State of California v. Superior Court

Opinion

BOREN, J.

This proceeding concerns a dispute between the State of California (the State) and the County of Los Angeles (the County) over the State’s plans to construct the Mira Loma State Prison near Lancaster. The State filed a petition for writ of mandate after the respondent court sustained the County’s demurrer (Code Civ. Proc., § 430.10, subd. (c)) to the State’s complaint in eminent domain.

1

The effect of the order was to abate the eminent domain proceeding pending resolution of the County’s pending action under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.), in which it challenged the validity of the environmental impact report (EIR) filed by the State in connection with the project. The petition is granted.

2

In its demurrer, the County cited authority to the effect that a County victory in the CEQA action would bar the State’s eminent domain proceeding until such time as the State filed an EIR which complied with CEQA.

(City of San Jose

v.

Great Oaks Water Co.

(1987) 192 Cal.App.3d 1005 [237 Cal.Rptr. 845].)

The case of

City of San Jose, supra,

might have been dispositive here were it not for the specific pronouncement of the Legislature as to the limited circumstances under which the planning and construction of the prison could be abated. In 1987, the Legislature enacted Senate Bill No. 18 (Stats. 1987, ch. 165) as an urgency measure, for the express purpose of expediting new prison construction. (Sen. Bill No. 18, § 2, subd. (1).) In so doing, the Legislature declared: “Presently, the state prisons are operating

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at over 175 percent of capacity and the prison population is still increasing. It is essential to the public safety that construction of new prisons proceeds as expeditiously as possible to relieve prison overcrowding and to maintain public safety and security.” (Sen. Bill No. 18, § 9.)