Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 22.1 > Chapter 6 - Division Superintendents

• 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
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• 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.
• Associate-degree-granting public institution of higher education: includes Richard Bland College and each comprehensive community college. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Baccalaureate: means that bachelor's degrees or more advanced degrees, or both, are granted. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Baccalaureate public institution of higher education: includes Christopher Newport University, George Mason University, James Madison University, Longwood University, the University of Mary Washington, Norfolk State University, Old Dominion University, Radford University, the University of Virginia, the University of Virginia's College at Wise as a division of the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Military Institute, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia State University, and The College of William and Mary in Virginia. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• 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
• 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
• 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.
• Comprehensive community college: means an associate-degree-granting public institution of higher education governed by the State Board that offers instruction in one or more of the following fields:

  1. See Virginia Code 23.1-100

• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Council: means the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Date of the alleged entitlement: means the first official day of class within the term, semester, or quarter of the program of study in which a student is enrolled. See Virginia Code 23.1-500
• 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
• Department: means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
• Department: means the Department of Education. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Dependent student: includes unemancipated minors. See Virginia Code 23.1-500
• Direct and immediate threat: means any clear and imminent danger to an animal's health, safety or life. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Division superintendent: means the division superintendent of schools of a school division. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Domicile: means the present, fixed home of an individual to which he returns following temporary absences and at which he intends to stay indefinitely. See Virginia Code 23.1-500
• Domiciliary intent: means present intent to remain indefinitely. See Virginia Code 23.1-500
• Dual enrollment: means the enrollment of a qualified high school student in a postsecondary course that is creditable toward high school completion and a career certificate or an associate or baccalaureate degree at a public institution of higher education. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Elementary: includes kindergarten. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Emergency veterinary treatment: means veterinary treatment to stabilize a life-threatening condition, alleviate suffering, prevent further disease transmission, or prevent further disease progression. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Employed full time: means employed in a position resulting in at least an annual earned income reported for tax purposes equivalent to 50 work weeks of 40 hours at minimum wage. See Virginia Code 23.1-500
• 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.
• 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.
• 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
• 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.
• Governing board: includes the State Board and the board of visitors of each baccalaureate public institution of higher education. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• 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.
• 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
• Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
• Independent student: includes emancipated minors. See Virginia Code 23.1-500
• 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.
• 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
• Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
• Oath: includes affirmation. See Virginia Code 1-228
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• Private institution of higher education: includes each nonprofit private institution of higher education and proprietary private institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Public institution of higher education: includes the System as a whole and each associate-degree-granting and baccalaureate public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• School board: means the school board that governs a school division. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Sore: means , when referring to an equine, that an irritating or blistering agent has been applied, internally or externally, by a person to any limb or foot of an equine; any burn, cut, or laceration that has been inflicted by a person to any limb or foot of an equine; any tack, nail, screw, or chemical agent that has been injected by a person into or used by a person on any limb or foot of an equine; any other substance or device that has been used by a person on any limb or foot of an equine; or a person has engaged in a practice involving an equine, and as a result of such application, infliction, injection, use, or practice, such equine suffers, or can reasonably be expected to suffer, physical pain or distress, inflammation, or lameness when walking, trotting, or otherwise moving, except that such term does not include such an application, infliction, injection, use, or practice in connection with the therapeutic treatment of an equine by or under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• State Board: means the Board of Education. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• State Board: means the State Board for Community Colleges. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• State Veterinarian: means the veterinarian employed by the Commissioner as provided in § Virginia Code 3.2-5900
• Substantial financial support: means any amount of financial support received by a student that qualifies him to be listed as a dependent on federal and state income tax returns. See Virginia Code 23.1-500
• Superintendent: means the Superintendent of Public Instruction. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Surviving spouse: means the spouse of a military service member who, while serving as an active duty member in the Armed Forces of the United States, Reserves of the Armed Forces of the United States, or Virginia National Guard, during military operations against terrorism, on a peacekeeping mission, or as a result of a terrorist act, or in any armed conflict, was killed in action, became missing in action, or became a prisoner of war. See Virginia Code 23.1-500
• 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
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Unemancipated minor: means a minor student who has not been emancipated pursuant to Article 15 (§ Virginia Code 23.1-500
• 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
• Veteran: means an individual who has served on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States and who was discharged or released from such service under conditions other than dishonorable. See Virginia Code 23.1-500
• Veterinary treatment: means treatment by or on the order of a duly licensed veterinarian. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Virginia student: means any student who has established domicile in the Commonwealth pursuant to § Virginia Code 23.1-100