Contractors' State License Bd. v. Superior Court of Contra Costa Cnty.

THE COURT: *

*504 *774 The Contractors' State License Board (the Board) seeks a writ of mandate to compel respondent superior court to sustain the Board's demurrer to an action brought by real party in interest, Black Diamond Electric, Inc. (BDE) seeking a declaratory judgment.

The action seeks judicial construction of statutory terms at issue in disciplinary proceedings initiated against BDE by the Board. The Board filed *775 a demurrer, arguing that BDE was required to exhaust its administrative remedies before filing suit. The superior court overruled the demurrer, concluding that BDE was not required to exhaust administrative remedies because the action sought a declaration on issues of statutory interpretation.

We hold that the superior court erred in overruling the Board's demurrer. The general rule is that a party must exhaust an available administrative remedy before resorting to the courts. While this rule is subject to exceptions, none applies here. We therefore grant the Board's petition and issue a peremptory writ in the first instance, as we previously informed the parties was possible. (See Palma v. U.S. Industrial Fasteners, Inc. (1984) 36 Cal.3d 171 , 177-180,…