Sections
Article 1 Drugs. 18.2-247 – 18.2-265
Article 1.1 . Drug Paraphernalia. 18.2-265.1 – 18.2-265.5
Article 1.2 . Sale of Ephedrine or Related Compounds. 18.2-265.6 – 18.2-265.18
Article 1.3 . Dextromethorphan Distribution Act. 18.2-265.19 – 18.2-265.21
Article 2 Driving Motor Vehicle, Etc., While Intoxicated. 18.2-266 – 18.2-273
Article 3 Transporting Dangerous Articles. 18.2-274
Article 3.1 . Transportation of Hazardous Materials. 18.2-278.1
Article 4 Dangerous Use of Firearms or Other Weapons. 18.2-279 – 18.2-287.5
Article 5 Uniform Machine Gun Act. 18.2-288 – 18.2-298
Article 6 “Sawed-Off” Shotgun and “Sawed-Off” Rifle Act. 18.2-299 – 18.2-307
Article 6.1 . Concealed Weapons and Concealed Handgun Permits. 18.2-307.1 – 18.2-308.016
Article 7 Other Illegal Weapons. 18.2-308.1 – 18.2-311.2
Article 8 Miscellaneous Dangerous Conduct. 18.2-312 – 18.2-324.2

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Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 18.2 > Chapter 7 - Crimes Involving Health and Safety

  • Abstract of judgment: In a federal criminal proceeding, A certification from a U.S. District Court clerk that a judgment of restitution was entered against the defendant owing to the victim. If the defendant inherits, owns, or sells real property or holdings, these assets can then be attached at the state and local levels as well.
  • Abused or neglected child: means any child less than 18 years of age:

    1. See Virginia Code 63.2-100

  • administrative support order: means a noncourt-ordered legally enforceable support obligation having the force and effect of a support order established by the court. See Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • Adoptive home: means any family home selected and approved by a parent, local board or a licensed child-placing agency for the placement of a child with the intent of adoption. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Adult: means any person 60 years of age or older, or any person 18 years of age or older who is incapacitated and who resides in the Commonwealth; provided, however, "adult" may include qualifying nonresidents who are temporarily in the Commonwealth and who are in need of temporary or emergency protective services. See Virginia Code 63.2-1603
  • Adult abuse: means the willful infliction of physical pain, injury or mental anguish or unreasonable confinement of an adult as defined in § Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Adult day center: means any facility that is either operated for profit or that desires licensure and that provides supplementary care and protection during only a part of the day to four or more adults who are aged or infirm or who have disabilities and who reside elsewhere, except (i) a facility or portion of a facility licensed by the State Board of Health or the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, and (ii) the home or residence of an individual who cares for only persons related to him by blood or marriage. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Adult foster care: means room and board, supervision, and special services to an adult who has a physical or mental condition. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
  • 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.
  • Annual report: means the report required to be filed by a guardian pursuant to § Virginia Code 64.2-2000
  • 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.
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Assignment of rights: means the legal procedure whereby an individual assigns support rights to the Commonwealth on behalf of a dependent child or spouse and dependent child. See Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
  • Attorney-in-fact: A person who, acting as an agent, is given written authorization by another person to transact business for him (her) out of court.
  • Authorization to seek or enforce a support obligation: means a signed authorization to the Commonwealth to seek or enforce support on behalf of a dependent child or a spouse and dependent child or on behalf of a person deemed to have submitted an application by operation of law. See Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • 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.
  • Ballistic knife: means any knife with a detachable blade that is propelled by a spring-operated mechanism. See Virginia Code 18.2-307.1
  • Cash medical support: means the proportional amount the court or the Department shall order both parents to pay toward reasonable and necessary unreimbursed medical or dental expenses pursuant to subsection D of § Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • Child support services: means any civil, criminal or administrative action taken by the Division of Child Support Enforcement to locate parents; establish paternity; and establish, modify, enforce, or collect child support, or child and spousal support. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Child-protective services: means the identification, receipt and immediate response to complaints and reports of alleged child abuse or neglect for children under 18 years of age. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
  • Commissioner: means the Commissioner of the Department, his designee or authorized representative. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Committee membership: Legislators are assigned to specific committees by their party. Seniority, regional balance, and political philosophy are the most prominent factors in the committee assignment process.
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Conservator: includes (i) a local or regional program designated by the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services as a public conservator pursuant to Article 6 (§ Virginia Code 64.2-2000
  • Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
  • counterfeit controlled substance: means a controlled substance that, without authorization, bears, is packaged in a container or wrapper that bears, or is otherwise labeled to bear, the trademark, trade name, or other identifying mark, imprint or device or any likeness thereof, of a drug manufacturer, processor, packer, or distributor other than the manufacturer, processor, packer, or distributor who did in fact so manufacture, process, pack or distribute such drug. See Virginia Code 18.2-247
  • County: means any existing county or such unit hereafter created. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
  • Court: means the juvenile and domestic relations district court of the county or city. See Virginia Code 63.2-1501
  • Court order: means any judgment or order of any court having jurisdiction to order payment of support or an order of a court of comparable jurisdiction of another state ordering payment of a set or determinable amount of support moneys. See Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • Custodial parent: means the natural or adoptive parent with whom the child resides; a stepparent or other person who has physical custody of the child and with whom the child resides; or a local board that has legal custody of a child in foster care. See Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • Debt: means the total unpaid support obligation established by court order, administrative process or by the payment of public assistance and owed by a noncustodial parent to either the Commonwealth or to his dependent(s). See Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Defense attorney: Represent defendants in criminal matters.
  • Department: means the State Department of Social Services. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Department: means the Department of State Police. See Virginia Code 18.2-265.6
  • Department of Health and Human Services: means the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States government or any department or agency thereof that may hereafter be designated as the agency to administer the Social Security Act, as amended. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Department-sponsored health care coverage: means any health care coverage that the Department may make available through a private contractor for children receiving child support services from the Department. See Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • Dependent child: means any person who meets the eligibility criteria set forth in § Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
  • Dextromethorphan: means the dextrorotatory isomer of 3-methoxy-N-methylmorphinan and its salts. See Virginia Code 18.2-265.19
  • Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
  • Disposable income: means that part of the income due and payable of any individual remaining after the deduction of any amount required by law to be withheld. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
  • drug paraphernalia: means all equipment, products, and materials of any kind which are either designed for use or which are intended by the person charged with violating § Virginia Code 18.2-265.1
  • Electronic means: means service of a required notice by the Department through its secure online child support portal to any person who has agreed to accept service through the portal and has created a user account. See Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • electronic system: means a real-time electronic recordkeeping and monitoring system for the sale of ephedrine or related compounds. See Virginia Code 18.2-265.6
  • 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
  • Emergency: means (i) that an adult is living in conditions that present a clear and substantial risk of death or immediate and serious physical harm to himself or others or (ii) that an adult has been, within a reasonable period of time, subjected to an act of violence, force, or threat or been subjected to financial exploitation. See Virginia Code 63.2-1603
  • Employee: means any individual receiving income. See Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • Employer: means the source of any income. See Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • Ephedrine or related compounds: means ephedrine and pseudoephedrine base or their salts, isomers, or salts of isomers. See Virginia Code 18.2-265.6
  • Estate: includes both real and personal property. See Virginia Code 64.2-2000
  • Facility: means a state or licensed hospital, training center, psychiatric hospital, or other type of residential or outpatient mental health or mental retardation facility. See Virginia Code 64.2-2000
  • Fictive kin: means persons who are not related to a child by blood or adoption but have an established relationship with the child or his family. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
  • Fiduciary: includes a guardian, committee, trustee, executor, conservator, or personal representative. See Virginia Code 64.2-100
  • Financial exploitation: includes (i) an intentional breach of a fiduciary obligation to an adult to his detriment or an intentional failure to use the financial resources of an adult in a manner that results in neglect of such adult; (ii) the acquisition, possession, or control of an adult's financial resources or property through the use of undue influence, coercion, or duress; and (iii) forcing or coercing an adult to pay for goods or services against his will for another's profit, benefit, or advantage if the adult did not agree, or was tricked, misled, or defrauded into agreeing, to pay for such goods or services. See Virginia Code 63.2-1603
  • Financial institution: means a depository institution, an institution-affiliated party, any federal credit union or state credit union including an institution-affiliated party of such a credit union, and any benefit association, insurance company, safe deposit company, money market mutual fund, or similar entity authorized to do business in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • Financial institution staff: means any employee, agent, qualified individual, or representative of a bank, trust company, savings institution, loan association, consumer finance company, credit union, investment company, investment advisor, securities firm, accounting firm, or insurance company. See Virginia Code 63.2-1603
  • Financial records: includes , but is not limited to, records held by employers showing income, profit sharing contributions and benefits paid or payable and records held by financial institutions, broker-dealers and other institutions and entities showing bank accounts, IRA and separate contributions, gross winnings, dividends, interest, distributive share, stocks, bonds, agricultural subsidies, royalties, prizes and awards held for or due and payable to a responsible person. See Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. Source: OCC
  • Foreign support order: means any order issued outside of the Commonwealth by a court or tribunal as defined in § Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. Source: OCC
  • Foster care placement: means placement of a child through (i) an agreement between the parents or guardians and the local board where legal custody remains with the parents or guardians or (ii) an entrustment or commitment of the child to the local board or licensed child-placing agency. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Foster home: means a residence approved by a child-placing agency or local board in which any child, other than a child by birth or adoption of such person or a child who is the subject of a power of attorney to delegate parental or legal custodial powers by his parents or legal custodian to the natural person who has been designated the child's legal guardian pursuant to Chapter 10 of Title 20 and who exercises legal authority over the child on a continuous basis for at least 24 hours without compensation, resides as a member of the household. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
  • Guardian: means a person appointed by the court who has the powers and duties set out in § Virginia Code 64.2-2000
  • Guardian ad litem: means an attorney appointed by the court to represent the interests of the respondent and whose duties include evaluation of the petition for guardianship or conservatorship and filing a report with the court pursuant to § Virginia Code 64.2-2000
  • Handgun: means any pistol or revolver or other firearm, except a machine gun, originally designed, made, and intended to fire a projectile by means of an explosion of a combustible material from one or more barrels when held in one hand. See Virginia Code 18.2-307.1
  • Health care coverage: means any plan providing hospital, medical or surgical care coverage for dependent children provided such coverage is available and can be obtained by a parent, parents, or a parent's spouse at a reasonable cost. See Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • imitation controlled substance: when used in this article means (i) a counterfeit controlled substance or (ii) a pill, capsule, tablet, or substance in any form whatsoever which is not a controlled substance subject to abuse, and:

    1. See Virginia Code 18.2-247

  • Incapacitated person: means any adult who is impaired by reason of mental illness, intellectual disability, physical illness or disability, advanced age or other causes to the extent that the adult lacks sufficient understanding or capacity to make, communicate or carry out responsible decisions concerning his or her well-being. See Virginia Code 63.2-1603
  • Incapacitated person: means an adult who has been found by a court to be incapable of receiving and evaluating information effectively or responding to people, events, or environments to such an extent that the individual lacks the capacity to (i) meet the essential requirements for his health, care, safety, or therapeutic needs without the assistance or protection of a guardian or (ii) manage property or financial affairs or provide for his support or for the support of his legal dependents without the assistance or protection of a conservator. See Virginia Code 64.2-2000
  • Income: means any periodic or other form of payment due an individual from any source and shall include, but not be limited to, income from salaries, wages, commissions, royalties, bonuses, dividends, severance pay, payments pursuant to a pension or retirement program, interest, trust income, annuities, capital gains, social security benefits, workers' compensation benefits, unemployment insurance benefits, disability insurance benefits, veterans' benefits, spousal support, net rental income, gifts, prizes or awards. See Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • Independent contractor: means an individual who (i) provides any service performed for remuneration or under any contract of hire, written or oral, express or implied, and (ii) is not an employee pursuant to the definition of "employment" in § Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • Independent foster home: means a private family home in which any child, other than a child by birth or adoption of such person, resides as a member of the household and has been placed therein independently of a child-placing agency except (i) a home in which are received only children related by birth or adoption of the person who maintains such home and children of personal friends of such person; (ii) a home in which is received a child or children committed under the provisions of subdivision A 4 of § Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Independent living: means a planned program of services designed to assist a child age 16 and over and persons who are former foster care children or were formerly committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice and are between the ages of 18 and 21 in transitioning to self-sufficiency. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Independent physician: means a physician who is chosen by the resident of the assisted living facility and who has no financial interest in the assisted living facility, directly or indirectly, as an owner, officer, or employee or as an independent contractor with the residence. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • 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.
  • individual: means a current direct recipient of public or private mental health, developmental, or substance abuse treatment, rehabilitation, or habilitation services and includes the terms "consumer" "patient" "resident" "recipient" or "client. See Virginia Code 64.2-2000
  • Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
  • Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. Source: OCC
  • isomer: means the optical, position, and geometric isomers. See Virginia Code 18.2-247
  • Law-enforcement officer: means those individuals defined as a law-enforcement officer in § Virginia Code 18.2-307.1
  • Lawfully admitted for permanent residence: means the status of having been lawfully accorded the privilege of residing permanently in the United States as an immigrant in accordance with the immigration laws, such status not having changed. See Virginia Code 18.2-307.1
  • Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
  • license to operate a motor vehicle: shall mean any document issued under Chapter 3 of Virginia Code 18.2-6
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Limited conservator: means a person appointed by the court who has only those responsibilities for managing the estate and financial affairs of an incapacitated person as specified in the order of appointment. See Virginia Code 64.2-2000
  • Limited guardian: means a person appointed by the court who has only those responsibilities for the personal affairs of an incapacitated person as specified in the order of appointment. See Virginia Code 64.2-2000
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • Local board: means the local board of social services representing one or more counties or cities. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Local department: means the local department of social services of any county or city in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Local director: means the director or his designated representative of the local department of the city or county. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • marijuana: when used in this article means any part of a plant of the genus Cannabis, whether growing or not, its seeds or resin; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant, its seeds, its resin, or any extract containing one or more cannabinoids. See Virginia Code 18.2-247
  • Mental illness: means a disorder of thought, mood, emotion, perception, or orientation that significantly impairs judgment, behavior, capacity to recognize reality, or ability to address basic life necessities and requires care and treatment for the health, safety, or recovery of the individual or for the safety of others. See Virginia Code 64.2-2000
  • Mistake of fact: means an error in the identity of the payor or the amount of current support or arrearage. See Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
  • Noncustodial parent: means a responsible person who is or may be obligated under Virginia law for support of a dependent child or child's caretaker. See Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • Notary: means notary public. See Virginia Code 1-226
  • Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
  • Oath: includes affirmation. See Virginia Code 1-228
  • Obligee: means (i) an individual to whom a duty of support is or is alleged to be owed or in whose favor a support order has been issued or a judgment determining parentage has been rendered, (ii) a state or political subdivision to which the rights under a duty of support or support order have been assigned or that has independent claims based on financial assistance provided to an individual obligee, or (iii) an individual seeking a judgment determining parentage of the individual's child. See Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • Obligor: means an individual, or the estate of a decedent, who (i) owes or is alleged to owe a duty of support, (ii) is alleged but has not been adjudicated to be a parent of a child, or (iii) is liable under a support order. See Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • Parental placement: means locating or effecting the placement of a child or the placing of a child in a family home by the child's parent or legal guardian for the purpose of foster care or adoption. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Payee: means any person to whom spousal or child support is to be paid. See Virginia Code 63.2-1900
  • Personal knowledge: means knowledge of a fact that a person has himself gained through his own senses, or knowledge that was gained by a law-enforcement officer or prosecutor through the performance of his official duties. See Virginia Code 18.2-307.1
  • Petition: means the document filed with a circuit court to initiate a proceeding to appoint a guardian or conservator. See Virginia Code 64.2-2000
  • Pharmacy: means any establishment or institution from which drugs, medicines, or medicinal chemicals are dispensed or offered for sale or on which a sign is displayed bearing the words "apothecary" "druggist" "drugs" "drug store" "drug sundries" "medicine store" "pharmacist" "pharmacy" or "prescriptions filled" or any similar words intended to indicate that the practice of pharmacy is being conducted pursuant to a license issued under Chapter 33 of Title 54. See Virginia Code 18.2-265.6
  • Pharmacy: means any establishment or institution from which drugs, medicines, or medicinal chemicals are dispensed or offered for sale or on which a sign is displayed bearing the words "apothecary" "druggist" "drugs" "drug store" "drug sundries" "medicine store" "pharmacist" "pharmacy" "prescriptions filled" or any similar words intended to indicate that the practice of pharmacy is being conducted pursuant to a license issued under Chapter 33 of Title 54. See Virginia Code 18.2-265.19
  • 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:
  • Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
  • 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
  • Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
  • Preliminary hearing: A hearing where the judge decides whether there is enough evidence to make the defendant have a trial.
  • Prevention: means efforts that (i) promote health and competence in people and (ii) create, promote and strengthen environments that nurture people in their development. See Virginia Code 63.2-1501
  • 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.
  • Property: includes both real and personal property. See Virginia Code 64.2-2000
  • Public assistance: means Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); auxiliary grants to the aged, blind, and disabled; medical assistance; energy assistance; food stamps; employment services; child care; and general relief. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
  • Qualified assessor: means an entity contracting with the Department of Medical Assistance Services to perform nursing facility pre-admission screening or to complete the uniform assessment instrument for a home and community-based waiver program, including an independent physician contracting with the Department of Medical Assistance Services to complete the uniform assessment instrument for residents of assisted living facilities, or any hospital that has contracted with the Department of Medical Assistance Services to perform nursing facility pre-admission screenings. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Qualified individual: means a trained professional or licensed clinician who is not an employee of the local board of social services or licensed child-placing agency that placed the child in a qualified residential treatment program and is not affiliated with any placement setting in which children are placed by such local board of social services or licensed child-placing agency. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • real estate: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights and appurtenances thereto and interests therein, other than a chattel interest. See Virginia Code 1-219
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • 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).
  • Respondent: means an allegedly incapacitated person for whom a petition for guardianship or conservatorship has been filed. See Virginia Code 64.2-2000
  • Retail distributor: means an entity licensed to conduct business in the Commonwealth that offers for sale to the public at a retail outlet any nonprescription compound, mixture, or preparation containing ephedrine or related compounds. See Virginia Code 18.2-265.6
  • Retail distributor: means an entity licensed to conduct business in the Commonwealth that offers for sale to the public at a retail outlet any nonprescription compound, mixture, or preparation containing dextromethorphan. See Virginia Code 18.2-265.19
  • Sentencing guidelines: A set of rules and principles established by the United States Sentencing Commission that trial judges use to determine the sentence for a convicted defendant. Source: U.S. Courts
  • 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.
  • Sibling: means each of two or more children having one or more parents in common. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Social services: means foster care, adoption, adoption assistance, child-protective services, domestic violence services, or any other services program implemented in accordance with regulations adopted by the Board. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Special order: means an order imposing an administrative sanction issued to any party licensed pursuant to this title by the Commissioner that has a stated duration of not more than 12 months. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Spring stick: means a spring-loaded metal stick activated by pushing a button that rapidly and forcefully telescopes the weapon to several times its original length. See Virginia Code 18.2-307.1
  • Supreme Court: means the Supreme Court of Virginia. See Virginia Code 1-249
  • TANF: means the program administered by the Department through which a relative can receive monthly cash assistance for the support of his eligible children. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
  • Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
  • tetrahydrocannabinol: means any naturally occurring or synthetic tetrahydrocannabinol, including its salts, isomers, and salts of isomers whenever the existence of such salts, isomers, and salts of isomers is possible within the specific chemical designation and any preparation, mixture, or substance containing, or mixed or infused with, any detectable amount of tetrahydrocannabinol. See Virginia Code 18.2-247
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
  • Unfinished dextromethorphan: means dextromethorphan in the form of a "bulk drug substance" as defined in § Virginia Code 18.2-265.19
  • Uphold: The decision of an appellate court not to reverse a lower court decision.
  • Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.