Terms Used In Michigan Laws > Chapter 600 > Act 236 of 1961 > Chapter 48 - Collection of Penalties, Fines, and Forfeited Recognizances

• Agency: means a department, board, commission, office, agency, authority, or other unit of state government of this state. See Michigan Laws 445.63
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Child or spousal support: means support for a child or spouse, paid or provided pursuant to state or federal law under a court order or judgment. See Michigan Laws 445.82
• Civil infraction: means an act or omission that is prohibited by a law and is not a crime under that law or that is prohibited by an ordinance, as defined in section 8701, and is not a crime under that ordinance, and for which civil sanctions may be ordered. See Michigan Laws 600.113
• Civil infraction action: means a civil action in which the defendant is alleged to be responsible for a civil infraction. See Michigan Laws 600.113
• Civil violation: means a violation of a law of this state or a local ordinance, other than a criminal offense or a violation that is defined or designated as a civil infraction, that is punishable by a civil fine or forfeiture under the applicable law or ordinance. See Michigan Laws 600.4801
• 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.
• Costs: means any monetary amount that the court is authorized to assess and collect for prosecution, adjudication, or processing of criminal offenses, civil infractions, civil violations, and parking violations, including court costs, the cost of prosecution, and the cost of providing court-ordered legal assistance to the defendant. See Michigan Laws 600.4801
• 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.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• employer: includes any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee. See Michigan Laws 445.102
• 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}
• Fair Credit Reporting Act: A federal law, established in 1971 and revised in 1997, that gives consumers the right to see their credit records and correct any mistakes. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fee: means any monetary amount, other than costs or a penalty, that the court is authorized to impose and collect pursuant to a conviction, finding of responsibility, or other adjudication of a criminal offense, a civil infraction, a civil violation, or a parking violation, including a driver license reinstatement fee. See Michigan Laws 600.4801
• Financial institution: means a depository institution, an affiliate of a depository institution, a licensee under the consumer financial services act, 1988 PA 161, MCL 487. See Michigan Laws 445.63
• 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}
• 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.
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Internet: means that term as defined in 47 U. See Michigan Laws 445.82
• judgment: as used in this act , includes decree. See Michigan Laws 600.112
• 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.
• Mailed: means delivered by United States mail or other delivery service that does not require the signature of recipient indicating actual receipt. See Michigan Laws 445.82
• 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
• 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: 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.
• Penalty: includes fines, forfeitures, and forfeited recognizances. See Michigan Laws 600.4801
• Person: means an individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association, or other legal entity. See Michigan Laws 445.63
• Person: means an individual, partnership, limited liability company, association, corporation, public or nonpublic elementary or secondary school, trade school, vocational school, community or junior college, college, university, state or local governmental agency or department, or other legal entity. See Michigan Laws 445.82
• person: includes any individual, firm, co-partnership, joint adventure, association, municipal or private corporation whether organized for profit or not, company, estate, trust, or any other group or combination acting as a unit, and the plural as well as the singular number, unless the intention to give a more limited meaning is disclosed by the context. See Michigan Laws 445.102
• 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.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Publicly display: means to exhibit, hold up, post, or make visible or set out for open view, including, but not limited to, open view on a computer device, computer network, website, or other electronic medium or device, to members of the public or in a public manner. See Michigan Laws 445.82
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• seal: shall be construed to include any of the following: