Opinion No. (2005)

BILL LOCKYER Attorney General DANIEL G. STONE Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE STEVEN M. BASHA, COUNTY COUNSEL, COUNTY OF YOLO, has requested an opinion on the following question: What is the length of the term of office for a member of the board of trustees of Reclamation District No. 1600? CONCLUSION The length of the term of office for a member of the board of trustees of Reclamation District No. 1600 is four years. ANALYSIS The question presented for resolution concerns an apparent clash between two statutory provisions addressing the length of the term of office for a member of the board of trustees of Reclamation District No. 1600 ("District"). We are asked to determine whether a board member's term of office is two years, as provided in the 1913 statute that created the District (see Stats. 1913, ch. 195, § 2; Stats. 1919, ch. 312, § 1; Wat. Code, App. § 25-2; "Appendix section 25-2"), or four years, as provided in a statute amended 50 years later governing reclamation districts in general (Wat. Code, § 50602). 1 We conclude that the term of office for a trustee of the District is four years, as specified in section 50602. A reclamation district is…