Terms Used In Michigan Laws > Chapter 450 > Act 162 of 1982 > Chapter 4

• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• 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.
• Agent: means a person that buys, receives, sells, exchanges, negotiates, or solicits the sale, resale, exchange, or transfer of 1 or more animals for or on behalf of another person. See Michigan Laws 287.121
• Agricultural product: means any agricultural commodity or product, whether raw or processed, including any commodity or product derived from livestock that is marketed for human or livestock use or consumption. See Michigan Laws 286.903
• 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.
• annual meeting: when applied to townships, mean the annual meeting required by law to be held on the Saturday immediately preceding the first Monday in April. See Michigan Laws 8.3d
• 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
• Aquaculture species: means aquatic animal organisms, including, but not limited to, fish, crustaceans, mollusks, reptiles, or amphibians, reared or cultured under controlled conditions for commercial aquaculture or the pet trade. See Michigan Laws 287.121
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• 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}
• Board: means the rural development fund board established in section 3. See Michigan Laws 286.942
• broker: means a person that, as a principal or agent, engages in the business of buying, receiving, selling, exchanging, buying for slaughter, negotiating, or soliciting sale, resale, exchange, transportation, or transfer of animals. See Michigan Laws 287.121
• Buying station: means a facility or location where livestock are congregated and purchased by the owner or agent of the facility or location for movement or sale. See Michigan Laws 287.121
• Certifying agent: means an entity registered by the department that certifies production or handling operations or portions of production or handling operations as meeting the Michigan organic standards. See Michigan Laws 286.903
• Collection point: means a facility or location where livestock are congregated by the owner or agent of the facility or location for transfer or movement. See Michigan Laws 287.121
• Commission: means the commission of agriculture and rural development. See Michigan Laws 286.942
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the department of agriculture. See Michigan Laws 287.111
• Department: means the department of agriculture and rural development. See Michigan Laws 287.121
• Department: means the department of agriculture and rural development. See Michigan Laws 286.942
• Department: means the department of natural resources. See Michigan Laws 287.251
• Department: means the Michigan department of agriculture. See Michigan Laws 286.903
• Director: means the director of the department. See Michigan Laws 286.942
• Director: means the director of the department or his or her authorized representative. See Michigan Laws 287.121
• Director: means the director of the department of natural resources. See Michigan Laws 287.251
• Director: means the director of the department or his or her designee. See Michigan Laws 286.903
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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}
• Fund: means the rural development fund created in section 5. See Michigan Laws 286.942
• 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.
• Handler: means any person engaged in the business of handling agricultural products as organic products including producers who handle crops or livestock of their own production. See Michigan Laws 286.905
• in writing: shall be construed to include printing, engraving, and lithographing; except that if the written signature of a person is required by law, the signature shall be the proper handwriting of the person or, if the person is unable to write, the person's proper mark, which may be, unless otherwise expressly prohibited by law, a clear and classifiable fingerprint of the person made with ink or another substance. See Michigan Laws 8.3q
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• 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.
• Land-based industries: means food and agriculture, forestry, mining, oil and gas production, and tourism. See Michigan Laws 286.942
• Licensee: means a person holding a license issued under this act. See Michigan Laws 287.121
• Livestock: means cattle, swine, sheep, goats, or poultry located in this state. See Michigan Laws 287.251
• livestock: includes horses, ponies, mules, cattle, calves, swine, sheep, poultry, privately owned cervids, ratites, aquaculture species, and goats. See Michigan Laws 287.121
• Livestock auction: means a livestock congregation point where livestock are accepted on consignment and the auction method is used in the marketing of livestock. See Michigan Laws 287.121
• Livestock trucker: means a person, not otherwise licensed under this act, that engages in the business of transporting livestock not owned by the person, or the person's employer, from 1 premises to another. See Michigan Laws 287.121
• Michigan organic standards: means those organic production and handling standards defined by this act, rules adopted under this act, or both, that are designed to combine organic production or handling practices and an audit trail that will ensure the integrity of organic products from the producer to the consumer. See Michigan Laws 286.907
• month: means a calendar month; the word "year" a calendar year; and the word "year" alone shall be equivalent to the words "year of our Lord". See Michigan Laws 8.3j
• Organic: means a labeling term referring to an agricultural product produced in accordance with the standards described in this act, rules adopted under this act, or both. See Michigan Laws 286.907
• Organic advisory committee: means the committee created under section 25. See Michigan Laws 286.907
• Organic product: means agricultural products including, but not limited to, crops, livestock, livestock products, or other agricultural products that are produced organically for human or livestock use or consumption. See Michigan Laws 286.907
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• 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, partnership, corporation, association, governmental entity, or other legal entity. See Michigan Laws 287.121
• Person: means an individual, group of individuals, contractor, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, cooperative, community supported agricultural entity, or any other legal entity. See Michigan Laws 286.907
• person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, as well as to individuals. See Michigan Laws 8.3l
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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}
• Processing: means processes that include, but are not limited to, cooking, baking, heating, drying, mixing, grinding, churning, separating, extracting, cutting, fermenting, eviscerating, preserving, dehydrating, freezing, or other manufacturing process and includes the packaging, canning, jarring, or otherwise enclosing of food in a container. See Michigan Laws 286.907
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Riding stable: means any establishment in which, for business purposes, 6 or more horses or ponies are rented, hired, or loaned for riding. See Michigan Laws 287.111
• Right of rescission: Right to cancel, within three business days, a contract that uses the home of a person as collateral, except in the case of a first mortgage loan. There is no fee to the borrower, who receives a full refund of all fees paid. The right of rescission is guaranteed by the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). ^{Source: OCC}
• Sales barn: means any establishment where horses or ponies owned by others are sold or offered for sale. See Michigan Laws 287.111
• 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.
• state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories belonging to the United States; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the district and territories. See Michigan Laws 8.3o
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Telecommunication facilities: means either or both of the following: