Kimball v. Board of Supervisors of Alameda County
Kimball v. Board of Supervisors of Alameda County
Opinion of the Court
This is an action to enjoin the Board of Supervisors from opening a road in Alameda County; and there are annexed to the complaint copies of all the proceedings had before the Board. A demurrer to the complaint was sustained, and a final judgment entered for the defendants, from which the plaintiff appeals.
The next point made by the appellant is, that the statute which authorizes the Board of Supervisors to assess the damages on the opening of a highway violates that clause of the Constitution which provides that no person shall be deprived of his property without due process of law; and it it; claimed that a judgment of the Board of Supervisors is not due process of law in the sense of the Constitution. But as early as the case of the People v. Board of Supervisors of El Dorado, 8 Cal. 58, it was decided that the Boards of Supervisors in this State may exercise judicial powers in certain classes of cases; and this ruling has been steadily adhered to ever since. In Lincoln v. Colusa County, 28 Cal. 662, the action was against the.county for damages alleged to have been sustained by the plaintiff by reason of the opening across his land of a public highway by the Board of Supervisors; and this Court says: “under the Constitution private property cannot be taken for public use except upon compensation made. It is competent for the Legislature to fix the mode of condemnation, the method by which the damages to individuals shall be determined and the proceedings for their recovery. ” This power has been freely exercised in relation to lands taken for public highways under the Act, of 1861.
It has been repeatedly decided that Boards of Supervisors have jurisdiction over roads, ferries, and bridges within their
We consider it as no longer an open question in this State whether Boards of Supervisors may exercise jurisdiction in opening public highways across public lands.
The only remaining point is whether the Act under which these proceedings were had was operative and in force when they were commenced. Section fifteen of the Act of March 24th, 1862 (Stats. 1862, p. 81), was not repealed, but only amended, by the Act of March 31st, 1866 (Stats. 1865-6, p. 566), and was further amended by the Act of March 27th, 1868 (Stats. 1867-8, p. 374).
Judgment affirmed.
Mr. Chief Justice Wallace did not express an opinion.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- E. KIMBALL and MARY KIMBALL v. THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, and S. P. WOODWARD, Road Commissioner of Eden Township, Alameda County
- Cited By
- 8 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Appearance a Waiver op Notice.—In proceedings by a Board of Supervisors to take private land for a public highway, an appearance before the Board of one of the persons whose land is about to be taken, is a waiver of service of notice upon such person. Power op Supervisors in Opening Roads.—Boards of Supervisors, if authorized by law, may exercise the judicial powers necessary to be called into exercise in talcing private lands for public highways, and the exercise of such power is not repugnant to that clause in the Constitution which declares that private property shall not be taken for public use without due process of law. Amendment to Section op an Act.—If a section of an Act is amended and published at length in a subsequent Act, and the original section is again amended and published at length in a still later Act, which repeals the first amendatory Act, the last Act is only an amendment of the original section, although it does not refer to the first amendatory Act except in the repealing clause.