Definitions

PURPOSE: This rule defines terms used in the rules comprising Chapter 2, Practice and Procedure, and supplements those definitions found in Chapter 386 of the Missouri Revised Statutes. (1) Applicant means any person, as defined herein, or public utility on whose behalf an application is made. (2) Certificate of service means a document or page of a document showing the caption of the case, attorney of record served or the name of the party served, the date and manner of service, and the signature of the serving party or attorney. (3) Commission means the Missouri Public Service Commission as created by Chapter 386 of the Missouri Revised Statutes. (4) Commissioner means one (1) of the members of the commission. (5) Commission staff means all personnel employed by the commission whether on a permanent or contractual basis except commissioners; commissioner support staff, including technical advisory staff; personnel in the secretary’s office; and personnel in the general counsel’s office, including personnel in the adjudication department. Employees in the staff counsel’s office are members of the commission staff. (6) Complainant means the commission, any person, corporation, municipality, political subdivision, the Office of the Public Counsel, the commission staff through the staff counsel’s office, or public utility who files a complaint with the commission. (7) Corporation includes a corporation, company, association, or joint stock company or association, or any other entity created by statute which is allowed to conduct business in the state of Missouri. (8) General counsel means the attorney who serves as counsel to the commission and includes the general counsel and all other attorneys who serve in the office of the general counsel, but does not include attorneys employed in the staff counsel’s office. The general counsel appears for the commission and performs all duties and services as attorney and counsel to the commission which the commission may reasonably require. (9) Oath means attestation by a person signifying that he or she is bound in conscience and by the laws regarding perjury, either by swearing or affirmation to tell the truth. (10) Party includes any applicant, complainant, petitioner, respondent, intervenor, or public utility in proceedings before the commission. Commission staff and the public counsel are also parties unless they file a notice of their intention not to participate within the period of time established for interventions by commission rule or order. (11) Person includes a natural person, corporation, municipality, political subdivision, state or federal agency, and a partnership. (12) Pleading means any written document, including any exhibits or other attachments, filed with the commission that seeks a specific action or remedy, except that briefs and tariffs are not pleadings under this definition. (13) Political subdivision means any township, city, town, village, and any school, road, drainage, sewer, and levee district, or any other public subdivision, public corporation, or public quasi-corporation having the power to tax. (14) Presiding officer means a commissioner, or a law judge licensed to practice law in the state of Missouri and appointed by the commission to preside over a case or any portion of a case. (15) Public counsel means the Office of the Public Counsel as created by the Omnibus State Reorganization Act of 1974 and includes the assistants who represent the public before the commission. (16) Public utility includes every pipeline corporation, gas corporation, electrical corporation, telecommunications corporation, water corporation, heat or refrigeration corporation, sewer corporation, any joint municipal utility commission pursuant to section 386.020, RSMo, which is regulated by the commission, or any other entity described by statute as a public utility which is to be regulated by the commission. (17) Respondent means any person as defined herein or public utility subject to regulation by the commission against whom any complaint is filed. (18) Rule means all of these rules as a whole or the individual rule in which the word appears, whichever interpretation is consistent with the rational application of this chapter. (19) Settlement officer means a presiding officer who has been delegated to facilitate the settlement of a case. (20) Schedule means any attachment, table, supplement, list, output, or any other document affixed to an exhibit. (21) Staff counsel means any attorney employed to represent the commission staff in proceedings before the commission. AUTHORITY: section 386.410, RSMo 2016.* This rule originally filed as 4 CSR 240-2.010. Original rule filed Dec. 19, 1975, effective Dec. 29, 1975. Amended: Filed Nov. 7, 1984, effective June 15, 1985. Amended: Filed June 9, 1987, effective Nov. 12, 1987. Rescinded and readopted: Filed March 10, 1995, effective Nov. 30, 1995. Amended: Filed Aug. 17, 1998, effective March 30, 1999. Rescinded and readopted: Filed Aug. 24, 1999, effective April 30, 2000. Amended: Filed March 2, 2011, effective Oct. 30, 2011. Amended: Filed Nov. 7, 2018, effective July 30, 2019. Moved to 20 CSR 4240-2.010, effective Aug. 28, 2019. *Original authority: 386.410, RSMo 1939, amended 1947, 1977, 1996.