§ 803.Action Brought By Attorney General

This section names who brings California's statutory quo warranto-style action and against whom. The Attorney General sues in the name of the People, either on the Attorney General's own information or on a private party's complaint, against a person who usurps, intrudes into, or unlawfully holds or exercises a public office (civil or military) or any franchise. The same action reaches a corporation, whether formally organized or operating as a corporation in fact, that unlawfully holds or exercises a franchise within California.

The Attorney General's role here isn't purely discretionary. Section 803 says the Attorney General must bring the action whenever there's reason to believe an office or franchise has been usurped, intruded into, or unlawfully held, or whenever the Governor directs it. A private citizen can trigger the process by bringing a complaint to the Attorney General's attention, but the decision to proceed — and the conduct of the litigation — rests with the Attorney General.

Later sections in this chapter build on that structure. Section 804 lets the Attorney General also name the person rightly entitled to the office, § 810 lets the Attorney General require an undertaking from a private complainant, and § 811 gives local governing bodies their own parallel right to sue over franchises within their territory.