tute a sinking fund for the payment of the principal amount of said bonds within twenty years after the issuance thereof.

Sale of bonds.

SEC. 7. Said bonds shall be sold or exchanged to raise money as required in the purchase, construction, or repairs of said work.

Water fund.

SEC. S. The money received from the sale of said water shall be deposited with the city treasurer and kept in a separate fund, to be known as the water fund, which fund is to be used for all purposes connected with said water-works.

Redeeming bonds.

SEC. 9. Whenever there is in said water fund not less than five thousand dollars not required for the care, management, or repairs of said water-works, said common council, or board of trus tees, shall require the treasurer to publish notice in a newspaper of general circulation in said county, for the space of one month, that a certain sum of money (naming it) is in said fund for the redemption of said bonds, and that he will receive bids for the redemption of the same at not more than their par value, with interest due, until a day named, which shall be not less than one month after the last publication of the notice aforesaid.

Bids.

SEC. 10. On the day named the bids shall be opened by the treasurer and presiding officer of said board, and the bids offering to surrender the bonds at the lowest sums, not more than their par value and interest due, shall be accepted. If enough bonds to consume all the funds are not redeemed, the treasurer shall advertise as before to redeem bonds at par value and interest, commencing with the lowest numbers outstanding, to the amount of money on hand, and thirty days after the last publication the bonds named shall cease to bear interest. The treasurer, on the order of the board, shall pay the bonds redeemed either under the bids or the second notice. Control of works.

SEC. 11. The common conncil, or board of trustees, shall manage and control said waterworks, and employ all labor, and purchase all materials, and appoint all agents for the care and management of and repair to the same.

Income from works.

SEC. 12. If at any time all of said bonds shall be liquidated, then said income from said water-works shall be used for city purposes, as may seem proper to the common council, or board of trustees thereof.

An Act entitled "An act to enable municipal corporations of the sixth class to elect officers." [Approved March 14, 1885; Stats. 1885, 136.]

Petition for appointment of commissioners of election.

SECTION 1. Whenever a corporation of the sixth class shall have failed, from any cause, to elect officers in accordance with its charter, and there are no officers to carry on the city gov ernment, or call an election for officers, in any such case citizens of such corporation may present a petition to the governor for the appointment of three commissioners of election. Such petitions shall set forth: 1. The name of the corporation, and when and how organized; 2. When the last election for officers took place, and whether any of such officers are perform ing their duties, and if not, how long since they ceased to perform their duties; 3. The provision of the charter as to the qualifications of voters: 4. That the persons signing the peti tion possess the qualifications provided by the charter for voters, and that each of said signers is a householder and freeholder in said corporation. The petition shall be signed by not less than seventy-five persons possessing all the qualifications mentioned in the body of the petition; and shall be verified by at least two of the signers, that, of their own knowledge, the petition is true, and that all the signers possess all the qualifications set forth in the petition. Upon the presentation of the petition to the governor, he may either act upon the petition or require additional evidence of the matters set forth in the petition. Upon being satisfied of the truth of the matters set forth in the petition, the governor is authorized and empowered to appoint three persons as commissioners of election for such corporation. Such commission shall be known and styled "board of election commissioners for" (here give name of corporation). Appointment of commissioners.

SEC. 2. The governor shall cause a commission to be issued to the commissioners, and the issuance of such commission shall be conclusive evidence of the regularity of all the proceedings to and including the appointment of such commissioner. Within ten days after their appointment, the commissioners shall take the oath of office before some judge or clerk, which oath shall be indorsed upon the commission, and a copy filed in the office of the secretary of state, and shall organize by the election of a president and secretary from their own members. The board shall cause so be kept minutes of all their proceedings, which minutes shall be signed at the close of each meeting by the president and secretary.

Powers of commissioners.

SEC. 3. The board of election commissioners shall have power: 1. By an order entered in their minutes, to call an election for such officers as are declared in the charter of such cor poration to be elected only by the voters in said corporation. Such orders shall specify the names of the offices to be filled, and when any office is to be filled by an election in any ward or subdivision of said corporation, the order shall so state, and the date fixed for the election. Previous to the election, the board shall appoint officers of election and fix the places of hold. ing the election, as required in the charter of such corporation. The board shall cause notice

of such election to be published in one or more newspapers published in said corporation; or if none be published therein, then by posting notices, for at least twenty days before such election. Such election shall be conducted as required by the charter of said corporation for the election of officers, except that it shall not be necessary to use printed registers, but should any voter be challenged on the ground that his name does not appear on the great register of the county, it shall be sufficient for him to state, under oath, that he believes his name is on the great register, and if no other evidence is offered, the board of election shall accept his statement as true.

Election returns. SEC. 4. The boards of election shall make return of the election as required in the charter, except that the returns shall be returned and delivered to the board of election commissioners, of all officers voted for at such election, without reference to whether any of such officers were voted for in the whole, or only a ward or subdivision of the corporation, and no officer of election shall issue a certificate of election.

Canvassing returns.

SEC. 5. Within five days after the election the board of election commissioners shall proceed to canvass said returns and declare what persons were elected. Said board shall thereupon issue certificates of election to the persons so declared to be elected; such certificate shall be signed by all the commissioners, and shall be conclusive evidence of the regularity of all the proceedings taken in said election and by said board, except as against any suit or proceeding that may be commenced to oust from office any of said persons holding a certificate.

B

Officer qualifying.

SEC. 6. Within ten days after issuance of the certificates, the officers shall be qualified and enter upon the discharge of their duties, in accordance with the charter. If any person chosen at said election shall fail to take the oath of office and enter upon the discharge of the duties within the time above specified, then the office to which he shall have been elected shall be deemed and held to be vacant, the same as if he had never been elected. At the first meeting of the legislative department of the corporation after the election, the board of election commissioners shall deliver to said legislative department all books and papers in their possession relating to their office of election commissioners, and said legislative department shall cause the same to be filed by their clerk, and shall cause the commission issued by the governor to said commissioners, and the minutes of said commissioners, and notice of the election, to be entered in the book of minutes of said legislative department, and such entries, when so made, shall be evidence of all the matters therein stated, and as conclusive evidence as the original.

Effect of elections.

SEC. 7.

Whenever the officers elected at such election, and the officers authorized by the charter to be elected or appointed by the legislative or executive department of said corporaOn, shall have qualified and entered upon the discharge of their dutics, then said corporation

ti

hall be deemed and held to be fully organized and in operation, as if said election had been eld at the time and in all respects in the manner required by the charter.

Resolution as to organization.

SEC. 8. Whenever the government of the corporation is in full operation, as set forth in Bection seven, the legislative department shall cause a resolution to be entered in their minutes declaring the same; and such resolution shall be conclusive evidence of the same, except as against a direct action or proceeding to set aside or annul said government.

SEC. 9. This act shall take effect from and after its passage.

839

COUNTY GOVERNMENT ACT. .

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A UNIFORM SYSTEM OF COUNTY AND TOWNSHIP
GOVERNMENTS.

[Approved March 14, 1883; Stats. 1883, 299.]

This act is constitutional: Longan v. Solano County, 2 West Coast Rep. 493; Cruz v. Los Angeles County, Id. 760. Validity of act of board of supervisors passed at a meeting after

the county government act went into effect, but commenced prior thereto: Ex parte Benja. min, 3 Id. 96.

Counties as now organized or may be created are bodies politic.

SECTION 1. The several counties of this state as they now exist, and such other counties as may be hereafter organized according to law, are bodies corporate and politic, and as such have the powers specified in this act, and such other powers as are necessarily implied.

Powers, how exercised.

SEC. 2. Its powers can only be exercised by the board of supervisors, or by agents and officers acting under their authority, or authority of law.

Name.

SEC. 3. The name of a county designated in the law creating it is its corporate name, and it must be designated thereby in all actions and proceedings touching its corporate rights, property,

and duties.

Powers.

SEC. 4. It has power:

1. To sue and be sued;

2. To purchase and hold land within its limits;

3. To make such contracts and purchase and hold such personal property as may be necessary to the exercise of its powers;

4. To manage and dispose of its property as the interests of its inhabitants may require; 5. To levy and collect such taxes for purposes under its exclusive jurisdiction as are authorized by law.

Restrictions.

SEC. 5. No county shall in any manner give or loan its credit to or in aid of any person or corporation. No county shall incur any indebtedness or liability in any manner or for any pur pose, exceeding in any year the income and revenue provided for it for such year, without the assent of two thirds of the qualified electors thereof, voting at an election to be held for that purpose, nor unless before or at the time of incurring such indebtedness provision shall be made for the collection of an annual tax sufficient to pay the interest on such indebtedness as it falls due, and also to constitute a sinking fund for the payment of the principal thereof within twenty years from the time of contracting the same. Any indebtedness or liability incurred contrary to

this provision shall be void.

Certain contracts void.

SEC. 6. All contracts, authorizations, allowances, payments, and liabilities to pay, made or attempted to be made in violation of this act, shall be absolutely void, and shall never be the foundation or basis of a claim against the treasury of such county. And all officers of said county are charged with notice of the condition of the treasury of said county, and the extent of

the claims against the same.

Penalty for allowing certain claims.

SEC. 7. All supervisors, and any other officer, authorizing or aiding to authorize,

or audit

ing or allowing any claim or demand upon or against said treasury, or any fund thereof, in violation of any of the provisions of this act, shall be liable in person, and upon their several official bonds, to the person or persons damaged by such illegal authorization, to the extent of his loss

by reason of the non-payment of his or their claim.

Duty of district attorney.

SEC. 8. Hereafter, whenever any board of supervisors shall, without authority of law, order any money paid as a salary, fees, or for any other purposes, and such money shall have been

actually paid; or whenever any other county officer has drawn any warrant or warrants in his own favor, or in favor of any other person, without being authorized thereto by the board of supervisors, or by the law, and the same shall have been paid, the district attorney of such county is hereby empowered, and it is hereby made his duty, to institute suit in the name of the county against such person or persons to recover the money so paid, and twenty per cent damages for the use thereof; and no order of the board of supervisors therefor shall be necessary to maintain such suit; and provided further, that when the money has not been paid on such order or warrants, it is hereby made the duty of the district attorney of such county, upon receiving notice thereof, to commence suit in the name of the county for restraining the payment of the same, and no order of the board of supervisors shall be necessary in order to maintain such suit. Duty of superior judge.

SEC. 9. It shall be the duty of the superior judge of each and every county, whenever a grand jury is impaneled, to call their attention to the provisions of the foregoing sections, and to instruct them to ascertain by careful and diligent investigation whether the provisions of said sections have been complied with, and to specially note the result of such investigation in their report.

Duty of secretary of state.

SEC. 10. The secretary of state shall, within ninety days after the passage of this act, certify to the county clerk of each of the counties in the state the population of such county, as determined by the United States census taken in the year eighteen hundred and eighty, and thereafter, whenever a new census is taken, shall, as soon as the same shall be officially ascertained by him, certify to each of such clerks the population of such county, as determined by such new census, and on the even-numbered years thereafter the several counties are, by operation of law, classified thereunder; but such classification shall not operate to change the government of the county then in existence until the first Monday after the first day of January next succeeding, except that the board of supervisors shall provide for the election of officers and such other matters as shall be necessary to put the county government in operation on the said first Monday after the first day of January, in accordance with the new classification.

County seats.

SEC. 11. The county seats of the respective counties of this state as now fixed by law, are hereby recognized as and declared to be the county seats of the respective counties. No county seat shall be removed unless two thirds of the qualified electors of the county. voting on the proposition at a general election, shall vote in favor of such removal.

County seat, how removed.

SEC. 12. Whenever there shall be presented to the board of supervisors of any county a petition signed by the qualified electors of such county, in number equal to a majority of the votes cast at the preceding general election, praying for the submission of the question of the removal of the county seat of such county, it shall be the duty of the board of supervisors, by due proclamation, to submit the question of such removal of the county seat at the next general election to the qualified electors of such county. The election shall be conducted and the returns canvassed in all respects as provided by law for the conducting general elections and canvassing the returns thereof; but a proposition of removal of a county seat shall not be submitted in the same county more than once in four years.

Number.

BOARDS OF SUPERVISORS.

SEC. 13. Each county must have a board of supervisors, consisting of five members. Qualifications.

SEC. 14. Each member of the board of supervisors must be an elector of the district which he represents, and must have been such for at least one year immediately preceding his election, and shall be elected by such district, and not at large.

Election and classification.

SEC. 15. At the general election to be held in the year eighteen hundred and eighty-four a full board of supervisors must be chosen in each county. They shall so classify themselves by lot that three of them shall hold office for four years, and two of them for two years. The supervisors elected at the general election in eighteen hundred and eighty-six, and every two years thereafter, shall hold office for four years. They shall take their office on the first Monday after the first day of January after their election.

Districting.

SEC. 16. The board of supervisors of each county shall, on or before the first Monday of September, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, district their respective counties into five supervisor districts, as nearly equal in population as may be.

Vacancy, how filled.

SEC. 17. Whenever a vacancy occurs in the board of supervisors, the governor shall fill the vacancy by appointment, the appointee to hold the office for the unexpired term. Chairman.

SEC. 18. The supervisors shall elect a chairman, who must preside at all meetings of the board, and in case of his absence or inability to act, the members present must, by an order entered on their records, select one of their number to act as chairman temporarily. Any member of the board may administer oaths to any person when necessary in the performance of their official duties. Not less than three members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but no act of the board shall be valid or binding uniess three members concur therein.

County clerk and chairman.

SEC. 19. The county clerk is ex officio clerk of the board of supervisors. The records and minutes of the board must be signed by the chairman and the clerk.

Duty of clerk.

CLERK OF BOARD.

SEC. 20. The clerk of the board must:

1. Record all the proceedings of the board;

2. Make full entries of all their resolutions and decisions on all questions concerning the raising of money for and the allowance of accounts against the county;

3. Record the vote of each member on any question upon which there is a division, or at the request of any member present;

4. Immediately after the adjournment of each meeting of the board, prepare and certify duplicate lists of all claims allowed and orders made for the payment of money, giving the name of the claimant or payee named in the claim or order, the amount and date of each claim or order, and the date of the allowance thereof, which said lists shall be countersigned by the chairman of the board, and thereafter said clerk shall deliver to and leave with the auditor one of said lists and shall deliver to and leave with the treasurer the other list;

5. File and preserve the reports of the county treasurer of the receipts and disbursements of the county;

6. Preserve and file all accounts acted upon by the board;

7. Preserve and file all petitions and applications for franchises, and record the action by the board thereon;

8. Authenticate with his signature and seal of the board the proceedings of the board whenever the same shall be ordered published;

9. Authenticate with his signature and the seal of the board all ordinances or laws passed by the board, and to record the same at length in the "ordinance-book."

10. Record all orders levying taxes; and,

11. Perform all other duties required by law, or any rule or order of the board;

Duty of board.

SEC. 21. The board must cause to be kept:

1. A "minute-book," in which must be recorded all orders and decisions made by them, and the daily proceedings had at all regular and special meetings;

2. An allowance-book," in which must be recorded all orders for the allowance of money from the county treasury, to whom made, and on what account, dating, numbering, and indexing the same through each year;

3. A "road-book," containing all proceedings and adjudications relating to the establishment, maintenance, change, and discontinuance of roads and road districts;

4. A “franchise-book," containing all franchises granted by them, for what purpose, the length of time, and to whom granted, the amount of bond and license tax required;

5. Awarrant-book," to be kept by the county auditor, in which must be entered, in the order of drawing, all warrants drawn on the treasury, with their number and reference to the order on the minute-book, with the date, amount, on what account, and name of payee; 6. An "ordinance-book," in which must be entered all ordinances or laws duly passed by the board;

Regular meetings.

SEC. 22.

The board of supervisors must by ordinance provide for the holding of regular meet ings of the board at their respective county seats.

Sperial meetings.

SEC. 23. If at any time the business of the county requires a meeting of the board, a special meeting may be ordered by a majority of the board. The order must be signed by the members calling such meeting, and must be entered in the minutes of the board. Five days' notice of such meeting must be given by the clerk to the members not joining in the order. The order must specify the business to be transacted at such special meeting, and none other than that specified must be transacted at such special meeting.

All meetings must be public.

SEC. 24. All meetings of the board must be public, and the books, records, and accounts must be kept at the office of the clerk, open at all times for public inspection, free of charge.

Powers.

GENERAL PERMANENT POWERS OF Board.

SEC. 25. The boards of supervisors in their respective counties have jurisdiction and power, under such limitations and restrictions as are prescribed by law:

Supervise conduct of officers.

or

1. To supervise the official conduct of all county officers and officers of all districts and other subdivisions of the county charged with the assessing, collecting, safe-keeping, management, disbursement of the public revenues; see that they faithfully perform their duties, direct prose cutions for delinquencies, and when necessary, require them to renew their official bonds, to make reports, and to present their books and accounts for inspection.

Divide county.

2. To divide the counties into townships, school, road, and other districts required by law, change the same, and create others, as convenience requires.