State Board of Health v. County of Alameda

This is an appeal by the plaintiff, state board of health, from a judgment rendered against it in an action brought to recover from the county of Alameda the amount of three bills or demands presented by said board to the board of supervisors of Alameda County, which had been rejected by said board of supervisors. The demands were for the amount of money expended by plaintiff for the eradication of .rodents on lands situated in the county of Alameda, and arose by reason of the provisions of a certain act entitled: “An act to prevent the introduction, and provide for the investigation and suppression of contagious or infectious diseases, and appropriating money to be used for such purpose,” which is found in the Statutes of 1913, at page 868. This statute, as it read at the time of the expenditures represented by the demands, provided an appropriation of one hundred thousand dollars, which was to be used by the state board of health in such way as it saw fit for the eradication of rodents and other vermin liable to spread infectious or contagious diseases. For the amount spent on a given piece of property, the state board of health was authorized to file a bill with the board of…