Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 13 > Chapter 57 - Larceny and Embezzlement

• 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.
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• 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}
• 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
• 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.
• 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
• 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.
• 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.
• Disease: means any disease, illness, ailment, or adverse physiological or chemical change linked to exposure to a proven toxic substance. See
• 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.
• Emancipated minor: means a minor who:

• 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}
• 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
• Exposure: means ingestion, inhalation, or absorption through any body surface. See
• Facility: means all contiguous land, structures, other appurtenances, and improvements on the land where proven toxic substances are manufactured, processed, used, or stored. See
• 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.
• 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.
• Inherent risk: means any danger or condition that is an integral part of, or arises from, an agritourism activity, including:

• Joint tenancy: A form of property ownership in which two or more parties hold an undivided interest in the same property that was conveyed under the same instrument at the same time. A joint tenant can sell his (her) interest but not dispose of it by will. Upon the death of a joint tenant, his (her) undivided interest is distributed among the surviving joint tenants.
• 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 :

• 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
• Merchandise: means any items of tangible personal property displayed, held, stored, or offered for sale. See
• Merchant: means an owner or manager of any retail mercantile establishment, or any person or persons in a supervisory capacity or security officer authorized in writing by the owner or manager to make requests or detentions under this subchapter. See
• Movable property: means property the location of which can be changed, including things growing on, affixed to, or found in land, and documents although the rights represented thereby have no physical location. See
• Municipality: shall include a city, town, town school district, incorporated school or fire district or incorporated village, and all other governmental incorporated units. 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.
• 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, 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
• Person: means any individual; partnership; company; corporation; association; unincorporated association; joint venture; trust; municipality; the State of Vermont or any agency, department, or subdivision of the State; federal agency; or any other legal or commercial entity. See
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Premises of a retail mercantile establishment: includes the retail mercantile establishment, any common use areas in shopping centers, and all parking areas set aside by a merchant or on behalf of a merchant for the parking of vehicles for the convenience of the patrons of the retail mercantile establishment. See
• Probate: Proving a will
• Property: means all property, real, personal, or mixed, tangible or intangible, or any interest therein. See
• Proven toxic substance: means any substance, mixture, or compound that may cause personal injury or disease to humans and that satisfies one or more of the following:

• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Reasonable force: means only that minimum amount of force necessary to detain the person who the merchant has reasonable cause to believe has committed the offense of retail theft. 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
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Retail mercantile establishment: means any place where merchandise is displayed or offered for sale to the public, including storage areas on the premises of such an establishment. See
• Retail value: means the merchant's indicated price of the merchandise at the time of the theft. See
• Risk of harm: means a significant danger that a child will suffer serious harm other than by accidental means, which would be likely to cause physical injury, neglect, emotional maltreatment, or sexual abuse. See
• said: when used by way of reference to a person or thing shall apply to the same person or thing last mentioned. See
• Services: includes labor, professional service, transportation, public services not provided for in section 2021 of this title, accommodation in hotels, restaurants, or elsewhere, admission to exhibitions, or amusements or recreational facilities, use of vehicles or other movable property. See
• 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.
• Tenancy in common: A type of property ownership in which two or more individuals have an undivided interest in property. At the death of one tenant in common, his (her) fractional percentage of ownership in the property passes to the decedent
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• 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
• 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.