Board of Supervisors v. Superior Court

Introduction

Plaintiff Municipal Court Judges’ Association of Los Angeles County objects to the October 26, 1993, decision by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to consolidate court-related services in the county sheriff instead of in the marshal’s office. The plaintiff sought discovery concerning whether the supervisors ignored, or even considered, the vote of the Los Angeles Municipal and Superior Court judges; in effect this effort was an attempt to inquire into the Supervisors’ mental processes in reaching their decision to select the sheriff’s office instead of the marshal’s office. This petition raises the question whether the trial court properly ruled to permit the plaintiff to conduct discovery of extrinsic evidence concerning whether members of the board of supervisors took the judges’ vote into advisement before reaching their decision. Legal precedent prohibits such an inquiry into the supervisors’ mental processes. We conclude that the trial court erroneously permitted discovery and grant the board of supervisors’ petition for writ of mandate prohibiting such discovery.

Facts

In 1993, the Legislature enacted article 1.8, captioned “Sheriff-Marshal…