In Re Jacobson

WOOD, J.

Petitioner was convicted in the City Court of the City of Maywood, County of Los Angeles, of the violation of section 270 of the Penal Code, an offense punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding two years or by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or both. He was sentenced to be confined 360 days in the county jail and com

[498]

mitted to the custody of the sheriff. Maywood is a city of the sixth class. It has no freeholders’ charter and exists under and by virtue of a general law, the Municipal Corporations Act (Stats. 1883, p. 93 as amended). May-wood is located in the township of San Antonio, which has a class A justice’s court. Petitioner contends that the City Court of Maywood had no jurisdiction over the offense of which he was convicted and consequently his confinement by the sheriff is unlawful.

The judicial power of a city court'created under the provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act was originally vested in a police court which was given concurrent jurisdiction with the justices’ courts in all criminal cases. The legislature in 1933 changed the name of the police court to the “city court” in the following language: “A city court is hereby established in such city, to be held by the city judge of said city. Such city court shall have jurisdiction, concurrently with the justices’ court, of actions which might be tried in such justices’ court as follows: (a) All civil actions, (b) Criminal actions arising within the corporate limits of such city or town.” (Deering’s Gen. Laws, 1933 Supp., p. 1974.) Before the year 1929 the jurisdiction of the justices’ courts throughout the state was uniform. In that year the legislature amended section 1425 of the Penal Code by providing different criminal jurisdiction for justices’ courts in townships having a population of 30.000 or more, and in 1931 the legislature amended section 112 of the Code of Civil Procedure by enlarging the civil jurisdiction of the justices’ courts having a population of 30.000 or more. In 1933 the legislature added section 81 to the Code of Civil Procedure by which justices’ courts were divided into two classes to be known as class A and class B, the line of demarkation being that class A should consist of courts in those townships having a population of 30.000 or more. The class A courts were given more extensive- jurisdiction in both criminal and civil matters. Section 1425 of the Penal Code was so amended that class A justices’ courts were given unlimited jurisdiction “in all criminal cases amounting to misdemeanor only, except those of which the juvenile court is given original jurisdiction”. Class B courts were given jurisdiction “in all criminal cases amounting to misdemeanor only, punishable