Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 2.2 > Subtitle II > Part B > Chapter 48 - Virginia Debt Collection Act

• Abandon: means to desert, forsake, or absolutely give up an animal without having secured another owner or custodian for the animal or by failing to provide the elements of basic care as set forth in § Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Accounts receivable: refers to the classification of debts due the Commonwealth, including judgments, fines, costs, and penalties imposed upon conviction for criminal and traffic offenses, and as defined in the guidelines adopted by the State Comptroller. See Virginia Code 2.2-4801
• Adequate feed: means access to and the provision of food that is of sufficient quantity and nutritive value to maintain each animal in good health; is accessible to each animal; is prepared so as to permit ease of consumption for the age, species, condition, size and type of each animal; is provided in a clean and sanitary manner; is placed so as to minimize contamination by excrement and pests; and is provided at suitable intervals for the species, age, and condition of the animal, but at least once daily, except as prescribed by a veterinarian or as dictated by naturally occurring states of hibernation or fasting normal for the species. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Adequate shelter: means provision of and access to shelter that is suitable for the species, age, condition, size, and type of each animal; provides adequate space for each animal; is safe and protects each animal from injury, rain, sleet, snow, hail, direct sunlight, the adverse effects of heat or cold, physical suffering, and impairment of health; is properly lighted; is properly cleaned; enables each animal to be clean and dry, except when detrimental to the species; during hot weather, is properly shaded and does not readily conduct heat; during cold weather, has a windbreak at its entrance and provides a quantity of bedding material consisting of hay, cedar shavings, or the equivalent that is sufficient to protect the animal from cold and promote the retention of body heat; and, for dogs and cats, provides a solid surface, resting platform, pad, floormat, or similar device that is large enough for the animal to lie on in a normal manner and can be maintained in a sanitary manner. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Adequate space: means sufficient space to allow each animal to (i) easily stand, sit, lie, turn about, and make all other normal body movements in a comfortable, normal position for the animal and (ii) interact safely with other animals in the enclosure. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Adequate water: means provision of and access to clean, fresh, potable water of a drinkable temperature that is provided in a suitable manner, in sufficient volume, and at suitable intervals appropriate for the weather and temperature, to maintain normal hydration for the age, species, condition, size and type of each animal, except as prescribed by a veterinarian or as dictated by naturally occurring states of hibernation or fasting normal for the species; and is provided in clean, durable receptacles that are accessible to each animal and are placed so as to minimize contamination of the water by excrement and pests or an alternative source of hydration consistent with generally accepted husbandry practices. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Administrative offset: includes , but is not limited to, offsetting any monies, except those specifically exempted by state or federal law, paid by agency or institution for a debt owed to any other state agency or institution. See Virginia Code 2.2-4801
• Adoption: means the transfer of ownership of a dog or a cat, or any other companion animal, from a releasing agency to an individual. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Adult: means a person 18 years of age or more. See Virginia Code 1-203
• 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.
• Agricultural animals: means all livestock and poultry. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Agricultural products: means any livestock, aquaculture, poultry, horticultural, floricultural, viticulture, silvicultural, or other farm crops. See Virginia Code 3.2-6400
• Agritourism activity: means any activity carried out on a farm or ranch that allows members of the general public, for recreational, entertainment, or educational purposes, to view or enjoy rural activities, including farming, wineries, ranching, horseback riding, historical, cultural, harvest-your-own activities, or natural activities and attractions. See Virginia Code 3.2-6400
• Agritourism professional: means any person who is engaged in the business of providing one or more agritourism activities, whether or not for compensation. See Virginia Code 3.2-6400
• 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.
• Animal: means any organism of the kingdom Animalia, other than a human being. See Virginia Code 3.2-5900
• Animal: means any nonhuman vertebrate species except fish. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Animal control officer: means a person appointed as an animal control officer or deputy animal control officer as provided in § Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• 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.
• 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
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Authority: means the BVU Authority created by entity conversion of Bristol Virginia Utilities by this chapter. See Virginia Code 15.2-7202
• Authority: means the respective political subdivisions of the Commonwealth created in this subpart. See Virginia Code 2.2-2200
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• Board: means the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
• Board: means the respective boards of directors for the authorities created in this subpart. See Virginia Code 2.2-2200
• Board of Directors: means the governing body of the Authority. See Virginia Code 15.2-7202
• Boarding establishment: means a place or establishment other than a public or private animal shelter where companion animals not owned by the proprietor are sheltered, fed, and watered in exchange for a fee. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Bonds: means any bonds, notes, debentures, bond acceptance notes, or other evidence of financial indebtedness either issued or assumed by the Authority pursuant to this chapter. See Virginia Code 15.2-7202
• Bonds: means any bonds, refunding bonds, notes, debentures, interim certificates, or any bond, grant, revenue anticipation notes or any other evidences of indebtedness or obligation of an authority, whether in temporary or definitive form and whether the interest thereon is exempt from federal income taxation. See Virginia Code 2.2-2200
• Business enterprise: means any (i) industry for the manufacturing, processing, assembling, storing, warehousing, servicing, distributing, or selling of any products of agriculture, mining, or industry or professional services; (ii) commercial enterprise making sales or providing services to industries described in clause (i); (iii) enterprise for research and development, including scientific laboratories; (iv) not-for-profit entity operating in the Commonwealth; (v) entity acquiring, constructing, improving, maintaining, or operating a qualified transportation facility under the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 (§ Virginia Code 2.2-2279
• care: means the responsible practice of good animal husbandry, handling, production, management, confinement, feeding, watering, protection, shelter, transportation, treatment, and, when necessary, euthanasia, appropriate for the age, species, condition, size and type of the animal and the provision of veterinary care when needed to prevent suffering or impairment of health. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
• Collar: means a well-fitted device, appropriate to the age and size of the animal, attached to the animal's neck in such a way as to prevent trauma or injury to the animal. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Commercial dog breeder: means any person who, during any 12-month period, maintains 30 or more adult female dogs for the primary purpose of the sale of their offspring provided that a person who breeds an animal regulated under federal law as a research animal shall not be deemed to be a commercial dog breeder. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
• Commonwealth: means the Commonwealth of Virginia. See Virginia Code 15.2-7202
• Companion animal: means any domestic or feral dog, domestic or feral cat, nonhuman primate, guinea pig, hamster, rabbit not raised for human food or fiber, exotic or native animal, reptile, exotic or native bird, or any feral animal or any animal under the care, custody, or ownership of a person or any animal that is bought, sold, traded, or bartered by any person. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Consumer: means any natural person purchasing an animal from a dealer or pet shop or hiring the services of a boarding establishment. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• County: means any existing county or such unit hereafter created. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dealer: means any person who in the regular course of business for compensation or profit buys, sells, transfers, exchanges, or barters companion animals. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the Department of Education. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Department: means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
• Division: means the Division of Debt Collection of the Office of the Attorney General created pursuant to § Virginia Code 2.2-4801
• Division superintendent: means the division superintendent of schools of a school division. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Dump: means to knowingly desert, forsake, or absolutely give up without having secured another owner or custodian any dog, cat, or other companion animal in any public place including the right-of-way of any public highway, road or street or on the property of another. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Elementary: includes kindergarten. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• elementary or secondary: include elementary, middle, and high school grades. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Enclosure: means a structure used to house or restrict animals from running at large. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Euthanasia: means the humane destruction of an animal accomplished by a method that involves instantaneous unconsciousness and immediate death or by a method that involves anesthesia, produced by an agent that causes painless loss of consciousness, and death during such loss of consciousness. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• 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.
• Evidence-based literacy instruction: means structured instructional practices, including sequential, systematic, explicit, and cumulative teaching, that (i) are based on reliable, trustworthy, and valid evidence consistent with science-based reading research; (ii) are used in core or general instruction, supplemental instruction, intervention services, and intensive intervention services; (iii) have a demonstrated record of success in adequately increasing students' reading competency, vocabulary, oral language, and comprehension and in building mastery of the foundational reading skills of phonological and phonemic awareness, alphabetic principle, phonics, spelling, and text reading fluency; and (iv) are able to be differentiated in order to meet the individual needs of students. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• exercise: means the opportunity for the animal to move sufficiently to maintain normal muscle tone and mass for the age, species, size, and condition of the animal. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Exhibitor: means any person who has animals for or on public display, excluding an exhibitor licensed by the U. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Facility: means a building or portion thereof as designated by the State Veterinarian, other than a private residential dwelling and its surrounding grounds, that is used to contain a primary enclosure or enclosures in which animals are housed or kept. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• farm: means any person that obtains at least 51 percent of its annual gross income from agricultural operations and produces the agricultural waste used as feedstock for the waste-to-energy technology, (ii) "agricultural waste" means biomass waste materials capable of decomposition that are produced from the raising of plants and animals during agricultural operations, including animal manures, bedding, plant stalks, hulls, and vegetable matter, and (iii) "waste-to-energy technology" means any technology, including but not limited to a methane digester, that converts agricultural waste into gas, steam, or heat that is used to generate electricity on-site. See Virginia Code 1-222.1
• Farm or ranch: means one or more areas of land used for the production, cultivation, growing, harvesting or processing of agricultural products. See Virginia Code 3.2-6400
• Farming activity: means , consistent with standard animal husbandry practices, the raising, management, and use of agricultural animals to provide food, fiber, or transportation and the breeding, exhibition, lawful recreational use, marketing, transportation, and slaughter of agricultural animals pursuant to such purposes. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• 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.
• 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}
• Foster care provider: means a person who provides care or rehabilitation for companion animals through an affiliation with a public or private animal shelter, home-based rescue, releasing agency, or other animal welfare organization. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Foster home: means a private residential dwelling and its surrounding grounds, or any facility other than a public or private animal shelter, at which site through an affiliation with a public or private animal shelter, home-based rescue, releasing agency, or other animal welfare organization care or rehabilitation is provided for companion animals. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Governing body: means the board of supervisors of a county, council of a city, or council of a town, as the context may require. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Groomer: means any person who, for a fee, cleans, trims, brushes, makes neat, manicures, or treats for external parasites any animal. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• 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.
• Home-based rescue: means an animal welfare organization that takes custody of companion animals for the purpose of facilitating adoption and houses such companion animals in a foster home or a system of foster homes. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Humane: means any action taken in consideration of and with the intent to provide for the animal's health and well-being. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Humane investigator: means a person who has been appointed by a circuit court as a humane investigator as provided in § Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Humane society: means any incorporated, nonprofit organization that is organized for the purposes of preventing cruelty to animals and promoting humane care and treatment or adoptions of animals. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Virginia Code 1-257
• Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
• Incorporated: means organized and maintained as a legal entity in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• 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}
• inhabitants: means with reference to any county, city, town, political subdivision of the Commonwealth or any combination thereof, the natural persons in such county, city, town, political subdivision or combination as shown by the unadjusted United States decennial census last preceding the time at which any provision dependent upon population is being applied or the time as of which it is being construed. See Virginia Code 1-235
• Inspector: means a State Animal Welfare Inspector employed pursuant to § Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• 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}
• 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.
• Kennel: means any establishment in which five or more canines, felines, or hybrids of either are kept for the purpose of breeding, hunting, training, renting, buying, boarding, selling, or showing. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Law-enforcement officer: means any person who is a full-time or part-time employee of a police department or sheriff's office that is part of or administered by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof and who is responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of the penal, traffic or highway laws of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• 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}
• Lender: means any federal- or state-chartered bank, federal land bank, production credit association, bank for cooperatives, federal- or state-chartered savings institution, building and loan association, small business investment company, or any other financial institution qualified within the Commonwealth to originate and service loans, including insurance companies, credit unions, investment banking or brokerage companies, and mortgage loan companies. See Virginia Code 2.2-2279
• 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.
• Livestock: includes all domestic or domesticated bovine animals; equine animals; ovine animals; porcine animals; cervidae animals; capradae animals; animals of the genus Lama or Vicugna; ratites; fish or shellfish in aquaculture facilities, as defined in § Virginia Code 3.2-5900
• Livestock: includes all domestic or domesticated: bovine animals; equine animals; ovine animals; porcine animals; cervidae animals; capradae animals; animals of the genus Lama or Vicugna; ratites; fish or shellfish in aquaculture facilities, as defined in § Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Loan: means any lease, loan agreement, or sales contract defined as follows:

  1. See Virginia Code 2.2-2279

• Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
• Middle school: means separate schools for early adolescents and the middle school grades that might be housed at elementary or high schools. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• New owner: means an individual who is legally competent to enter into a binding agreement pursuant to subdivision B 2 of § Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• 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.
• Ordinance: means any law, rule, regulation, or ordinance adopted by the governing body of any locality. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Other officer: includes all other persons employed or elected by the people of Virginia, or by any locality, whose duty it is to preserve the peace, to make arrests, or to enforce the law. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Owner: means any person who: (i) has a right of property in an animal; (ii) keeps or harbors an animal; (iii) has an animal in his care; or (iv) acts as a custodian of an animal. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Ox activity: means : (i) ox shows, fairs, competitions, rodeos, pulling, driving, performances, or parades; (ii) ox training or teaching activities; (iii) boarding oxen; (iv) riding, inspecting, or evaluating an ox belonging to another whether or not the owner has received some monetary consideration or other thing of value for the use of the ox or is permitting a prospective purchaser of the ox to ride, inspect, or evaluate the ox; and (v) rides, trips or other ox activities of any type however informal or impromptu that are sponsored by an ox activity sponsor. See Virginia Code 3.2-6300
• Ox activity sponsor: means any person or his agent who, for profit or not for profit, sponsors, organizes, or provides the facilities for an ox activity, including 4-H clubs, riding clubs, school-sponsored and college-sponsored classes and programs, therapeutic riding programs, and operators, instructors, and promoters of ox facilities, including stables, fairs, and arenas where the activity is held. See Virginia Code 3.2-6300
• Ox professional: means a person or his agent engaged for compensation in: (i) instructing a participant or renting to a participant an ox for the purpose of riding, driving, or being a passenger upon an ox; or (ii) renting equipment or tack to a participant. See Virginia Code 3.2-6300
• parents: means any parent, guardian, legal custodian, or other person having control or charge of a child. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Participant: means any person, whether amateur or professional, who directly engages in an ox activity, whether or not a fee is paid to participate in the ox activity. See Virginia Code 3.2-6300
• Participant: means any person, other than an agritourism professional, who engages in an agritourism activity. See Virginia Code 3.2-6400
• 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.
• Past-due: means any account receivable for which payment has not been received by the payment due date. See Virginia Code 2.2-4801
• Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
• Person of school age: means a person who will have reached his fifth birthday on or before September 30 of the school year and who has not reached twenty years of age on or before August 1 of the school year. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Pet shop: means a retail establishment where companion animals are bought, sold, exchanged, or offered for sale or exchange to the general public. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Political subdivision: means , when referring to an entity other than the Authority, a locality, authority, or other public body of the Commonwealth or of any state in which the Authority does business. See Virginia Code 15.2-7202
• Poultry: includes all domestic fowl and game birds raised in captivity. See Virginia Code 3.2-5900
• Poultry: includes all domestic fowl and game birds raised in captivity. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• 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}
• Primary enclosure: means any structure used to immediately restrict an animal or animals to a limited amount of space, such as a room, pen, cage, compartment, or hutch. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Private animal shelter: means a facility operated for the purpose of finding permanent adoptive homes for animals that is used to house or contain animals and that is owned or operated by an incorporated, nonprofit, and nongovernmental entity, including a humane society, animal welfare organization, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, or any other similar organization. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
• Properly cleaned: means that carcasses, debris, food waste, and excrement are removed from the primary enclosure with sufficient frequency to minimize the animals' contact with the above-mentioned contaminants; the primary enclosure is sanitized with sufficient frequency to minimize odors and the hazards of disease; and the primary enclosure is cleaned so as to prevent the animals confined therein from being directly or indirectly sprayed with the stream of water, or directly or indirectly exposed to hazardous chemicals or disinfectants. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public animal shelter: means a facility operated by the Commonwealth, or any locality, for the purpose of impounding or sheltering seized, stray, homeless, abandoned, unwanted, or surrendered animals or a facility operated for the same purpose under a contract with any locality. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Recess: A temporary interruption of the legislative business.
• Releasing agency: means (i) a public animal shelter or (ii) a private animal shelter, humane society, animal welfare organization, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, or other similar entity or home-based rescue that releases companion animals for adoption. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Research facility: means any place, laboratory, or institution licensed by the U. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• School board: means the school board that governs a school division. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Science-based reading research: means research that (i) applies rigorous, systematic, and objective observational or experimental procedures to obtain valid knowledge relevant to reading development, reading instruction, and reading and writing difficulties and (ii) explains how proficient reading and writing develop, why some children have difficulties developing key literacy skills, and how schools can best assess and instruct early literacy, including the use of evidence-based literacy instruction practices to promote reading and writing achievement. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• 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: means the Commonwealth of Virginia or any of its agencies or departments. See Virginia Code 2.2-2200
• State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
• state agency: means the same as that term is defined in § Virginia Code 1-206
• State agency and institution: means any authority, board, department, instrumentality, agency or other unit in any branch of state government. See Virginia Code 2.2-4801
• State Board: means the Board of Education. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• State Veterinarian: means the veterinarian employed by the Commissioner as provided in § Virginia Code 3.2-5900
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Superintendent: means the Superintendent of Public Instruction. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• sworn: means "affirm" or "affirmed. See Virginia Code 1-250
• 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: means any existing town or an incorporated community within one or more counties which became a town before noon, July 1, 1971, as provided by law or which has within defined boundaries a population of 1,000 or more and which has become a town as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-254
• Treasurer: includes the treasurer and his assistants of each county or city or other officer designated by law to collect taxes in such county or city. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• 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}
• United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255
• utility services: means and includes electric, water, sewer, and telecommunications, internet and cable television services, including all other services that might be lawfully rendered by use of its fiber optic system. See Virginia Code 15.2-7202
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Veterinary treatment: means treatment by or on the order of a duly licensed veterinarian. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Weaned: means that an animal is capable of and physiologically accustomed to ingestion of solid food or food customary for the adult of the species and has ingested such food, without nursing, for a period of at least five days. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500