Finch v. Board of Supervisors

By the Court, Sawyer, J. We are asked upon certiorari to review the action of the Board of Supervisors of Tehama County in denying a renewal of a ferry license to Finch, and in granting a license to one Harvey. The only question of which we can take cognizance is, whether the Board in the action taken exceeded its jurisdiction. The proceedings in the two applications of Finch and Harvey were separate (Finch’s application having been first made and disposed of,) and they must be separately considered in their proper order. That the Board of Supervisors is a body with limited jurisdiction, aud that its jurisdiction must appear in the record of its proceedings is not doubted. Jurisdiction over the subject matter is expressly conferred upon the Board of Supervisors by the second section of the Act of 1855. (Laws 1855, p. 183.) Finch gave the statu[456]tory notice and filed his petition, in which he stated the granting of a license to him for the preceding year; that he had “ exercised said right by operating said ferry till the [then] present time,” and that , he was “ desirous of continuing to operate said ferry,” and thereupon asked a renewal of the license. On the first day of May, the day for which the application was noticed, Harvey, who had also given notice of an application for a license to run a ferry at the same point, appeared before the Board to contest the application of Finch, and filed a remonstrance, alleging, among other things, as objections to the renewal of the license, that Finch had abandoned the ferry in the preceding August, and that he had not kept said ferry according to law.

The applicant, Finch, introduced testimony an.d rested. The contestant, Harvey, then introduced the testimony of several witnesses, and the applicant examined several others in rebuttal. After the testimony was closed the Board adjourned, holding the matter under advisement till the next day, when the application was denied. The applicant moved to strike out the objections of the contestant, Harvey, and opposed the introduction of all the testimony offered by him substantially on the ground that no citation had been issued to, or served on the applicant, and he had no notice; and, also, that the Board had no jurisdiction of that portion of the proceeding taken under the objections of the contestant.

Contest concerning a ferry license.

The applicant, and not the contestant, was the actor in this case. He was applying for a new license, to commence on the expiration of the term for which a license had already been granted—not defending against a proceeding to revoke a license instituted under the provisions of section twenty-four. If he had kept the ferry “ in accordance with law,” and “ in all respects complied with the terms and requisitions of this Act,” section seven gave him a preference in an application fora further license “over any party making original application.” But his application for a renewal was a new pro