In Re Williams

BARNARD, P. J.

This is an application for a writ of

habeas corpus

filed on behalf of J. J. Williams, alleging that he is unlawfully detained by the constable of the township of Heber, in the county' of Imperial.

The petition alleges that Heber Public Utility District, in the county of Imperial, is a public utility district organized and existing under and by virtue of the state laws (Stats, of 1921, p. 906, as amended, Deering’s Gen. Laws, Act

[445]

6391) ; that the board of directors of this district adopted an ordinance purporting to impose a license tax for transacting and carrying on certain businesses, trades, professions and occupations within the limits of the district, fixing the amount of such licenses with the method of collecting the same and prescribing a penalty for nonpayment thereof; that the said Williams is a truck driver in the employ of the Standard Oil Company of California, a corporation; that he brought gasoline from without the territorial limits of said district and made a retail sale and delivery of a quantity of gasoline from said truck to an individual within said district; that neither he nor the Standard Oil Company of California has secured a license from said district in accordance with the purported requirements of said ordinance; and that he was arrested by said constable under a warrant of arrest issued out of the justice’s court of the township of Heber, county of Imperial, based upon a complaint filed in that court charging him with a violation of the ordinance referred to. It is then alleged that this ordinance is invalid and void for the reason that the imposing and collection of such license payments is beyond the jurisdiction and authority of such a district. This ordinance, a copy of which is set forth in the petition, recites that in order to carry out the objects and purposes of this district, for the purposes of revenue and in the exercise of the taxation power possessed by the district, a license tax is thereby imposed. It lists certain businesses and occupations, including the sale of gasoline, and fixes for each a designated license tax to be paid quarterly.

A demurrer to the petition was filed and the sole question presented is whether such a public utility district has the power to license the carrying on of various forms of business within the district, to fix the amount of license tax to be paid for the privilege of transacting business therein, and to enforce a penalty* for failing to pay the same.