In Re Dudley

The County of Alameda has appealed from an order of the superior court which vacated that portion of an order committing respondent's daughter to the Department of Mental Hygiene for placement in Sonoma State Home as a mentally deficient person, which provided that respondent pay $20 per month to the county on account of the daughter's care, support and maintenance while she was so committed.

[1] Respondent contended below and the superior court found that the provisions of section 5260 of the Welfare and Institutions Code [fn. 1] are unconstitutional for the same reasons the provisions of section 6650 of that code were found to be unconstitutional in Department of Mental Hygiene v. Kirchner (1964) 60 Cal.2d 716 [ 36 Cal.Rptr. 488 , 388 P.2d 720 ] (cert. granted (1964) 379 U.S. 811 [ 85 S.Ct. 39 , 13 L.Ed.2d 26 ], remanded for further proceedings (1965) 380 U.S. 194 [ 85 S.Ct. 871 , 13 L.Ed.2d 753 ], and reiterated solely on state constitutional grounds (1965) 62 Cal.2d 586 [ 43 Cal.Rptr. 329 , 400 P.2d 321 ]).

For the reasons hereinafter set forth it is concluded that the decision in Kirchner does not control the statute in question and its application to the factual…