Bixler v. Board of Supervisors

Morrison, C. J.: David Bixler presented his petition in the Superior Court of Sacramento County, praying for a writ of certiorari to review the action of the above Board in vacating an order directing a supplemental assessment to be made in Reclamation District Number Three. The petition set out, that “ on the ninth day of June, 1880, the Trustees of Reclamation District Number Three presented to and filed with the Board of Supervisors of Sacramento County a statement showing that the original assessment and all the further assessments levied on the lands of said district were insufficient to provide for the complete reclamation of the same, and that a further assessment was required to provide for the protection, maintenance, and repair of the reclamation works of the district, and also showing the work done, and to be done, with its estimated cost. That thereupon the Board of Supervisors proceeded to hear the same, and on that day made their order” directing an additional assessment of one hundred and eighty-one thousand two hundred and fifty-one dollars and forty-two cents, to complete the reclamation of lands within the district above named, and appointed three Commissioners to assess the above amount on the lands lying within the assessment district. The order was made by the Board [701]and was entered at length in its minutes and proceedings on the ninth day of June, 1880. The petition further shows, that afterwards, to wit, on the eleventh day of the same month, another petition was presented to the Board, on behalf of other parties, the owners of lands in Reclamation District Number Three representing to the Board that they had no notice of the application made by the Trustees, and further stating, that “ no work of reclamation has been done, nor is there any in contemplation which will tend in the slightest degree to benefit or reclaim the lands in said district, for that the levees which will be or are of any use or benefit to the land owners were built years ago by the land owners, and were paid for by them, and there is no legal debt against said district,” and praying that the order of June 9th be set aside. On receiving this second petition, the Board of Supervisors made an order vacating the order of June 9th, and setting the whole matter down for hearing for the twentieth of June.

On the foregoing facts the plaintiff based his application for a writ of certiorari, and on the twenty-second day of June the Superior Court of Sacramento County issued its writ as prayed for. On behalf of defendants a motion was made to quash the writ on numerous grounds, one of which, the third, was as follows: “Because the subject-matter sought to be brought into this Court for review, is not judicial in its character, and said Court has no jurisdiction over the same.” The motion was denied, and such proceedings were had in the case that the order of the Board of June 11,1880, was set aside and annulled, and from that judgment the appeal in this case is taken.