Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 3 > Chapter 41 - Reorganization by Governor

• Acquittal:
  1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
  2. A verdict of "not guilty."
   
• action: shall include any proceeding or investigation by a grand jury commenced or about to be commenced, or any action, prosecution or proceeding; "witness" shall include a person whose testimony is desired in any such action; and the word "state" shall include any territory of the United States and District of Columbia. See
• 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.
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• 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.
• Appearance bond: means a written agreement that allows a person charged with a criminal offense to be released if the person pledges to pay the court a specified amount in the event the person fails to appear at a court proceeding. See
• Arraignment: A proceeding in which an individual who is accused of committing a crime is brought into court, told of the charges, and asked to plead guilty or not guilty.
• 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.
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• Bail: means any security, including cash, pledged to the court to ensure that a person charged with a criminal offense will appear at future court proceedings. See
• 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.
• Business: includes every trade, occupation, and profession. See
• certificate of limited partnership: means the certificate referred to in section 3411 of this title, and the certificate as amended or restated. See
• Clinical assessment: means the procedures, to be conducted after a client has been screened, by which a licensed or otherwise approved counselor identifies and evaluates an individual's strengths, weaknesses, problems, and needs for the development of a treatment plan. See
• Collateral consequence: means a mandatory sanction or a discretionary disqualification. See
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: includes an adjudication for delinquency for purposes of this chapter only, unless otherwise specified. 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.
• Court: means the Criminal Division of the Superior Court. See
• Court: means the Criminal Division of the Superior Court. See
• Criminal history record: means all information documenting an individual's contact with the criminal justice system, including data regarding identification, arrest or citation, arraignment, judicial disposition, custody, and supervision. See
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decision-maker: means the State acting through a department, agency, officer, or instrumentality, including a political subdivision, educational institution, board, or commission, or its employees or a government contractor, including a subcontractor, made subject to this chapter by contract, by law other than this chapter, or by ordinance. See
• 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.
• Discretionary disqualification: means a penalty, disability, or disadvantage that an administrative agency, governmental official, or court in a civil proceeding is authorized, but not required, to impose on an individual on grounds relating to the individual's conviction of an offense. See
• 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
• 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}
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• 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.
• Flight from prosecution: means any action or behavior undertaken by a person charged with a criminal offense to avoid court proceedings. See
• Foreign limited liability partnership: means a partnership that:

• foreign limited partnership: means a partnership formed under laws other than the laws of this State and having as partners one or more general partners and one or more limited partners. See
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• General partner: means a person who has been admitted to a limited partnership as a general partner in accordance with the partnership agreement and named in the certificate of limited partnership as a general partner. See
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Impeachment: (1) The process of calling something into question, as in "impeaching the testimony of a witness." (2) The constitutional process whereby the House of Representatives may "impeach" (accuse of misconduct) high officers of the federal government for trial in the Senate.
• Incarceration: means confinement in jail or prison. See
• 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.
• Juror: A person who is on the jury.
• 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
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• 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
• Limited partner: means a person who has been admitted to a limited partnership as a limited partner in accordance with the partnership agreement. See
• Magistrate: shall mean any Supreme Court Justice, Superior judge, District judge, or Probate judge. See
• Mandatory sanction: means a penalty, disability, or disadvantage imposed on an individual as a result of the individual's conviction of an offense which applies by operation of law whether or not the penalty, disability, or disadvantage is included in the judgment or sentence. See
• Needs screening: means a preliminary systematic procedure to evaluate the likelihood that an individual has a substance abuse or a mental health condition. See
• 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.
• 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.
• Offense: means a felony, misdemeanor, or delinquent act under the laws of this State, another state, or the United States. See
• Partner: means a limited or general partner. 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
• Partnership agreement: means any valid agreement, written or oral, of the partners as to the affairs of a limited partnership and the conduct of its business. See
• Person: means a natural person, partnership, limited partnership (domestic or foreign), trust, estate, association, corporation, or limited liability company. See
• Personal estate: shall include all property other than real estate. See
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Plea agreement: An arrangement between the prosecutor, the defense attorney, and the defendant in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for special considerations. ^Source:
• Predicate offense: means a criminal offense that can be used to enhance a sentence levied for a later conviction and includes operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or other substance in violation of 23 V. See
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Qualifying crime: means :

• 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
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Risk assessment: means a pretrial assessment that is designed to be predictive of a person's failure to appear in court and risk of violating pretrial conditions of release with a new alleged offense. See
• Secured appearance bond: means a written agreement which allows a person charged with a criminal offense to be released if:

• 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.
• sexual orientation: means female or male homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality. 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
• State: means a state of the U. See
• State: means a state, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 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.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Surety: means :

• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• 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.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.