Plaintiff brought this action to secure an injunction restraining the defendants from issuing and causing to be sold bonds in the amount of three hundred and sixty thousand dollars of the Conley School District, county of Kern. The relief prayed for was denied. Plaintiff has appealed. The questions involved arise upon the judgment-roll.
The regularity and manner in which the bond election was conducted are not claimed to have been invalid. The whole contention advanced by appellant concerns the matter of the organization of the Conley School District, particularly *Page 117 as to portions which it is insisted were not regularly annexed thereto. Prior to November, 1910, Conley School District was composed in part of an unincorporated town called "Moron." The latter, in the month mentioned, after proceedings regularly had, was incorporated as a city of the sixth class under the name of "Taft." In February, 1920, the board of supervisors of Kern County passed a resolution purporting to annex to Conley School District the territory within a district called "Signa," which latter had been duly formed in November, 1919, but had conducted no schools up to the time of the annexation resolution. From the date of the incorporation of the city of Taft until the commencement of this action no separate school organization was caused to be made within the municipality, but the inhabitants of that territory continued to regard themselves as still being within Conley School District. Schools were conducted by that district, trustees were elected generally, some from within the city of Taft and some from the outlying territory. The school organization of the Conley District was not disturbed in any manner whatsoever by reason of the incorporation proceedings. (However, the board of supervisors in September, 1911, upon recommendation of the county school superintendent, made a resolution which in terms directed that the territory within the city of Taft be annexed to Conley School District.) In like manner, after the attempted annexation of the Signa School District, the inhabitants of that district acquiesced in the order of annexation, as did the remainder of Conley School District. Plaintiff expressly alleged in his petition: "That since the respective orders of the Board of Supervisors of Kern County in respect to the annexation of the territory in the City of Taft and of the territory in Signa School District to Conley School District, the territory within said City of Taft and within Signa School District, as incorporated as aforesaid, has at all times been regarded and treated by the school board of said Conley School District and by the taxing officers of said Kern County, and by the public generally, as constituting portions of said school district and the children therein have attended the school of said school district."
Appellant questions the validity of the order of annexation of the Signa District for lack of compliance with *Page 118
statutory formalities. He also claims that the board of supervisors in no event had authority to annex the territory of a municipality to a school district made up of unincorporated territory — this because of the provisions of section 1576 of the Political Code as the same existed at the times material to the controversy, and which provided that "every city or incorporated town, unless subdivided by the legislative authority thereof, shall constitute a separate school district, . . ." Respondents concede that there were irregularities in the attempted annexation of the Signa School District and that the authority of the supervisors to annex territory within the municipality of Taft to the Conley School District may be subject to question. They look largely to certain curative acts of the legislature as validating the attempted annexation proceedings. The case will be considered, therefore, with the question as to the irregularity of the two annexation proceedings as admitted. [1] Attention is first called to an act of the legislature passed in the year 1905 (Stats. 1905, p. 243), which provides that school districts, acting as such for a period of five years under the laws of the state, are "declared" to be duly incorporated. An examination of this act leads to the conclusion that it was retrospective only in its effect. It was adopted prior to any of the proceedings referred to in this case; hence affords no aid to respondents. The second act is one of 1915 (Stats. 1915, p. 106), which provides in part as follows: "Where the board of supervisors of any county have purported to establish a school district of any kind or class situated within such county, and such district has acted as a school district for a period of one year previous to the taking effect of this act, all acts and proceedings taken . . . are legalized, validated and declared sufficient." This act was passed before the annexation of the "Signa" territory, but after the incorporation of the city of Taft and the making of the alleged order annexing the municipality to Conley School District. Appellant argues that this act has no reference to annexation proceedings, but relates wholly to the establishment of new districts. [2] It has been held that curative acts are remedial in their nature and that they will not be construed within the narrow limits of the letter of the law, but rather be given liberal effect to promote the general *Page 119
object sought to be accomplished. (Kramm v. Bogue et al.,
[4] The proposition that the regularity of the proceedings by which a public corporation of a municipal character has been called into existence cannot be questioned at the suit of an individual citizen or taxpayer is too well settled to admit now of any debate. The reason upon which this holding is founded is far-reaching and admits of no exception. [5] In theory, public corporations of any character whatsoever, exercising governmental functions, do so by reason of a delegation to them of a part of the sovereign power of the state. Where they are claiming to act and are actually functioning without having complied with the necessary prerequisites, they are usurping franchise rights as against paramount authority, to complain of which it lies only within the right of the state itself. The attack by the individual is unauthorized, whether it is made in defense of a tax levied to pay existing bonded indebtedness, or whether it be by injunction to prevent the issuance of bonds after an election has been held within the territory affected, authorizing such securities *Page 121
to be issued. It may be conceded that, upon the attempted establishment by irregular proceedings of such a corporation and before a de facto character has attached, certiorari will lie at the instance of a citizen or taxpayer to secure the annulment of such proceedings, as being taken in excess of jurisdiction, but we have here no such case. On the general subject that the organization of municipal corporations is immune from attack by an individual or in a collateral way, reference may be made to Coe v. City of Los Angeles,
The judgment is affirmed.
Conrey, P. J., and Shaw, J., concurred. *Page 123