Terms Used In West Virginia Code > Chapter 3 > Article 3 - Voting by Absentees

• Administer: means to directly apply an epinephrine auto-injector to the body of an individual. See West Virginia Code 16-50-1
• 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.
• all elections: shall include every general, primary, or special election held in this state, or in any of its subdivisions, for the purpose of nominating or electing federal or state officers, or county, city, town or village officers of any subdivision now existing or hereafter created, or for the purpose of electing members of a Constitutional convention, or for voting upon any public question submitted to the people of the state or any of the aforesaid subdivisions. See West Virginia Code 3-1-2
• 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.
• 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.
• Applicant: means an individual who is being considered for employment or engagement with the department, a covered provider or covered contractor. See West Virginia Code 16-49-1
• 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.
• Athletic activity: means all the following:

  (a) Interscholastic athletics. See West Virginia Code 16-57-2

• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Authorized entity: means an entity or organization where allergens capable of causing a severe allergic reaction may be present. See West Virginia Code 16-50-1
• Authorized health care practitioner: means an allopathic physician licensed to practice pursuant to the provisions of article three, chapter . See West Virginia Code 16-50-1
• Background check: means a prescreening of registries specified by the secretary by rule and a fingerprint-based search of state and federal criminal history record information. See West Virginia Code 16-49-1
• 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}
• birthing facility: means an inpatient or ambulatory health care facility licensed by the Department of Health and Human Resources that provides birthing and newborn care services. See West Virginia Code 16-44-2
• board: means a board of health serving one or more counties or one or more municipalities or a combination thereof. See West Virginia Code 16-1-2
• Bureau: means the Bureau for Public Health in the department. See West Virginia Code 16-1-2
• Bureau: means a division within the Department of Health and Human Resources. See West Virginia Code 16-49-1
• Candidate: shall mean any person to be voted for at an election. See West Virginia Code 3-1-2
• Certificate of compliance: means a certificate that is issued to a recovery residence by the department's appointed certifying agency. See West Virginia Code 16-59-1
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Commissioner: means the State Tax Commissioner. See West Virginia Code 11-22-1
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of the bureau, who may be designated as the state health officer. See West Virginia Code 16-1-2
• 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.
• Corporation: means a corporation or joint-stock association, organized under the laws of this state, the United States or any other state, territory or foreign country or dependency including, but not limited to, banking institutions. See West Virginia Code 11-22-1
• Covered contractor: means an individual or entity, including their employees and subcontractors, that contracts with a covered provider to perform services that include any direct access services. See West Virginia Code 16-49-1
• Covered provider: means the following facilities or providers:

  (i) A skilled nursing facility. See West Virginia Code 16-49-1

• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources: Provided, That beginning January 1, 2024, as used in this chapter, "department" and "Department of Health and Human Resources" means the Department of Health. See West Virginia Code 16-1-2
• Department: means the Department of Health and Human Resources. See West Virginia Code 16-49-1
• Department: means the Department of Health and Human Resources. See West Virginia Code 16-50-1
• Department: means the Department of Health and Human Resources. See West Virginia Code 16-59-1
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Direct access: means physical contact with a resident, member, beneficiary, or client, or access to their property, personally identifiable information, protected health information, or financial information. See West Virginia Code 16-49-1
• Direct access personnel: means an individual who has direct access by virtue of ownership, employment, engagement or agreement with the department, a covered provider, or covered contractor. See West Virginia Code 16-49-1
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dispense: means the same as that term is defined in §. See West Virginia Code 16-56-1
• Dispense: means the same as that term is defined in §. See West Virginia Code 16-58-1
• Disqualifying offense: means :

  (A) A conviction of any crime described in 42 U. See West Virginia Code 16-49-1

• Election: shall mean the procedure whereby the voters of this state or any subdivision thereof elect persons to fill public offices, or elect members of a Constitutional convention, or vote on public questions. See West Virginia Code 3-1-2
• Emergency medical assistance: means medical services provided to a person who may be experiencing an overdose by a health care professional licensed, registered or certified under chapter thirty or chapter sixteen of this code acting within his or her lawful scope of practice. See West Virginia Code 16-47-3
• Epinephrine auto-injector: means a single-use device used for the automatic injection of a premeasured dose of epinephrine into the human body. See West Virginia Code 16-50-1
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• 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.
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• 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.
• Initial responder: means emergency medical service personnel, as defined in subdivision (g), section three, article four-c of this chapter, including, but not limited to, a member of the West Virginia State Police, a sheriff, a deputy sheriff, a municipal police officer, a volunteer or paid firefighter and any other person acting under color of law who responds to emergencies. See West Virginia Code 16-46-2
• Intangible property: Property that has no intrinsic value, but is merely the evidence of value such as stock certificates, bonds, and promissory notes.
• Interdisciplinary team: means a care team comprised of medical and nonmedical disciplines with specialty training or certification in palliative care and may include volunteers and lay workers. See West Virginia Code 16-61-2
• 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.
• Judgement: The official decision of a court finally determining the respective rights and claims of the parties to a suit.
• Judgment: includes decrees and orders for the payment of money, or the conveyance or delivery of land or personal property, or some interest therein, or any undertaking, bond or recognizance which has the legal effect of a judgment. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• 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.
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Licensed health care provider: means a person, partnership, corporation, professional limited liability company, health care facility or institution licensed by or certified in this state to provide health care or professional health care services. See West Virginia Code 16-46-2
• Limited liability company: means a limited liability company organized under the laws of this state, the United States or by any other state, territory or the District of Columbia. See West Virginia Code 11-22-1
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Local health department: means the staff of the local board of health. See West Virginia Code 16-1-2
• Local unit of government: means a county, municipality, or city. See West Virginia Code 16-63-1
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Negative finding: means a finding in the prescreening that excludes an applicant from direct access personnel positions. See West Virginia Code 16-49-1
• Notice of ineligibility: means a notice pursuant to §. See West Virginia Code 16-49-1
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• oath: shall be deemed to include an affirmation and the word "swear" or "sworn" to be complied with if the person referred to make solemn affirmation. See West Virginia Code 2-2-7
• Offense: includes every act or omission for which a fine, forfeiture, or punishment is imposed by law. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Office: shall be construed to mean "public office" which shall include (1) any elective office provided for by the Constitution or laws of the United States or of this state to which a salary or other compensation attaches, and (2) membership in a Constitutional convention. See West Virginia Code 3-1-2
• Opioid antagonist: means a federal Food and Drug Administration-approved drug for the treatment of an opiate-related overdose, such as naloxone hydrochloride or other substance, that, when administered, negates or neutralizes, in whole or in part, the pharmalogical effects of an opioid in the body. See West Virginia Code 16-46-2
• opioid drugs: means drugs that are members of the natural and synthetic opium family, including, but not limited to, heroin, morphine, codeine, methadone, oxycodone, hydrocodone, fentanyl and hydromorphone. See West Virginia Code 16-46-2
• Overdose: means an acute condition, including, but not limited to, life-threatening physical illness, coma, mania, hysteria or death, which is the result of the consumption or use of opioid drugs. See West Virginia Code 16-46-2
• Overdose: means an acute condition, including, but not limited to, life-threatening physical illness, coma, mania, hysteria or death, which is the result of the consumption or use of a controlled substance or alcohol. See West Virginia Code 16-47-3
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Palliative care: means an interdisciplinary team-based model of care process designed to relieve suffering and improve quality of life for patients and families facing serious, though not necessarily terminal, illness. See West Virginia Code 16-61-2
• 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.
• Patient counseling: means the same as that term is defined in §. See West Virginia Code 16-58-1
• Person: means every natural person, association or corporation. See West Virginia Code 11-22-1
• 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
• Pharmacist: means the same as that term is defined in §. See West Virginia Code 16-56-1
• Pharmacist: means the same as that term is defined in §. See West Virginia Code 16-58-1
• Photo therapy device: means a device used for exposure to daylight or to specific wavelengths of light using lasers, light-emitting diodes, fluorescent lamps, dichroic lamps or very bright, full-spectrum light, usually controlled with various devices. See West Virginia Code 16-45-1
• 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.
• 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}
• Prescreening: means a mandatory search of databases and registries specified by the secretary in legislative rule for exclusions and licensure status prior to the submission of fingerprints for a criminal history record information check. See West Virginia Code 16-49-1
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• program: means any program operated or approved by the Office of Emergency Medical Services as set forth in rules promulgated pursuant to this article. See West Virginia Code 16-46-2
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Rap back: means the notification to the department when an individual who has undergone a fingerprint-based, state or federal criminal history record information check has a subsequent state or federal criminal history event. See West Virginia Code 16-49-1
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• real property: include lands, tenements and hereditaments, all rights thereto and interests therein, except chattel interests. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Recovery residence: means a single-family, drug-free, and alcohol-free residential dwelling unit, or other form of group housing, that is offered or advertised by any person or entity as a residence that provides a drug-free and alcohol-free living environment for the purposes of promoting sustained, long-term recovery from substance use disorder. See West Virginia Code 16-59-1
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• School: means any school under the jurisdiction of a county board of education. See West Virginia Code 16-57-2
• Secretary: means the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources: Provided, That beginning January 1, 2024, as used in this chapter, "secretary" means the secretary of the Department of Health. See West Virginia Code 16-1-2
• Secretary: means the Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, or his or her designee. See West Virginia Code 16-49-1
• Self-administered hormonal contraceptive: means a self-administered hormonal contraceptive that is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration to prevent pregnancy and does not include the class of emergency contraceptives commonly known as the "morning after pill" or "Plan B". See West Virginia Code 16-58-1
• Self-administration: means an individual'. See West Virginia Code 16-50-1
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• 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.
• Standing order: means a written document containing rules, policies, procedures, regulations and orders for the conduct of patient care, including the condition being treated, the action to be taken and the dosage and route of administration for the drug prescribed. See West Virginia Code 16-46-2
• State Police: means the West Virginia State Police Criminal Identification Bureau. See West Virginia Code 16-49-1
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Tanning device: means any equipment that emits radiation used for tanning of the skin, such as a sun lamp, tanning booth or tanning bed, and includes any accompanying equipment, such as protective eye wear, timers and handrails. See West Virginia Code 16-45-1
• Tanning facility: means any commercial location, place, area, structure or business where a tanning device is used for a fee, membership dues or other compensation. See West Virginia Code 16-45-1
• Tax year: means the calendar year following the July first assessment day or, in the case of a public service business assessed pursuant to article six of this chapter, the calendar year beginning on the January first assessment day. See West Virginia Code 11-5-3
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Tobacco cessation therapy: means a tobacco cessation noncontrolled prescription medication, over-the-counter medication or other professional service, that is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for treating tobacco use including all of the of various dosage forms. See West Virginia Code 16-56-1
• Transaction: means the delivering, accepting or presenting for recording of a document. See West Virginia Code 11-22-1
• 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.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Uphold: The decision of an appellate court not to reverse a lower court decision.
• Value: means in the case of any document not a gift, the amount of the full actual consideration for the document, paid or to be paid, including the amount of any lien or liens assumed. See West Virginia Code 11-22-1
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Voter: shall mean any person who possesses the statutory and Constitutional qualifications for voting. See West Virginia Code 3-1-2