Church v. Board of Supervisors

RICHARDS, J.

Application for writ of mandate to issue herein, directed to the Board of Supervisors of the County of Fresno and the members thereof, requiring them and each of them to take action in the matter of the appointment of some competent person as justice of the peace of the city of Fresno, to fill the vacancy alleged to exist in such office. The answer of the respondent to the order to show cause issued herein is to the effect that there is no such existing office in said city, and hence no vacancy to fill which the respondents should be commanded by said writ.

[368]

The single question presented for consideration herein is as to whether by the terms of the city charter of the city of Fresno a city police court has been created, the jurisdiction of which and of the judge thereof was made equal and coextensive with that which would be exercised, and prior to the enactment of said provision of the city charter had been exercised, by a city justice’s court and judge thereof existing and acting under the provisions of section 103 of the Code of Civil Procedure. We do not deem it necessary to again review the recent decision of the District Court of Appeal in the case of

Robertson

v.

Langford,

95 Cal. App. 414 [273 Pac. 150], or

Ex parte Romero,

207 Cal. 341 [278 Pac. 430], or

In re Lovall,

207 Cal. 544 [279 Pac. 452], or

Proctor

v.

Justice Court of City of Berkeley,

209 Cal. 39 [285 Pac. 312], or

Antilla

v.

Justice Court,

209 Cal. 621 [290 Pac. 43], since it is conceded that the effect of these decisions is to establish the proposition that unless the charter of a city in its attempted creation of a city police court therein shall invest such court with a jurisdiction which shall in all respects be coextensive with that with which city justices' courts theretofore existing therein under the provisions of section 103 of the Code of Civil Procedure possessed and exercised, such city justice’s court would not be supplanted thereby, but would continue to exist and function notwithstanding the provisions of such charter creating such police courts therein. The foregoing proposition having been thus established and conceded, it only remains for us to examine the provisions of the charter of the city of Fresno relating to the establishment of a city police court therein in the light of such provisions found in the city charters of those other cities which came under review in the foregoing decisions in order to determine whether and to what extent the provisions of the charter of the city of Fresno are affected thereby. .The Fresno city charter by the provisions of section 74 of article VIII, after providing for the establishment of a city police court within said city, proceeds to state: “Within the city limits, said court shall have concurrent jurisdiction with township justices’ courts in all matters and things in which said justice courts now or hereafter may have jurisdiction; and said police court shall have in addition to the special