Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 23.1 > Subtitle I - General Provisions

• 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
• 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
• Agent: means a person who is employed by any institution of higher education or non-college degree school, whether such institution or school is located within or outside the Commonwealth, to act as an agent, solicitor, procurer, broker, or independent contractor to procure students or enrollees for any such institution or school by solicitation in any form at any place in the Commonwealth other than the office or principal location of such institution or school. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Agricultural animals: means all livestock and poultry. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• 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 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
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Applicant: means any person who applies to a creditor directly for an extension, renewal, or continuation of credit, or applies to a creditor indirectly by use of an existing credit plan for an amount exceeding the previously established credit limit. See Virginia Code 6.2-500
• 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
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Associate-degree-granting: means that an associate degree is the most advanced degree that is granted. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• 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
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Board: means the Board of Historic Resources. See Virginia Code 10.1-2200
• Board of supervisors: means the governing body of a county. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Brand: means a term, design, trademark or product name under which a regulated product is distributed. See Virginia Code 3.2-3600
• Bulk: means in nonpackaged form. See Virginia Code 3.2-3600
• 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
• Certificate: includes a diploma. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Civil forfeiture: The loss of ownership of property used to conduct illegal activity.
• 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
• College: means any associate-degree-granting institution of higher education or institution of higher education at which a bachelor's degree is the most advanced degree that is granted. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• College degree: means an undergraduate degree from an accredited associate-degree-granting or baccalaureate (i) public institution of higher education or (ii) private institution of higher education. See Virginia Code 23.1-300
• Commercial fertilizer: means a fertilizer distributed for farm use, or for any other use, other than any specialty fertilizer use. See Virginia Code 3.2-3600
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• 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.
• Contractor-applicator: means any person required to hold a permit to apply any regulated product pursuant to § Virginia Code 3.2-3600
• Cost of education: means the operating funds necessary during a fiscal year to provide educational and general services, other than research and public service, to students attending an institution in that fiscal year. See Virginia Code 23.1-300
• Council: means the governing body of a city or town. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Council: means the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Country buyer: means any person who buys small grains from a producer. See Virginia Code 3.2-2200
• County: means any existing county or such unit hereafter created. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Credit: means the right granted by a creditor to a debtor to defer payment of debt or to incur debt and defer its payment or to purchase property or services and defer payment therefor. See Virginia Code 6.2-500
• Creditor: means any person who regularly extends, renews, or continues credit; any person who regularly arranges for the extension, renewal, or continuation of credit; or any assignee of an original creditor who participates in the decision to extend, renew, or continue credit. See Virginia Code 6.2-500
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Degree: means any earned award at the associate, baccalaureate, graduate, first professional, or specialist levels that represents satisfactory completion of the requirements of a program or course of study or instruction beyond the secondary school level. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Degree credit: means any earned credits awarded for successful completion of the requirements of a course of study or instruction beyond the secondary school level that may be used toward completion of a certificate or degree. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Department: means the Department of Education. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Department: means the Department of Historic Resources. See Virginia Code 10.1-2200
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Direct and immediate threat: means any clear and imminent danger to an animal's health, safety or life. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Director: means the Director of the Department of Historic Resources. See Virginia Code 10.1-2200
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• distance learning modality: means any course offered by a postsecondary school for which the primary mode of instructional delivery is by television, videocassette or disc, film, radio, computer, or other telecommunications devices. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Division superintendent: means the division superintendent of schools of a school division. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• 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
• Educational and general fees: means fees over and above tuition charged for certain educational and general services. See Virginia Code 23.1-300
• Educational and general services: means services associated with instruction, academic support, student services, institutional support, research, public service, or operation and maintenance of physical plant, with adjustments based on particular state policies relating to specific institutional conditions. See Virginia Code 23.1-300
• Elementary: includes kindergarten. 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
• Equal Credit Opportunity Act: Prohibits creditors from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or because an applicant receives income from a public assistance program. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Ex officio: means service by virtue of one's office and includes voting privileges for ex officio members unless otherwise provided. See Virginia Code 1-215
• 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
• Exporter: means any person offering small grains for export sale. See Virginia Code 3.2-2200
• 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
• Fertilizer: means any substance containing one or more recognized plant nutrients, which is used for its plant nutrient content, and which is designed for use, or claimed to have value, in promoting plant growth. See Virginia Code 3.2-3600
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Fiduciary: includes a guardian, committee, trustee, executor, conservator, or personal representative. See Virginia Code 64.2-100
• Fiscal year: means the period from July 1 of one calendar year to June 30 of the next calendar year. See Virginia Code 23.1-300
• 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
• Fraudulent academic credential: means a certificate, academic transcript, or other document issued by a person or other entity that is not an institution of higher education that provides evidence of or demonstrates completion of coursework or academic credit that results in the issuance of a degree. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• 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
• 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
• Grade: means the percentage of total nitrogen (N), available phosphate (P205) and soluble potash (K20), stated in whole numbers in the same terms, order, and percentages as in the guaranteed analysis, except that fertilizer materials, specialty fertilizers, bone meal, manures and similar raw materials may be guaranteed in fractional units. See Virginia Code 3.2-3600
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• 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.
• Handler: means the operator of a stockyard, livestock dealership, slaughterhouse, packing plant, or livestock auction market, or any other person making a purchase from a sheep producer, at the point where the sheep is sold or traded. See Virginia Code 3.2-2100
• Handler: means any person who purchases small grains from a producer and any producer who transports and sells his own small grains out of state. See Virginia Code 3.2-2200
• 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 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
• institution: means any person or other entity, other than a public institution of higher education or any other entity authorized to issue bonds pursuant to Chapter 11 (§ Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Inter vivos: Transfer of property from one living person to another living person.
• Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party of an opposing party, who must answer them in writing under oath; a discovery device in a lawsuit.
• Joint resolution: A legislative measure which requires the approval of both chambers.
• 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
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Licensee: means the person who receives a license to distribute any regulated product under the provisions of this chapter. See Virginia Code 3.2-3600
• 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.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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
• Non-college degree school: includes academic-vocational non-college degree schools and vocational non-college degree schools. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Nondegree credit: means any earned credits awarded for successful completion of the requirements of a course of study or instruction beyond the secondary school level that may be used toward completion of a certificate but may not be used to earn a degree. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Nonlegislative citizen member: means any natural person who is not a member of the General Assembly of Virginia. See Virginia Code 1-225
• Nonprofit private institution of higher education: means any postsecondary school, as that term is defined in § Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Notary: means notary public. See Virginia Code 1-226
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oath: includes affirmation. See Virginia Code 1-228
• 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
• Out-of-state: means formed, chartered, established, or incorporated outside of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Outlays: Outlays are payments made (generally through the issuance of checks or disbursement of cash) to liquidate obligations. Outlays during a fiscal year may be for payment of obligations incurred in prior years or in the same year.
• 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
• parents: means any parent, guardian, legal custodian, or other person having control or charge of a child. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Peer institutions: means those institutions determined by the Council, in consultation with a public institution of higher education, the Secretary of Education or his designee, the Director of the Department of Planning and Budget or his designee, and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations or their designees, to be most similar to such public institution of higher education and provide a fair comparison in determining appropriate and competitive faculty salaries for such public institution of higher education. See Virginia Code 23.1-300
• Person: shall include individuals, a trust, an estate, a partnership, an association, an order, a corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity;

  6. See Virginia Code 8.01-2

• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal representative: includes the executor under a will or the administrator of the estate of a decedent, the administrator of such estate with the will annexed, the administrator of such estate unadministered by a former representative, whether there is a will or not, any person who is under the order of a circuit court to take into his possession the estate of a decedent for administration, and every other curator of a decedent's estate, for or against whom suits may be brought for causes of action that accrued to or against the decedent. See Virginia Code 64.2-100
• 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.
• Postsecondary school: includes programs of academic, vocational, and continuing professional education, except courses or programs of continuing professional education set forth in subdivision B 4 of § Virginia Code 23.1-213
• 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}
• 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
• 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
• Processor: means any person who changes the physical form or characteristic of small grains in preparation for sale. See Virginia Code 3.2-2200
• Producer: means any person who has grown and sold small grains in the Commonwealth in the preceding three years. See Virginia Code 3.2-2200
• Program: means a curriculum or course of study in a discipline or interdisciplinary area that leads to a degree or certificate. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Proprietary: means privately owned, privately managed, and corporately structured as a for-profit entity. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Proprietary private institution of higher education: means any postsecondary school, as that term is defined in § Virginia Code 23.1-100
• 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
• 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
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Qualified education loan: means any qualified education loan obtained specifically to finance education or other school-related expenses. See Virginia Code 23.1-231
• Qualified education loan borrower: means (i) any current resident of the Commonwealth who has received or agreed to pay a qualified education loan or (ii) any person who shares responsibility with such resident for repaying the qualified education loan. See Virginia Code 23.1-231
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Regulated product: means any product governed by this chapter, including any fertilizer, specialty fertilizer, soil amendment, digestate, and horticultural growing medium. See Virginia Code 3.2-3600
• 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
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
• School board: means the school board that governs a school division. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Seedsman: means any person who offers small grains seeds for sale. See Virginia Code 3.2-2200
• Servicing: means (i) receiving any scheduled periodic payments from a qualified education loan borrower pursuant to the terms of a qualified education loan; (ii) applying the payments of principal and interest and such other payments, with respect to the amounts received from a qualified education loan borrower, as may be required pursuant to the terms of a qualified education loan; and (iii) performing other administrative services with respect to a qualified education loan. See Virginia Code 23.1-231
• Sheep: means sheep or lambs of all ages. See Virginia Code 3.2-2100
• Site: means a location in the Commonwealth where a postsecondary school (i) offers at least one course on an established schedule and (ii) enrolls at least two individuals who are not members of the same household, regardless of the presence or absence of administrative capability at such location. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Small grains: means barley, oats, rye, or wheat. See Virginia Code 3.2-2200
• 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
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• STEM: means science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. See Virginia Code 23.1-300
• sterilization: means a surgical or chemical procedure performed by a licensed veterinarian that renders a dog or cat permanently incapable of reproducing. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Student: means a full-time or part-time undergraduate, graduate, or professional student attending a public institution of higher education and enrolled in a degree program. See Virginia Code 23.1-300
• student enrollment: means the number of full-time equivalent students. See Virginia Code 23.1-300
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Superintendent: means the Superintendent of Public Instruction. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• sworn: means "affirm" or "affirmed. See Virginia Code 1-250
• System: means the Virginia Community College System. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Teachout plan: means a written agreement between or among postsecondary schools that provides for the equitable treatment of students if one party to the agreement ceases to offer an educational program before all students enrolled in that program complete the program. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Ton: means a unit of 2000 pounds avoirdupois weight. See Virginia Code 3.2-3600
• Town: means any existing town or an incorporated community within one or more counties which became a town before noon, July one, nineteen hundred seventy-one, 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 15.2-102
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• 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
• Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. ^{Source: OCC}
• University: means any baccalaureate institution of higher education. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Virginia student: means any student who has established domicile in the Commonwealth pursuant to § Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Voter: means a qualified voter as defined in § Virginia Code 15.2-102