WHAT THE WORDS MEAN

Also called abandoned unit

A unit treated as abandoned only if the landlord reasonably believes the tenant moved out for good, rent has been unpaid for thirty days, and the tenant does not answer a posted and mailed notice within ten days.

Also called data breach, breach notice

What a person notifies each affected consumer of without unreasonable delay. If more than one thousand consumers are notified at one time, the attorney general's office and the consumer reporting agencies are told too.

Also called self help repossession limit

The one condition on a secured party that takes collateral back without judicial process, such as a car bought on credit. It may do that only if it proceeds without breach of the peace.

Also called booster seat, car seat

A seating system meeting federal safety standards that is designed to elevate a child to properly sit in a federally approved safety belt system. A child at least four years of age but less than eight years of age, at least forty pounds but less than eighty pounds, and less than four feet, nine inches tall rides in one or in a child passenger restraint system.

Also called fine only

The lowest misdemeanor class, carrying a fine of up to five hundred dollars and no term of imprisonment in the table.

Also called CCW, carry permit

A permit a county sheriff issues to a resident at least nineteen years old, or at least eighteen and serving in or honorably discharged from the armed forces.

Also called 96 hour hold, mental health hold, taken in for an evaluation

Detention for evaluation and treatment, begun by a court on an application, by a peace officer on reasonable cause to believe serious harm is imminent, or at a facility, and not to exceed ninety-six hours unless further detention is authorized.

Also called DWI, drunk driving

Operating a vehicle in an intoxicated condition. A class B misdemeanor for a first offense, rising for prior and persistent offenders.

Also called driving while suspended, suspended license

Operating a motor vehicle on a highway when the license is cancelled, suspended or revoked, acting with criminal negligence about knowing it. A first violation is a class D misdemeanor.

Also called custody, shared parenting

The rebuttable presumption that equal or approximately equal parenting time with each parent is in the child's best interests.

Also called BAC, per se

Operating a vehicle with eight hundredths of one percent or more by weight of alcohol in the blood, a separate offense from driving while intoxicated.

Also called clearing a record

Sealing the records of an offense on petition, at least three years after completing the sentence for a felony, or one year for a misdemeanor.

Also called lying to police

Knowingly giving false information to implicate another person, or making a false report of an offense or an emergency. A class B misdemeanor.

Also called final paycheck, last paycheck

Unpaid wages earned by a discharged employee, due on the day of the discharge, with or without cause.

Also called hazing medical amnesty, calling for help

A person who was the first to call for someone who appeared to need immediate medical help, gave their name, the address and the medical issue, and stayed and cooperated until help arrived. That person is not guilty of hazing.

Also called lockout, self help eviction

What a landlord is guilty of who removes or excludes a tenant without judicial process and a court order, removes the doors or locks, or willfully interrupts electric, gas, water or sewer service.

Also called assault, simple assault

Attempting to cause, or recklessly causing, physical injury, pain or illness, among the acts the section lists. A class A misdemeanor.

Also called wage garnishment

Taking part of a week's earnings, at most a quarter after required withholding, or a tenth for a Missouri resident who is the head of a family, whichever is least.

Also called quitting for good cause

The reason for leaving that keeps unemployment benefits. A claimant who left without it is disqualified until earning ten times the weekly benefit amount.

Also called helping at an accident, emergency care

The protection for licensed physicians, nurses and emergency medical technicians who in good faith render emergency care without compensation at the scene of an emergency or accident, and for others trained in first aid who give care, without compensation, to the level of that training.

Also called harassing

Without good cause, doing an act with the purpose of causing another person emotional distress. In the second degree, a class A misdemeanor for a first offense.

Also called Danny's Law, initiation, pledging

Knowingly and actively participating in, soliciting, causing or planning a willful act, on or off campus, against a student or a prospective, current or former member of a college organization, that recklessly endangers their mental or physical health or safety for initiation, admission or continued membership.

Also called careless driving, careless and imprudent

The care every driver has to exercise, driving in a careful and prudent manner at a speed that does not endanger anyone. A violation is a class B misdemeanor.

Also called door to door sale, cooling off period

A sale the buyer may cancel until midnight of the third business day after signing, counting every day but Saturday, Sunday and legal holidays.

Also called ticket

An offense carrying a fine of up to four hundred dollars.

Also called dissolution, divorce

The finding for a judgment of dissolution: no reasonable likelihood the marriage can be preserved, after one spouse has lived in Missouri for the ninety days before filing and thirty days have passed since the petition.

Also called hit and run

Leaving an accident causing injury, death or damage to someone else's property without giving name, residence, registration and license number to the other party or an officer. A class A misdemeanor in general.

Also called lemon

The rule that a defect reported during the warranty or within one year of delivery, whichever ends first, is repaired, and if not after a reasonable number of attempts, the vehicle is replaced or refunded.

Also called alimony, spousal support

Support a court may order to either spouse only on finding the spouse lacks enough property to meet reasonable needs and cannot support themselves through appropriate employment.

Also called required reporter, child abuse report

One of the people the section lists, such as physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers, child care workers and school personnel, who reports on reasonable cause to suspect a child has been or may be subjected to abuse or neglect.

Also called underage drinking

A person under twenty one who buys or has intoxicating liquor, is visibly intoxicated, or has a blood alcohol content over two hundredths of one percent. A class D misdemeanor for a first violation.

Also called notice to vacate, tenancy at will

A tenancy either side may end by written notice stating it ends on a rent paying date at least one month after the notice is received.

Also called stand your ground, castle doctrine

There is no duty to retreat from a dwelling, residence or vehicle the person is lawfully in, from the person's own private property, or from any other place the person has a right to be.

Also called separate property

Property a court sets apart to each spouse, such as property received by gift or inheritance, before dividing the marital property.

Also called use of force standard

The test for force in making an arrest: the amount used was objectively reasonable in light of the totality of the facts and circumstances confronting the officer, without regard to the officer's intent.

Also called recording consent

The rule that a person may intercept a wire communication they are a party to, or where one party has given prior consent, unless it is to commit a criminal or tortious act.

Also called restraining order, protective order

An order sought by verified petition by anyone subjected to domestic violence by a family or household member, or who has been the victim of stalking or sexual assault.

Also called disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace

Missouri's disorderly conduct: unreasonably and knowingly disturbing others by loud noise, fighting or a believable threat, offensive language face to face likely to provoke violence, or blocking traffic. A class B misdemeanor for a first conviction.

Also called pet fee

A deposit for a pet, which is not a security deposit under the deposit section.

Also called hands free, phone while driving

What a driver may not do with a phone or other device while operating a vehicle, with any part of the body.

Also called filming a public meeting

A public body allows the recording of any open meeting by audiotape, videotape or other electronic means, and may set guidelines to minimize disruption.

Also called redemption, get the car back

To get collateral back by tendering fulfillment of all obligations it secures, plus the reasonable expenses and attorney's fees the Code describes. A debtor, a secondary obligor, or another secured party or lienholder may do it.

Also called implied consent, test refusal

Refusing a chemical test, after which the officer takes the license and the director of revenue revokes it for one year.

Also called eviction for rent, eviction

The case a landlord files with an associate circuit judge when rent is due, has been demanded and is not paid, summoning everyone in the home to show cause why possession should not go back to the landlord.

Also called repairs, fix it myself

A code violation harming habitability, fixed by the tenant and deducted from rent when the landlord does not fix it within fourteen days of written notice, if it costs less than three hundred dollars or half the rent.

Also called resisting arrest, interfering

Using or threatening violence or physical force, or fleeing, to prevent an arrest, stop or detention one knows or reasonably should know is happening.

Also called medical records fee, charge for records

The part of the charge for a copy of a medical record that covers searching for and retrieving it, capped by the section and adjusted each February for medical care inflation.

Also called warrant

A warrant identifying what is to be searched for and the place to be searched in enough detail that the officer can readily tell what and whom, executed only by a peace officer.

Also called seat belt ticket

A driver or front seat passenger not wearing a belt, an infraction with a fine of not more than ten dollars, no court costs and no points.

Also called deposit

A deposit of no more than two months' rent, returned in full within thirty days after the tenancy ends, or with a written itemized list of the damages it is being kept for and the balance.

Also called course of conduct

Purposely following or disturbing someone through a course of conduct with no legitimate purpose, with a threat or while violating an order of protection. In the first degree, a class E felony.

Also called time limit, old debt

The time to sue: five years on most contracts and injuries, and ten years on any writing for the payment of money or property.

Also called theft, shoplifting

Missouri's word for theft: appropriating someone else's property or services to deprive them of it, without consent or by deceit or coercion.

Also called dog bite liability

Liable for the damages whether or not the dog was vicious before or the owner knew it, as the owner of a dog that bites without provocation is.

Also called public records request

A request for a public record, acted on as soon as possible and no later than the end of the third business day after the custodian receives it.

Also called meeting notice, Sunshine Law notice

The matters to be considered that a public governmental body gives notice of, with the time, date and place of the meeting, at least twenty-four hours before it, not counting weekends and holidays when the facility is closed.

Also called stopping the clock, pausing the limitation period

A pause in a limitation period. The criminal period does not run while the accused is absent from the state, or while the accused is concealed from justice anywhere.

Also called trespassing

Knowingly entering or remaining unlawfully in a building or on land fenced or posted against intruders: trespass in the first degree, a class B misdemeanor.

Also called right to an attorney before testing

The time a person asked to take a chemical test, who asks to speak to an attorney, is given to try to contact one.

Also called consumer fraud, merchandising practices

Deception, fraud, false promise, misrepresentation, an unfair practice, or omission of a material fact in selling or advertising merchandise.

Also called brandishing, exhibiting

A list of acts with a weapon that are unlawful when done knowingly, among them exhibiting a weapon in an angry or threatening manner, a class E felony.