Terms Used In Texas Penal Code Chapter 32 > Subchapter D - Other Deceptive Practices

• Act: means a bodily movement, whether voluntary or involuntary, and includes speech. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Actor: means a person whose criminal responsibility is in issue in a criminal action. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Agency: includes authority, board, bureau, commission, committee, council, department, district, division, and office. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Another: means a person other than the actor. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• 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
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Association: means a government or governmental subdivision or agency, trust, partnership, or two or more persons having a joint or common economic interest. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• 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 or advantage, including benefit to any other person in whose welfare the beneficiary is interested. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Codicil: An addition, change, or supplement to a will executed with the same formalities required for the will itself.
• Coercion: means a threat, however communicated:
  (A) to commit an offense;
  (B) to inflict bodily injury in the future on the person threatened or another;
  (C) to accuse a person of any offense;
  (D) to expose a person to hatred, contempt, or ridicule;
  (E) to harm the credit or business repute of any person; or
  (F) to take or withhold action as a public servant, or to cause a public servant to take or withhold action. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Conduct: means an act or omission and its accompanying mental state. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Consent: means assent in fact, whether express or apparent. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• 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.
• Corporation: includes nonprofit corporations, professional associations created pursuant to statute, and joint stock companies. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• 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.
• Effective consent: includes consent by a person legally authorized to act for the owner. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• 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.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Felony: means an offense so designated by law or punishable by death or confinement in a penitentiary. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Government: means :
  (A) the state;
  (B) a county, municipality, or political subdivision of the state; or
  (C) any branch or agency of the state, a county, municipality, or political subdivision. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• 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.
• Harm: means anything reasonably regarded as loss, disadvantage, or injury, including harm to another person in whose welfare the person affected is interested. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by writing, printing, or other means. See Texas Government Code 312.011
• Individual: means a human being who is alive, including an unborn child at every stage of gestation from fertilization until birth. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• 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.
• Law: means the constitution or a statute of this state or of the United States, a written opinion of a court of record, a municipal ordinance, an order of a county commissioners court, or a rule authorized by and lawfully adopted under a statute. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Misdemeanor: means an offense so designated by law or punishable by fine, by confinement in jail, or by both fine and confinement in jail. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• 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.
• Owner: means a person who:
  (A) has title to the property, possession of the property, whether lawful or not, or a greater right to possession of the property than the actor; or
  (B) is a holder in due course of a negotiable instrument. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Peace officer: means a person elected, employed, or appointed as a peace officer under Article Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Person: means an individual or a corporation, association, limited liability company, or other entity or organization governed by the Business Organizations Code. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Population: means the population shown by the most recent federal decennial census. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• 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}
• 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.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public servant: means a person elected, selected, appointed, employed, or otherwise designated as one of the following, even if he has not yet qualified for office or assumed his duties:
  (A) an officer, employee, or agent of government;
  (B) a juror or grand juror; or
  (C) an arbitrator, referee, or other person who is authorized by law or private written agreement to hear or determine a cause or controversy; or
  (D) an attorney at law or notary public when participating in the performance of a governmental function; or
  (E) a candidate for nomination or election to public office; or
  (F) a person who is performing a governmental function under a claim of right although he is not legally qualified to do so. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Sight order: means a written or electronic instruction to pay money that is authorized by the person giving the instruction and that is payable on demand or at a definite time by the person being instructed to pay. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• 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.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: includes a department, bureau, or other agency of the United States of America. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• Year: means 12 consecutive months. See Texas Government Code 311.005