Swan

The question presented on this appeal from a judgment and writ of mandate is properly stated as: may a county be required to rehire as a “sanitarian” one whose services were terminated because he was neither a “registered sanitarian,” nor otherwise qualified as such under the provisions of Health and Safety Code sections 540-542 (div. 1, pt. 2, ch. 1, art. 5), enacted in 1945.

Health and Safety Code section 540 defines “sanitarian” as “a person trained in the field of sanitary science and technology who is qualified to carry out educational and inspectional duties and enforce the law in the field of sanitation.”

Section 541, as relevant to the issues before us provides that “The governing body ... of a county . . . may employ on a full time basis one or more sanitarians each of whom shall be a registered sanitarian as provided for in this article . . . .”

Section 542, as applicable, provides, (1) that the state may hold examinations “for the purpose of determining persons who are qualified and competent to act as registered sanitarians,” (2) for the issuance of “a certificate as a registered sanitarian to each person who passes such examination,” and (3) that “[t]he…