People ex rel. Desert Hot Springs County Water District v. Coachella Valley County Water District

The People of the State of California, through the Attorney General, filed a suit on relation of Desert Hot Springs County Water District to test the validity of the annexation to the respondent, Coachella Valley County Water District, of six parcels of land situated within the boundaries of the real party in interest and appellant. After a trial, the respondent had judgment. Only questions of law were presented at the trial, and are presented on this appeal, which are: (1) Can land within the territorial boundaries of Desert Hot Springs be validly annexed without its consent? (2) Were the annexations, if invalid for lack of consent, validated by the provisions of the First Validating Act of the 1962 Legislature?

On November 14, 1961, the respondent, a county water district, adopted ordinances Nos. 904 and 906 for the purpose of annexing six parcels of land which had become a part on June 12, 1961, of the territory of the Desert Hot Springs County Water District. 1 On January 8, 1962, the Secretary of State issued his certificate indicating the filing of ordinances Nos. 904 and 906 of respondent, which action completed the annexations set forth in the two ordinances. On April 12,…