The writ of sire facies is abolished.
§ 802.Sire Facies Abolished
Title 10. Actions In Particular Cases · Chapter 5. Actions for the Usurpation of an Office or Franchise · Last amended 1880 · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 802 abolishes the old writ of scire facias, the common law device once used to challenge a person's hold on an office or franchise, leaving the statutory action set out in the rest of this chapter as the exclusive route.
Full Text of § 802
Plain-English Summary
Section 802 is a single sentence that clears the ground for everything that follows in Chapter 5: the writ of scire facias is abolished. That writ was the old common law tool for testing whether someone had a valid claim to a public office or a corporate franchise. California replaced it with a statutory action, and this section makes the replacement official by retiring the older device.
What remains is the procedure built out in §§ 803 through 811 — an action brought in the name of the People, ordinarily by the Attorney General, against a person or corporation accused of usurping, intruding into, or unlawfully holding an office or franchise. Section 802 doesn't describe that action; it just clears away the alternative that used to exist alongside it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the writ of scire facias?
A common law procedure once used to challenge someone's right to hold an office or exercise a franchise, before California replaced it with the statutory action in this chapter.
Is the writ of scire facias still available in California?
No. Section 802 abolishes it. A challenge to someone's right to an office or franchise now proceeds under the statutory action described in §§ 803 through 811.
Why does this chapter start with an abolition instead of a new procedure?
Because the statutory action replaced an existing common law remedy, and the drafters used this section to formally retire the older device before setting out its replacement.
Amendment History
Amended by Code Amendments 1880, Ch. 22.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: scire facias californiaquo warranto california history