Title 1

Title 1. PROVISIONS OF GENERAL APPLICABILITY TO CODE

Chapter 1. Principles of Interpretation

Section 1.101. General principles. Unless another meaning or use clearly appears in the Code:

(1) Code.

(a) A stated section is a section of the Code.

(b) A reference to a subsection or paragraph is to the section in which the reference appears.

(2) Usage.

(a) The singular includes the plural, and conversely.

(b) A pronoun refers to every person.

(d) The present indicative tense indicates a duty or requirement, and a power, or a prohibition.

(e) The use of "may" indicates permissive or discretionary action.

(f) The use of "including" or similar language is illustrative and does not limit the application of the illustrated term to the illustrative terms.

(g) The meaning of a word or phrase is according to its common usage.

(h) The interpretation of a word with a technical or special meaning is in accordance with that meaning.

(3) State and Government.

(a) A location, or the performance of an action, refers to a place, or to performance, within the State's territorial or jurisdictional limits.

(b) A governmental activity institution, component, body, office, or position of employment is the corresponding State entity.

(c) If a responsibility for Government action appears, and there is no specific assignment of the responsibility, the Governor has the responsibility and the corresponding power.

(d) Implementation of a State power is to the maximum extent of law.

(e) Reference to an officer or employee includes a person acting lawfully as surrogate.

(4) Time.

(a) Application of a period of time is by exclusion of the day from which the period runs and inclusion of the last day.

(b) Calculation of a period of time includes a Saturday, Sunday or holiday. If in the calculation of a period of time the last day is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the period ends on the next consecutive day which is not a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday.

(c) If expression of a period of time is in months, calculation of the period runs to the same day in the last month as the day in the month from which calculation begins. If the last month has fewer days than the month from which calculation begins, the period ends on the last day of the last month.

(d) The period of time for a performance or occurrence required in the Code is a reasonable time.

(5) General.

(a) A provision is not retroactive;.

Section 1.102. Ambiguity. In resolving an ambiguous Code provision one may consider:

(1) the object of the provision;

(2) the circumstances in which enactment of the provision occurred;

(3) a prior State statutory or Code provision on the same or a similar subject;

(4) the consequence of an interpretation of the provision;

(5) a Government interpretation; and

(6) the Constitution's preamble.

Section 1.103. Legislature intent.

(1) In an enactment the Legislature intends:

(a) that the enactment complies with higher law;

(b) that the entire enactment is effective;

(d) that enforcement of the enactment is feasible; and

(e) a favoring of the public interest over a private interest.

(2) Unless a contrary result is obvious or necessary, one presumes that in enacting a Code provision or statute the Legislature:

(a) took into account higher law and other Code provisions and statutes;

(b) intended that a specific provision is an exception to a more general provision.

Chapter 2. Definitions

Section 1.201. Definitions. Unless another meaning clearly appears in the Code, the following terms have the meaning indicated:

(1) "adult": a person eighteen years or older

(2) "agency": a Government agency stated in Section 7.102

(3) "alcoholic drink": a fermented or distilled liquid for human consumption containing alcohol, including beer, liquor and wine as defined in this section

(4) "allotment": the delegation of authority to a person to create a legally enforceable financial obligation of funds in accordance with applicable law on the Government's behalf within the limits set forth in an appropriation or imposed by the terms of funding available from another source

(5) "antiquities": structures, artifacts or other objects made or constructed in, or brought into, the State before nineteen hundred, or between nineteen hundred and nineteen hundred forty five, if an object from the latter period is identified by regulation pursuant to Section 11.1402

(6) "annual budget": an annual proposal, request and accompanying documentation submitted to the Legislature for the granting of obligation and expenditure authority of funds for the ensuing fiscal year by the Government for any purpose, including operations, an economic development project, Government construction project, a special program, contribution, grant, or subsidy

(7) "appellate court": the appellate division of the Supreme Court of the Federated States of Micronesia

(8) "appropriation": an appropriation or authorization law empowering the government to incur an obligation and to make a disbursement from the Treasury pursuant to law.

(9) "beer": a drink containing not more than fifteen percent alcohol by volume, obtained by the alcoholic fermentation of barley, rice and other grain, malt, and similar products, whether or not containing hops or other vegetable product, including beer, ale, stout, lager, porter and other malt or brewed liquors, but not including the Japanese rice wine known as sake

(10) "child": includes a child by birth or adoption

(11) "citizen": a citizen of the Federated States of Micronesia or a corporation in which only citizens hold an interest

(12) "Code": the Kosrae State Code of Laws

(13) "controlled substance": marijuana, heroin, hashish, cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, phencyclidine and opium.

(14) ".court": the State Court

(15) "crosswalk": any portion of a road clearly marked for pedestrian crossing

(16) "day": calendar day

(17) "delinquent child": includes a minor who violates State or national law, except a traffic law; does not subject himself to the reasonable control of a parent, teacher, guardian, or custodian, being wayward or habitually disobedient; is habitually absent from home or school without good reason; or injures or endangers his or [another's] morals or health

(18) "domicile": a person's place of origin, or, when he has given up his domicile of origin, the single place which he considers to be his home and where he intends to reside permanently, even if at the time he is not residing there; a person is presumed to retain his domicile of origin unless proven by clear and convincing evidence that he does not reside at his place of origin and does not intend to resume residence there

(19) "domiciliary": a person whose domicile is in the state; a Kosraean domiciliary retains Kosrae as his domicile until he acquires a new domicile

(20) "drinking permit": a permit issued pursuant to Section 12.1403

(21) "dwelling place": a structure in which a human being carries on a function of daily living, including sleeping, eating, and food preparation, but excluding exclusively economic activity

(22) "equipment or appliance": a device powered by electricity, battery, gas, or kerosene, including a radio, cassette recorder or player, stereo record player, tape recorder, amplifier, speaker, television, video tape viewer or recorder, projector, camera, stove, oven, refrigerator, freezer, washing machine, drying machine, lamp, air conditioner, or fan

(23) "executor": includes an administrator

(24) "Federated States": the Federated States of Micronesia

(25) "fiscal year": the 12-month period from October 1 of one calendar year through September 30 of the succeeding calendar year

(26) "food": food or drink for human consumption, except soda, liquor, beer or wine

(27) "foraging pig": a pig, whether or not found on the property of its owner, which is not (1) enclosed in an enclosure constructed in accordance with the regulations of the administrator of the Division of Livestock Production and Research issued pursuant to Chapter 15 of Title 11, or (2) under the secure and immediate physical control of a capable person, such as tied by a rope or enclosed within a motor vehicle, while the pig is being led to slaughter, transferred to another pen, transported to another location, or is otherwise out of its pen for a similar lawful purpose

(28) "foreign vessel": a boat or ship not wholly owned by a domiciliary

(29) ".funds": equivalent to "public money" and is Government tax revenues and reimbursements from Government services, and a grant, subsidy or contribution in the form of money for expenditure by or for the Government from external source, including, the United States Government, the Trust Territory Government, the national government, including the following:

(a) operational monies received through the United States Department of Interior;

(b) special monies received through the United States Department of Interior, including, but not limited to, so-called transition funds, operations and maintenance funds, fuel reserve funds, and generator overhaul funds;

(d) a Federated States of Micronesia Congress appropriation for use by the Government;

(e) monies for construction projects in which the Government has been a contracting party or has otherwise played a substantial role; and

(f) monies for economic development projects, regardless of whether any such revenues, reimbursements or monies were subject to appropriation, or were actually appropriated, by the Legislature

(30) "goods": tangible personal property which is perceptible to the senses, including that which may become a fixture to real property but does not include, stock, or a bond, note, insurance or negotiable instrument or security, or merchandise in transit to a destination outside the State

(31) "Government": the branches and agencies of the State Government, acting in combination or separately

(32) "governing body": an agency board of directors ~~and the Senior Land Commissioner~~ (changes effective October 1, 2001 by State Law 7-126)

(33) "heir": includes devisee

(34) "hovering vessel": an unlicensed vessel in territorial waters or in State waters, if from the history, conduct, character, or location of the vessel it is reasonable to believe that a party is using or may use the vessel to violate law

(35) "innocent passage": is navigation through State or territorial waters for the purpose either of traveling in good faith enroute from one point to another on the usual course of travel, wind and weather permitting, proceeding to State or territorial waters at a point of entry, or making for the high seas from State or territorial waters, and includes stopping or anchoring only if incidental to ordinary navigation or in an emergency

(36) "interest in land": includes title to land

(37) "intersection": the area embraced within the prolongation of the lateral boundary lines of two or more roads which join one another at an angle, whether or not one road crosses the other

(38) "the island": the State's landmass

(39) "jewelry": includes a watch, ring, necklace, bracelet, brooch, ornamental comb or earring

(40) ".juvenile traffic offender": a minor who violates a State traffic law

(41) "liquor": whiskey, vodka, gin or other product of the distillation of a fermented liquid with alcoholic content which is fit for drinking alone or mixed with another substance

(42) "lodging": includes residence in a hotel, motel or private home

(43) "metal tire": a tire the surface of which is made wholly or partly of hard, nonresilient materials

(44) "minor": a person who has not attained his eighteenth birthday

(45) "motor vehicle": a self-propelled vehicle for the transportation of a person or property upon a road, except a device moved solely by human or muscular power, including an automobile, truck, jeep, motorcycle, motorscooter or construction equipment capable of self-propelled motion on a road

(46) "national government": the Government of the Federated States of Micronesia

(47) "non-citizen": a person who is not a citizen

(48) ".non-domiciliary": a person whose domicile is not in the State

(49) "oath": a statement on oath or affirmation

(50) "obligation": a legal liability for salary, wage, or contractual service, upon a contract entered into for the purchase of real or personal property, or on a loan or other commitment requiring the payment of money

(51) "offender": a person convicted by a court

(52) "official traffic signs": a sign or marking placed or erected by proper authority

(53) "operator": a person actually controlling a motor vehicle upon a road

(54) "owner": includes the person who is the consignee of merchandise upon its entering the State

(55) "person": a human being, a corporation, or a government

(56) "personal property": includes money

(57) "police officer": a person authorized by the Attorney General to enforce law, including the Chief of Police, a member of the Police, or a deputized person

(58) "price": the value paid in money or goods

(59) "primary road": the road which is the main thoroughfare for vehicular traffic, including the road running from Utwa Municipality to Tafunsak Municipality and the portion of the circumferential road open to regular traffic, and excluding a farm or private road

(60) "process": includes a writ, warrant, summon, citation, libel or order used in a Court proceeding

(61) "property": includes real, personal, and intangible property

(62) "public land": land to which the State or Government holds title to, or in which it has a use interest, including land which is public property

(63) "public place": includes public land, land owned or occupied by a municipality, and a place within plain view of the general public

(64) "retail": a sale of goods not at wholesale for consumption or use of goods in a manner other than resale

(65) "right of way": the privilege of the immediate use of the road

(66) "road": a way or place of whatever nature open to the use of the public, as matter of right, for purposes of vehicular travel

(67) "soda": a carbonated drink without alcoholic content

(68) "State": Kosrae State

(69) "State waters": waters within the State's baseline as defined by national law

(70) "surrogate": a person lawfully exercising Government power by express grant or delegation of authority

(71) "territorial waters": waters bordering the outermost extent of State waters as provided by national law

(72) "tobacco products": includes snuff, tobacco prepared for chewing, tobacco made ready for smoking in a pipe or for rolling by hand or machine into a cigarette or cigar, or other product containing tobacco other than a cigarette or cigar

(73) "tradition": includes custom

(74) "trailer": a vehicle without motor power designed to be drawn by a motor vehicle

(75) "unauthorized vessel": a vessel in State or territorial waters without a license, grant or the express permission of the Government or the national government given pursuant to law, except (a) a public vessel of the United States Government traveling under proper orders and not engaged in a commercial activity, (b) an outrigger vessel, or (c) a vessel propelled by an outboard motor

(76) "United States": United States of America

(77) "United States federal agency program": a Government program or project with identifiable purpose and activities, including, the areas of health, education, food services, employment, community development, law enforcement, historic preservation, rehabilitation, aging and energy, funds for which pass through a United States federal agency other than the Department of Interior pursuant to a grant proposal or application from the Government or from the national government or the Trust Territory Government on the Government's behalf, but does not include an appropriation from the United States Congress for Government use which do not pass through a United States federal agency other than the Department of Interior, whether or not subject to administration or control by the national government or the Trust Territory Government through the Department of Interior

(78) "vehicle": a device in, upon or by which a person or property may be transported or drawn upon a road, including a bicycle, except a device moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.

(79) "week": seven consecutive days

(80) "wholesale": a sale of goods not at retail for re-sale before consumption or use in a manner other than sale

(81) "will": includes codicil

(82) "wine": a liquid made from the fermented juice of grapes, or other fruit or substance, including the Japanese rice wine known as sake, or a mixture thereof

(83) "written" or "writing": includes any mode of graphically representing words and letters

(84) "year": twelve consecutive months

Background

Subsection (13) was amended by State Law 7-55; Subsections (18) and (19) were amended by State Law 5-100; Subsection (27) was amended by State Law 7-1; Subsection (31) was amended by State Law 6-108.

Section 1.202. Related word. A definition includes a word which is the defined word expressed in a different form or part of speech.

Chapter 3. Effect

Section 1.301. Enactment of Code. In the enactment of the Code legislative purpose or intent expressed in a codified act and not appearing in the Code continues in effect unless altered by law.

Section 1.302. Severability. A Court holding that a provision of the Code or of a statute is invalid does not extend to another Code provision or portion of the statute, if by any interpretation it is valid. For this purpose one provision is severable from another.

Section 1.303. Effect of Code. The repeal of law by the initial enactment of the Code does not affect the status of a civil or criminal action or a right or liability existing when the Code takes effect.

Section 1.304. Delayed effect; continued effect.

(1) Chapter 2 of Title 7 (Broadcast Authority) does not take effect until October 1, 1988. Upon its taking effect Sections 5.201(8)(a) and 5.205 cease to have effect.

(2) Section 5.425 (retirement) does not take place until January 1, 1989.

(3) Chapter 14 of Title 12 (Alcoholic Drink) does not take effect until January 1, 1986. Section 13.516 (Unauthorized selling of alcoholic drink) and Section 13.517 (Unauthorized consumption of alcoholic drink) do not go into effect until January 1, 1986. State Law 2-15 remains through December 31, 1985.

(4) A cause of action against the Trust Territory Government survives, or arises pursuant to Chapter 6 of Title 6 of the Trust Territory Code (Actions Against the Trust Territory) which continues in effect for that purpose.

(5) Section 5.424 (Seaman) takes effect January 1, 1986. Chapter 4 of Title 19 of the Trust Territory Code (The Seaman's Protection Act) remains in effect through December 31, 1985.

Background

Subsection (1) was amended by State Law 4-36. Subsection (2) was amended by State Laws 3-102 and 4-38.

Section 1.305. Implementation of Code. Within thirty days following the Code's taking effect the Clerk of Courts gives [the] Department of Administration and Finance all records pertaining to birth, marriage, and death.

Background

Amended by State Law 7-1.

Section 1.306. Continuation of Authority.

(1) Upon the Code's taking effect, obligation or spending authority, or a permit, or license granted pursuant to law continues in effect according to its terms.

(2) A person who has paid a road tax pursuant to Chapter 11 of State Law 2-43, as amended, or purchased a business license pursuant to Chapter 5 of State Law 2-43, as amended has no right to reimbursement of payment.

(3) A municipality may not license a commercial activity until a permit issued for the activity pursuant to Chapter 5 of State Law 2-43, as amended, has expired.

Section 1.307. Application. This title applies to the Code and to a State statute.

Chapter 4. Contents of Selected Laws of the State of Kosrae

Section 1.401. Code Revisions. A Code Revision and Publication Commission (“the Commission”), consisting of two persons employed by the Executive Branch designated by the Governor and two persons employed by the Legislature designated by the Speaker, is hereby created to:

(1) Correct manifest typographical, spelling, and grammatical errors, make other non-substantive corrections, and revise the format, including the system of section numbering, chaptering and titling, in the Kosrae State Code and in amendments thereto, without altering the intent of any legislative act;

(2) Make recommendations to the Legislature or Governor for clarification of specific provisions of State Law or Executive Regulations and the elimination of obsolete provisions;

(3) Call the attention of the Legislature or the Governor to conflicting State Law provisions, Executive regulations, and such other matters as it deems necessary;

(4) Compile and make available the Selected Laws of the State of Kosrae and supplementary and replacement pages thereto; and

(5) Submit appropriation requests to the Legislature to defray the costs of publishing the Selected Laws of the State of Kosrae and supplementary and replacement pages thereto.

Background

Added by State Law 6-9.

Section 1.402. Selected Laws of the State of Kosrae. With the assistance of the Office of the Governor, the Commission compiles and makes available, for use by the Government and purchase by the public, a publication called “Selected Laws of the State of Kosrae” containing:

(1) The Constitution of the Federated States of Micronesia, in English and Kosraen, with such amendments as may be duly adopted;

(2) The Constitution of the State of Kosrae, in English and Kosraean, with such amendments as may be duly adopted;

(3) The Kosrae State Code, in English and Kosraean, with amendments, as revised pursuant to subsection (1) of Section 1.401, and with such supplementary and replacement pages as may be prepared;

(4) A full and accurate index of State Laws;

(5) Executive Regulations of the State of Kosrae, in English and Kosraean;

(6) Such annotations, historical notes, FSM and State Court rules and other information as the Commission deems appropriate to include;

(7) Certifications made pursuant to Section 1.404 [1.403?].

Background

Added by State Law 6-9.

Section 1.403. Selected Laws of the State of Kosrae as Official Version of the Kosrae State Code; Effect.

(a) Upon compilation of the Selected Laws of the State of Kosrae, the Commission prepares a master copy, which becomes an official version upon certification of at least one of the designees of the Governor and one of the designees of the Speaker, respectively, that he has compared each section of the English version of the revised Kosrae State Code contained therein with the State laws enacting the original Kosrae State Code and any amendments thereto, and, with the exception of changes authorized by law, the sections set forth therein are correctly copied. Supplementary and replacement pages containing alterations or additions to the Kosrae State Code are likewise certified.

(b) The version of the Kosrae State Code [contained] in the official version of the Selected Laws of the State of Kosrae, as printed, published, revised, supplemented and certified in accordance with this chapter, constitute the official Kosrae State Code and may be cited as prima facie evidence of the state law in all courts of this State. That evidence may be rebutted with respect to a specific provision or provisions of the Code by proof that the cited provision or provisions differ from the enacted State Laws other than as allowed by this Chapter.

Background

Added by State Law 6-9.