County of Los Angeles v. City of Los Angeles

Is the county or the city obligated to pay the cost of detention of prisoners committed to the Los Angeles County Jail by the Municipal Court for the Los Angeles Judicial District for violations of Los Angeles city ordinances? This is the question presented in this proceeding.

The superior court rendered judgment for the county and against the city in the sum of $476,194.68 for reimbursement of the costs incurred by the county in the detention of prisoners so committed during the period from July 1, 1955, to March 31,1962.

In 1950, under the reorganization of the inferior court system by state constitutional amendment (art. VI, §§ 1 and 2), municipal courts were molded into the state judi *840 cial system and ceased to be a part of the municipal governments with which they had been affiliated. Following this reorganization, the Municipal Court for the Los Angeles Judicial District followed the policy of committing prisoners convicted of violations of city ordinances to the county jail. Such policy has been based upon the theory that the state law set forth in section 19 of the Penal Code is applicable, that section providing: “Except in cases where a different punishment is…