Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 11 > Chapter 22 > Subchapter 1 - 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.
• Agritourism activity: means an interactive or passive activity that is carried out for recreational, entertainment, or educational purposes on a farm and includes farming, food production, historical, cultural, pick-your-own, and nature-based activities. See
• Agritourism host: means a person who provides the facilities and equipment necessary to participate in an agritourism activity. See
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• 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.
• 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.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Business: includes every trade, occupation, and profession. See
• Charitable or nonprofit organization: means any organization which is exempt from federal or State income taxation, except that the term does not include organizations which sell or offer to sell such donated items of food. See
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Forests, Parks and Recreation. See
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Consideration: means a price, fee, or other charge paid to or received by the owner in return for the permission to enter upon or to travel across the owner's land for recreational use. See
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conventional forestry practices: means :

• 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.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• Court: means a court of competent jurisdiction in Vermont. See
• 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.
• 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.
• Domestic: when applied to a corporation, company, association, or copartnership shall mean organized under the laws of this State; "foreign" when so applied, shall mean organized under the laws of another state, government, or country. See
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• 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}
• employee: means any person defined as a State employee by 3 V. See
• 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
• 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.
• Farm: means a parcel or parcels of land owned, leased, or managed by a person and devoted primarily to farming that meets the threshold criteria established by the Required Agricultural Practices. See
• Farm products: means any agricultural, dairy, or horticultural product, or any product designed or intended for human consumption or prepared principally from an agricultural, dairy, or horticultural product. See
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• Forestry operation: includes one or both of the following:

• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• 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.
• 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}
• 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.
• 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: means :

• Law clerk: Assist judges with research and drafting of opinions.
• 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}
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Limited liability partnership: means a partnership that has filed a statement of qualification under section 3291 of this title and does not have a similar statement in effect in any other jurisdiction. See
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Mediation: means a process in which a mediator facilitates communication and negotiation between parties to assist them in reaching a voluntary agreement regarding their dispute. See
• Mediation communication: means a statement, whether oral, in a record, verbal, or nonverbal, that is made or occurs during a mediation or for purposes of considering, conducting, participating in, initiating, continuing, or reconvening a mediation or retaining a mediator. See
• Mediator: means an individual who conducts a mediation. See
• Month: shall mean a calendar month and "year" shall mean a calendar year and be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Municipality: shall include a city, town, town school district, incorporated school or fire district or incorporated village, and all other governmental incorporated units. See
• Nonparty participant: means a person, other than a party or mediator, that participates in a mediation. See
• 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 owns, leases, licenses, or otherwise controls ownership or use of land, and any employee or agent of that person. See
• Participant: means any individual who is invited to observe or participate in an agritourism activity, regardless of whether the individual paid to observe or participate in the agritourism activity. See
• Partnership: means an association of two or more persons to carry on as co-owners a business for profit formed under section 3212 of this title, predecessor law, or comparable law of another jurisdiction and includes for all purposes of the laws of this State a limited liability partnership. See
• 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.
• Partnership agreement: means the agreement, whether written, oral, or implied, among the partners concerning the partnership, including amendments to the partnership agreement. See
• Party: means a person that participates in a mediation and whose agreement is necessary to resolve the dispute. See
• Perishable foods: means any food that may spoil or otherwise become unfit for human consumption because of its nature, type, or physical condition. See
• Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
• Person: means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, agency, instrumentality, public corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity. See
• Person: means an individual, corporation, limited liability company, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. See
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Proceeding: means a judicial, administrative, arbitral, or other adjudicative process, including related prehearing and posthearing motions, conferences, and discovery; or a legislative hearing or similar process. See
• Property: means all property, real, personal, or mixed, tangible or intangible, or any interest therein. See
• Recreational use: means an activity undertaken for recreational, educational, or conservation purposes, and includes hunting, fishing, trapping, guiding, camping, biking, in-line skating, jogging, skiing, snowboarding, swimming, diving, water sports, rock climbing, hang gliding, caving, boating, hiking, riding an animal or a vehicle, picking wild or cultivated plants, picnicking, gleaning, rock collecting, nature study, outdoor sports, noncommercial aviation, visiting or enjoying archaeological, scenic, natural, or scientific sites, or other similar activities. See
• said: when used by way of reference to a person or thing shall apply to the same person or thing last mentioned. See
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• 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 may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
• State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See
• Statement: means a statement of partnership authority under section 3223 of this title, a statement of denial under section 3224 of this title, a statement of dissociation under section 3264 of this title, a statement of dissolution under section 3275 of this title, a statement of merger under section 3287 of this title, a statement of qualification under section 3291 of this title, a statement of foreign qualification under section 3302 of this title; or an amendment or cancellation of any of the foregoing. See
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Timber: means trees, saplings, seedlings, and sprouts from which trees of every size, nature, kind, and description may grow. See
• Timber harvest: means a forestry operation involving the harvesting of timber. See
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Town: shall include city and wards or precincts therein; "selectboard members" and "board of civil authority" shall extend to and include the mayor and aldermen of cities; "trustees" shall extend to and include bailiffs of incorporated villages; and the laws applicable to the inhabitants and officers of towns shall be applicable to the inhabitants and similar officers of all municipal corporations. See
• Transfer: includes an assignment, conveyance, lease, mortgage, deed, and encumbrance. See
• 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.
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.