Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 39 > Chapter 11 - General Provisions

• 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.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Antique firearm: means :
  (A) Any firearm, including any firearm with a matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system, manufactured in or before the year 1898. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• 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.
• 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.
• Attorney general: means the district attorney general, and the district attorney general's assistants. See Tennessee Code 39-11-702
• authorized: means six (6) months after granting of the construction permit by the federal communications commission to the second entity or when the second entity begins offering service in the same cellular geographical area, whichever should first occur. See Tennessee Code 65-4-101
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Benefit: means anything reasonably regarded as economic gain, enhancement or advantage, including benefit to any other person in whose welfare the beneficiary is interested. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Bodily injury: includes a cut, abrasion, bruise, burn or disfigurement, and physical pain or temporary illness or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• broadband services: means any service that consists of or includes a high-speed access capability to transmit at a rate that is not less than two hundred kilobits per second (200 Kbps), either in the upstream or downstream direction and either:
  (A) Is used to provide access to the internet. See Tennessee Code 65-5-202
• Caller identification service: means telephone service which notifies telephone subscribers of the telephone number of incoming telephone calls. See Tennessee Code 65-4-401
• Civil forfeiture: The loss of ownership of property used to conduct illegal activity.
• 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
• Coercion: means a threat, however communicated, to:
  (A) Commit any offense. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Commission: means the Tennessee public utility commission. See Tennessee Code 65-4-401
• Commission: means the Tennessee public utility commission. See Tennessee Code 65-4-501
• 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.
• Competing telecommunications service provider: means any individual or entity that offers or provides any two-way communications service, telephone service, telegraph service, paging service, or communications service similar to such services and is certificated as a provider of such services after June 6, 1995, unless otherwise exempted from this definition by state or federal law. See Tennessee Code 65-4-101
• 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.
• cooperative: shall mean only those nonprofit cooperative entities organized under or otherwise subject to the Rural Electric and Community Services Cooperative Act, compiled in chapter 25 of this title, or the Telephone Cooperative Act, compiled in chapter 29 of this title. See Tennessee Code 65-4-101
• 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 mayor: means and includes "county executive" unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Criminal negligence: refers to a person who acts with criminal negligence with respect to the circumstances surrounding that person's conduct or the result of that conduct when the person ought to be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the circumstances exist or the result will occur. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Custody: means under arrest by a law enforcement officer, or under restraint by an officer, employee or agent of government pursuant to an order of a court. See Tennessee Code 39-11-602
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Deadly force: means force that is intended or known by the defendant to cause or, in the manner of its use or intended use, is capable of causing death or serious bodily injury. See Tennessee Code 39-11-602
• Deception: means that a person knowingly:
  (i) Creates or reinforces a false impression by words or conduct, including false impressions of fact, law, value or intention or other state of mind that the person does not believe to be true. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• 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.
• Defendant: means a person accused of an offense under this title and includes any person who aids or abets the commission of such offense. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• 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}
• Escape: means unauthorized departure from custody or failure to return to custody following temporary leave for a specific purpose of limited period, but does not include a violation of conditions of probation or parole. See Tennessee Code 39-11-602
• 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.
• existing customer: includes a residential subscriber with whom the person or entity making a telephone solicitation has had a prior relationship within the prior twelve (12) months. See Tennessee Code 65-4-401
• facsimile: means :
  (A) Every process in which electronic signals are transmitted by telephone lines for conversion into written text or other graphic images. See Tennessee Code 65-4-501
• 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.
• 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.
• Force: means compulsion by the use of physical power or violence and shall be broadly construed to accomplish the purposes of this title. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• 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.
• Fraud: means as used in normal parlance and includes, but is not limited to, deceit, trickery, misrepresentation and subterfuge, and shall be broadly construed to accomplish the purposes of this title. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Government: means the state or any political subdivision of the state, and includes any branch or agency of the state, a county, municipality or other political subdivision. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Grave sexual abuse: means :
  (A) Aggravated rape, pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Harm: means anything reasonably regarded as loss, disadvantage or injury, including harm to another person in whose welfare the person affected is interested. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Highway: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Incumbent local exchange telephone company: means a public utility offering and providing basic local exchange telephone service as defined by §. See Tennessee Code 65-4-101
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Insane: includes all persons of unsound mind. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Intentional: means that a person acts intentionally with respect to the nature of the conduct or to a result of the conduct when it is the person's conscious objective or desire to engage in the conduct or cause the result. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Interest holder: means a secured party within the meaning of §. See Tennessee Code 39-11-702
• Interexchange carriers: means companies, other than incumbent local exchange telephone companies, owning facilities in the state which consist of network elements and switches, or other communication transmission equipment used to carry voice, data, image, and video traffic across the local access and transport area (LATA) boundaries within Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 65-4-101
• 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.
• Knowing: means that a person acts knowingly with respect to the conduct or to circumstances surrounding the conduct when the person is aware of the nature of the conduct or that the circumstances exist. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Law enforcement officer: includes a sheriff, sheriff's deputy, and, only for purposes of the enhancement of a crime, a deputy jailer. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• 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}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• 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.
• Livestock: means all equine as well as animals that are being raised primarily for use as food or fiber for human utilization or consumption including, but not limited to, cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and poultry. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Local exchange company: includes telecommunications service providers as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 65-4-401
• Local exchange company: includes telecommunications service providers as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 65-4-501
• Minor: means any person under eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• 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.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• 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.
• Obtain: includes , but is not limited to, the taking, carrying away or the sale, conveyance or transfer of title to or interest in or possession of property, and includes, but is not limited to, conduct known as larceny, larceny by trick, larceny by conversion, embezzlement, extortion or obtaining property by false pretenses. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Owner: means a person, other than the defendant, who has possession of or any interest other than a mortgage, deed of trust or security interest in property, even though that possession or interest is unlawful and without whose consent the defendant has no authority to exert control over the property. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Owner: means a person, other than an interest holder, who has an interest in property. See Tennessee Code 39-11-702
• Parent: means a company owning more than fifty percent (50%) of the voting shares, or otherwise a controlling interest, of another company. See Tennessee Code 65-4-501
• 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 the singular and the plural and means and includes any individual, firm, partnership, copartnership, association, corporation, governmental subdivision or agency, or other organization or other legal entity, or any agent or servant thereof. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Person: means a natural person, individual, partnership, corporation, trust, estate, incorporated or unincorporated association and any other legal or commercial entity however organized and wherever located that telemarkets to citizens located within this state. See Tennessee Code 65-4-401
• Person: means a natural person, individual, partnership, trust, estate, incorporated or unincorporated association, any corporation, parent, subsidiary or affiliate thereof, or any other legal or commercial entity however organized and wherever located. See Tennessee Code 65-4-501
• Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Personal 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
• 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.
• Plea agreement: An arrangement between the prosecutor, the defense attorney, and the defendant in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for special considerations. ^Source:
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• 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.
• Property: means anything of value, including, but not limited to, money, real estate, tangible or intangible personal property, including anything severed from land, library material, contract rights, choses-in-action, interests in or claims to wealth, credit, admission or transportation tickets, captured or domestic animals, food and drink, electric or other power. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Property: means anything of value, and includes any interest in property, including any benefit, privilege, claim or right with respect to anything of value, whether real or personal, tangible or intangible. See Tennessee Code 39-11-702
• Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public place: means a place to which the public or a group of persons has access and includes, but is not limited to, highways, transportation facilities, schools, places of amusement, parks, places of business, playgrounds and hallways, lobbies and other portions of apartment houses and hotels not constituting rooms or apartments designed for actual residence. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Public servant: means :
  (A) Any public officer or employee of the state or of any political subdivision of the state or of any governmental instrumentality within the state including, but not limited to, law enforcement officers. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Public utility: includes a wind energy facility, as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 65-4-101
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• real property: include lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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
• 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
• Residential subscriber: means a person who has subscribed to residential telephone service from a local exchange company or the other persons living, residing or visiting with such person. See Tennessee Code 65-4-401
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Road: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Sentencing guidelines: A set of rules and principles established by the United States Sentencing Commission that trial judges use to determine the sentence for a convicted defendant. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Serious bodily injury: means bodily injury that involves:
  (A) A substantial risk of death. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Services: includes labor, skill, professional service, transportation, telephone, mail, gas, electricity, steam, water, cable television, entertainment subscription service or other public services, accommodations in hotels, restaurants or elsewhere, admissions to exhibitions, use of vehicles or other movable property, and any other activity or product considered in the ordinary course of business to be a service, regardless of whether it is listed in this subdivision (a)(38) or a specific statute exists covering the same or similar conduct. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• 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
• 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
• 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
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Subscription: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Subsidiary: means a corporation with more than fifty percent (50%) of its outstanding voting shares being owned by its parent or the parent's other subsidiaries. See Tennessee Code 65-4-501
• Telecommunications service provider: means any incumbent local exchange telephone company or certificated individual or entity, or individual or entity operating pursuant to the approval by the former public service commission of a franchise within §. See Tennessee Code 65-4-101
• Telephone solicitation: means any voice communication over a telephone originating from Tennessee or elsewhere that:
  (i) Promotes or encourages, directly or indirectly, the purchase of, rental of, or investment in property, goods, or services. See Tennessee Code 65-4-401
• Tenancy by the entirety: A type of joint tenancy between husband and wife that is recognized in some States. Neither party can sever the joint tenancy relationship; when a spouse dies, the survivor acquires full title to the property.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• True bill: Another word for indictment.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Utility: means :
  (A) An entity subject to the jurisdiction of the Tennessee board of utility regulation in accordance with §. See Tennessee Code 65-5-401
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• 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