Opinion No. (2003)

BILL LOCKYER Attorney General DANIEL G. STONE Deputy Attorney General LAWRENCE RAY and SANDI RAY have requested leave to sue in quo warranto upon the following question: Is Willy K. Hagge unlawfully holding the office of director of the Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District because he simultaneously holds the office of member of the Modoc County Board of Supervisors? CONCLUSION Whether Willy K. Hagge is unlawfully holding the office of director of the Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District because he simultaneously holds the office of member of the Modoc County Board of Supervisors presents substantial issues of fact and law requiring judicial resolution. ANALYSIS Lawrence Ray and Sandi Ray ("Relators") allege that Willy K. Hagge ("Defendant") holds two public offices simultaneously in violation of the common law rule, applicable in California (Civ. Code, § 22.2 ; Mott v. Horstmann (1950) 36 Cal.2d 388 , 391-392 ; People ex rel. Chapman v. Rapsey (1940) 16 Cal.2d 636 , 640-644 ; Eldridge v. Sierra View Local Hospital Dist. (1990) 224 Cal.App.3d 311 , 319 ), prohibiting the holding of incompatible public offices. Since the two offices, director of the Hot Springs Valley…