Terms Used In West Virginia Code > Chapter 15 > Article 5 - Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management

• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• 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.
• 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.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Code: means the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended. See West Virginia Code 15-5-2
• Community facilities: means a specific work, or improvement within this state, or a specific item of equipment or tangible personal property owned or operated by any political subdivision or nonprofit corporation and used within this state to provide any essential service to the general public. See West Virginia Code 15-5-2
• Concurrent resolution: A legislative measure, designated "S. Con. Res." and numbered consecutively upon introduction, generally employed to address the sentiments of both chambers, to deal with issues or matters affecting both houses, such as a concurrent budget resolution, or to create a temporary joint committee. Concurrent resolutions are not submitted to the President/Governor and thus do not have the force of law.
• 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.
• Critical infrastructure: includes any systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the state that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, state economic security, state public health or safety, or any combination of those matters. See West Virginia Code 15-5-2
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Disaster: means the occurrence or imminent threat of widespread or severe damage, injury, or loss of life or property resulting from any natural, or terrorist, or man-made cause, including weapons of mass destruction, fire, flood, earthquake, wind, snow, storm, chemical or oil spill or other water or soil contamination, epidemic, air contamination, blight, drought, infestation, or other public calamity requiring emergency action. See West Virginia Code 15-5-2
• Emergency responder: as used in this article , shall mean anyone with special skills, qualifications, training, knowledge and experience in the public or private sectors that would be beneficial to a participating political subdivision in response to a locally declared emergency as defined in any applicable law or ordinance or authorized drill or exercises. See West Virginia Code 15-5-28
• Emergency services: means the preparation for and the carrying out of all emergency functions, other than functions for which military forces are primarily responsible, to protect, respond, and to prevent, detect, deter, and mitigate, to minimize and repair injury and damage resulting from disasters or other events caused by flooding, terrorism, enemy attack, sabotage, or other natural or other man-made causes. See West Virginia Code 15-5-2
• Essential business activities: means a specific work or improvement within this state or a specific item of equipment or tangible personal property used within this state by any person to provide any essential goods or critical infrastructure services determined by the authority to be necessary for continued operations during a disaster, state of emergency, or state of preparedness, and for recovery from a disaster. See West Virginia Code 15-5-2
• Essential workers: means employees or contractors that fall under the definition of essential business activities during a disaster, state of emergency, or state of preparedness. See West Virginia Code 15-5-2
• 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.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by printing, engraving, writing, or otherwise. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• 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.
• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• 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.
• 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}
• Local organization for emergency services: means an organization created in accordance with the provisions of this article by state or local authority to perform local emergency services function. See West Virginia Code 15-5-2
• Mobile support unit: means an organization for emergency services created in accordance with the provisions of this article by state or local authority to be dispatched by the Governor to supplement local organizations for emergency services in a stricken area. See West Virginia Code 15-5-2
• 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.
• 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.
• Person: means any individual, corporation, voluntary organization or entity, partnership, firm, or other association, organization, or entity organized or existing under the laws of this or any other state or country. See West Virginia Code 15-5-2
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• personal property: includes goods, chattels, real and personal, money, credits, investments, and the evidences thereof. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Political subdivision: means any county or municipal corporation in this state. See West Virginia Code 15-5-2
• 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.
• Residential housing: means a specific work or improvement within this state undertaken primarily to provide dwelling accommodations, including the acquisition, construction or rehabilitation of land, buildings and improvements thereto, for residential housing, including, but not limited to, facilities for temporary housing and emergency housing, and any other nonhousing facilities that are incidental or appurtenant thereto. See West Virginia Code 15-5-2
• Secretary: means the Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security. See West Virginia Code 15-5-2
• State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Temporary housing: means a specific work or improvement within this state undertaken primarily to provide dwelling accommodations, including the acquisition, construction or rehabilitation of land, buildings and improvements thereto, for temporary residential shelters or housing for victims of a disaster, and such other nonhousing facilities that are incidental or appurtenant thereto. See West Virginia Code 15-5-2
• 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.
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.