develop certain strategic plans and key objectives to leverage the collective resources of each partnership participant to achieve superior economic growth in this state. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2902
• 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. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2102
• Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2102
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Registration: means registration as an athlete agent under this part. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2102
• 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.
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• sex: means a person's immutable biological sex as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth and evidence of a person's biological sex. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Sign: means , with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record:
  (A) To execute or adopt a tangible symbol. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2102
• signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• solicit: means attempt to influence the choice of an athlete agent by a student athlete or, if the athlete is a minor, a parent or guardian of the athlete. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2102
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2102
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Student: means :
  (A) An individual currently enrolled in a course of study at the institution. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2404
• Student athlete: means an individual who is eligible to attend an educational institution and engages in, is eligible to engage in, or may be eligible in the future to engage in, any interscholastic or intercollegiate sport. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2102
• Student housing: means all residence halls and sorority and fraternity residences owned or under the control of the institution of higher education. See Tennessee Code 49-7-2202
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• 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.
• 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: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105