Opinion No. (1997)

DANIEL E. LUNGREN Attorney General CLAYTON P. ROCHE Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE DARRELL W. LARSEN, COUNTY COUNSEL, SUTTER COUNTY, has requested an opinion on the following question: Must an appointee to a county mental health board take the oath of office prescribed by section 3 of article XX of the Constitution? CONCLUSION An appointee to a county mental health board must take the oath of office prescribed by section 3 of article XX of the Constitution. ANALYSIS Section 3 of article XX of the Constitution provides: "Members of the Legislature, and all public officers and employees, executive, legislative, and judicial, except such inferior officers and employees as may be by law exempted, shall, before they enter upon the duties of their respective offices, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: "`I, ___, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California; that I take this obligation…