Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 3 > Chapter 25 > Subchapter 3 - Rulemaking; Procedures; Guidance Documents

• Adopting authority: means , for agencies that are attached to the Agencies of Administration, of Commerce and Community Development, of Natural Resources, of Human Services, and of Transportation, or any of their components, the secretaries of those agencies; for agencies attached to other departments or any of their components, the commissioners of those departments; and for other agencies, the chief officer of the agency. See
• 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.
• Agency: means the Agency of Commerce and Community Development. See
• Agency: means a State board, commission, department, agency, or other entity or officer of State government, other than the Legislature, the courts, the Commander in Chief, and the Military Department, authorized by law to make rules or to determine contested cases. See
• Alcohol: means the product of distillation, fermentation, or chemical synthesis, including alcoholic beverages, ethyl alcohol, and nonpotable alcohol. See
• Alcoholic beverages: means malt beverages, vinous beverages, spirits, ready-to-drink spirits beverages, and fortified wines. See
• 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.
• 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.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• 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
• Arbitrary: when applied to an agency rule or action, means that one or more of the following apply:

• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Beedies: means a product containing tobacco that is wrapped in temburni leaf (diospyros melanoxylon) or tendu leaf (diospyros exculpra), or any other product that is offered to, or purchased by, consumers as bidis or beedies. See
• 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}
• biennially: shall mean the year in which a regular session of the General Assembly is held. See
• Board: means the Cannabis Control Board. See
• Board: means the Cannabis Control Board. See
• Board: means the Cannabis Control Board. See
• Board: means the Board of Liquor and Lottery. See
• Board of Liquor and Lottery: means the board of control appointed under the provisions of chapter 5 of this title. See
• Carrier: means an insurance company, a nonprofit medical or hospital service corporation, or a health maintenance organization which issues or provides a group health insurance policy or subscriber contract. See
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Liquor and Lottery. See
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Financial Regulation. See
• Commissioner of Liquor and Lottery: means the executive officer of the Board of Liquor and Lottery appointed under the provisions of chapter 5 of this title. 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.
• Consumer: means a natural person who buys other than for purposes of resale any tangible personal property that is distributed in commerce and that is normally used for personal, family, or household purposes, and not for commercial purposes. See
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Control commissioners: means the commissioners of a municipality appointed under section 166 of this title. See
• 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.
• Credit report: A detailed report of an individual's credit history prepared by a credit bureau and used by a lender in determining a loan applicant's creditworthiness. ^{Source: OCC}
• Credit Score: A number, roughly between 300 and 800, that measures an individual's credit worthiness. The most well-known type of credit score is the FICO score. This score represents the answer from a mathematical formula that assigns numerical values to various pieces of information in your credit report. ^{Source: OCC}
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• 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.
• Department: means the Department of Liquor and Lottery. See
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Dependent coverage: means family coverage, or coverage for one or more persons as long as the coverage for one or more persons is greater than or equal to the coverage available under family coverage. See
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dispensary: means a business organization licensed pursuant to chapter 37 of this title or 18 Vt. See
• Dispensary: means a business organization licensed under this chapter or 18 Vt. See
• Distant site: means the location of the health care provider delivering services through telemedicine at the time the services are provided. See
• Division: means the Division of Liquor Control in the Department of Liquor and Lottery. 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
• Employee: means , subject to subdivision (B) of this subdivision (1), an individual whose manner and means of work are subject to the right of control of, or are controlled by a person and whose compensation for federal income tax purposes is reported, or required to be reported, on a W-2 form issued by:

• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• 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}
• 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
• Federal Reserve System: The central bank of the United States. The Fed, as it is commonly called, regulates the U.S. monetary and financial system. The Federal Reserve System is composed of a central governmental agency in Washington, D.C. (the Board of Governors) and twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks in major cities throughout the United States. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Finance charge: The total cost of credit a customer must pay on a consumer loan, including interest. The Truth in Lending Act requires disclosure of the finance charge. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Fixed Rate: Having a "fixed" rate means that the APR doesn't change based on fluctuations of some external rate (such as the "Prime Rate"). In other words, a fixed rate is a rate that is not a variable rate. A fixed APR can change over time, in several circumstances:
  • You are late making a payment or commit some other default, triggering an increase to a penalty rate
  • The bank changes the terms of your account and you do not reject the change.
  • The rate expires (if the rate was fixed for only a certain period of time).
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• Fortified wines: means vinous beverages, including those to which spirits have been added during manufacture, containing at least 16 percent alcohol but not more than 23 percent alcohol by volume at 60 degrees Fahrenheit and all vermouths containing not more than 23 percent alcohol by volume at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. See
• Fourth-class license: means a license permitting a licensed manufacturer or rectifier to sell by the unopened container and distribute by sample, with or without charge, beverages manufactured by the licensee. See
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Germane: On the subject of the pending bill or other business; a strict standard of relevance.
• Grace period: The number of days you'll have to pay your bill for purchases in full without triggering a finance charge. ^{Source: Federal Reserve}
• Group health insurance policy or subscriber contract: means a policy or contract which meets the following conditions:

• 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.
• Guidance document: means a written record that has not been adopted in accordance with sections 836-844 of this title and that is issued by an agency to assist the public by providing an agency's current approach to or interpretation of law or describing how and when an agency will exercise discretionary functions. See
• Health care provider: means a person, partnership, or corporation, other than a facility or institution, that is licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized by law to provide professional health care services, including dental services, in this State to an individual during that individual's medical care, treatment, or confinement. See
• Health insurance plan: means a health benefit plan offered, administered, or issued by a health insurer doing business in Vermont. See
• Health insurance plan: means any health insurance policy or health benefit plan offered by a health insurer, as defined in 18 V. See
• Health insurance plan: means any health insurance policy or health benefit plan offered by a health insurer, as defined in 18 V. See
• Health plan: shall include a group health plan as defined under Section 607(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and a nongroup plan as defined in section 4080b of this title. See
• Home health agency: means a nonprofit home health agency which has been certified under Title 18 of the Social Security Act (42 U. See
• Home health care: means care and treatment provided by a home health agency and designed and supervised by a physician, without which care and treatment a person would require institutionalization in a hospital or skilled nursing facility as those are defined by Medicare regulations. See
• Housing finance agency: means any authority:

• Incorporation by reference: means the use of language in the text of a regulation that expressly refers to a document other than the regulation itself. See
• 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}
• Index: means a searchable list of entries that contains subjects and titles with page numbers, hyperlinks, or other connections that link each entry to the text or document to which it refers. See
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• insured: as used in this chapter , shall not be construed as preventing a person other than the insured with proper insurable interest from making application for and owning a policy covering the insured or from being entitled under such a policy to any indemnities, benefits, and rights provided therein. See
• Insurer: shall include any entity providing health insurance or a health plan, a health maintenance organization as defined in subdivision 5101(2) of this title, or a hospital or medical service corporation as defined in chapters 123 and 125 of this title. See
• 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.
• Justice: when applied to a person, other than a Justice of the Supreme Court, shall mean a justice of the peace for the county for which he or she is elected or appointed. See
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• Lead: means any information identifying a potential consumer of a loan. See
• 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}
• Legal age: means 21 years of age or older. See
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Loan processor or underwriter: means an individual who performs clerical or support duties as an employee at the direction and subject to the supervision and instruction of a person licensed, or exempt from licensing, under this chapter. See
• Loan solicitation: means , for compensation or gain or with the expectation of compensation or gain, to:

• Malt beverages: means all fermented beverages of any name or description manufactured for sale from malt, wholly or in part, or from any malt substitute, known as, among other things, beer, ale, or lager, containing not less than one percent nor more than 16 percent alcohol by volume at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. See
• Mammography: means the x-ray examination of the breast using equipment dedicated specifically for mammography, including the x-ray tube, filter, compression device, and digital detector. See
• Manufacturer: means a person that manufactures, produces, or markets goods and sells the goods under its own name or label; or manufactures or produces goods and the goods are sold under the trade name or label of another person. See
• medical or scientific evidence: means one or more of the following sources:

• Medically accepted indication: includes any use of a drug that has been approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration and includes another use of the drug if that use is prescribed by the insured's treating oncologist and supported by medical or scientific evidence. See
• Minor: means an individual who has not attained 21 years of age. 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.
• Mortgage broker: means any person who for compensation or gain, or in the expectation of compensation or gain, directly or indirectly negotiates, places, assists in placement, or finds, or offers to negotiate, place, assist in placement, or find mortgage loans, other than commercial loans, on real property for others. See
• Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. ^{Source: OCC}
• Mortgage loan originator:

• Municipality: shall include a city, town, town school district, incorporated school or fire district or incorporated village, and all other governmental incorporated units. See
• National Credit Union Administration: The federal regulatory agency that charters and supervises federal credit unions. (NCUA also administers the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which insures the deposits of federal credit unions.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Nontraditional mortgage product: means any mortgage product other than a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. 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.
• Off-label use: means the prescription and use of drugs for medically accepted indications other than those stated in the labeling approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration. See
• Originating site: means the location of the patient, whether or not accompanied by a health care provider, at the time services are provided by a health care provider through telemedicine, including a health care provider's office, a hospital, or a health care facility, or the patient's home or another nonmedical environment such as a school-based health center, a university-based health center, or the patient's workplace. See
• 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.
• Party: means each person or agency named or admitted as a party, or properly seeking and entitled as of right to be admitted as a party. See
• Person: means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, governmental subdivision, or public or private organization of any character other than an agency. 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
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Practice: means a substantive or procedural requirement of an agency, affecting one or more persons who are not employees of the agency, that is used by the agency in the discharge of its powers and duties. See
• Probate: Proving a will
• Procedure: means a practice that has been adopted in writing, either at the election of the agency or as the result of a request under subsection 831(b) of this title. See
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Provider: means a person who issues, makes, or provides a service contract, and who is contractually obligated to provide service under a service contract and is not the manufacturer. See
• Psychiatric disability: means an impairment of thought, mood, perception, orientation, or memory that limits one or more major life activities but does not include intellectual disability. See
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Qualifying medical condition: means :

• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• real estate: shall include lands, tenements, and hereditaments and all rights thereto and interests therein, and pews or slips in places of public worship shall be treated as real estate. See
• Real estate brokerage activity: means any activity that involves offering or providing real estate brokerage services to the public, including:

• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Registered mortgage loan originator: means any individual who:

• Registry: means the Vermont Medical Cannabis Registry. See
• Registry: means the Vermont Medical Cannabis Registry. See
• Residential mortgage loan application: means a request, in any form, for an offer, or a response to a solicitation of an offer, of residential mortgage loan terms, and information about the borrower or prospective borrower that is customary or necessary in a decision on whether to make such an offer. See
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Retail dealer: means any person who sells or furnishes malt beverages, vinous beverages, or ready-to-drink spirits beverages to the public. See
• road: shall include bridges thereon and their approaches. See
• Rule: means each agency statement of general applicability that implements, interprets, or prescribes law or policy and that has been adopted in the manner provided by sections 836-844 of this title. See
• said: when used by way of reference to a person or thing shall apply to the same person or thing last mentioned. See
• Sales finance company: means any person who has purchased one or more retail installment contracts, as defined in 9 V. See
• Screening: includes the mammography or ultrasound test procedure and a qualified physician's interpretation of the results of the procedure, including additional views and interpretation as needed. See
• Service contract: means any contract or agreement to perform or indemnify for a specific duration the repair, replacement, or maintenance of property for operational or structural failure due to a defect in materials, workmanship, or normal wear and tear, with or without additional provisions for incidental payment of indemnity under limited circumstances, including towing, rental, and emergency road service. See
• Service contract holder: means a person who is the purchaser or holder of a service contract. See
• Service contract reimbursement policy: means a policy of insurance providing full reimbursement coverage for all obligations and liabilities under the terms of a service contract issued by the provider. 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.
• Small business: means a business employing no more than 20 full-time employees. See
• Spirits: means beverages that contain more than one percent alcohol obtained by distillation, by chemical synthesis, or through concentration by freezing; vinous beverages containing more than 23 percent alcohol; and malt beverages containing more than 16 percent alcohol by volume at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. See
• 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
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Store and forward: means an asynchronous transmission of medical information, such as one or more video clips, audio clips, still images, x-rays, magnetic resonance imaging scans, electrocardiograms, electroencephalograms, or laboratory results, sent over a secure connection that complies with the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Pub. See
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Telemedicine: means the delivery of health care services, including dental services, such as diagnosis, consultation, or treatment through the use of live interactive audio and video over a secure connection that complies with the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Pub. See
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Tobacco cessation medication: means all therapies approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration for use in tobacco cessation. See
• Tobacco license: means a license issued by the Division of Liquor Control under this chapter permitting the licensee to engage in the retail sale of tobacco products. See
• Tobacco paraphernalia: means any device used, intended for use, or designed for use in smoking, inhaling, ingesting, or otherwise introducing tobacco products into the human body, or for preparing tobacco for smoking, inhaling, ingesting, or otherwise introducing into the human body, including devices for holding tobacco, rolling paper, wraps, cigarette rolling machines, pipes, water pipes, carburetion devices, bongs, and hookahs. See
• Tobacco products: means cigarettes, little cigars, roll-your-own tobacco, snuff, cigars, new smokeless tobacco, and other tobacco products as defined in 32 V. See
• Tobacco substitute: means products, including electronic cigarettes or other electronic or battery-powered devices, that contain or are designed to deliver nicotine or other substances into the body through the inhalation of vapor and that have not been approved by the U. See
• 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.
• Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. ^{Source: OCC}
• Village: shall mean an incorporated village. See
• Vinous beverages: means all fermented beverages of any name or description manufactured or obtained for sale from the natural sugar content of fruits or other agricultural product, containing sugar, the total alcoholic content of which is not less than one percent nor more than 16 percent by volume at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. See
• Warranty: means a warranty made solely by the manufacturer, importer, or seller of property or services, without charge, that is not negotiated or separated from the sale of the product and is incidental to the sale of the product, and that guarantees indemnity for defective parts, mechanical or electrical breakdown, labor, or other remedial measures, such as repair or replacement of the property or repetition of services. See
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.