No contest except by the public agency or its officer or agent of any thing or matter under this chapter shall be made other than within the time and the manner herein specified. The availability to any public agency, including any local agency, or to its officers or agents, of the remedy provided by this chapter, shall not be construed to preclude the use by such public agency or its officers or agents, of mandamus or any other remedy to determine the validity of any thing or matter.
§ 869.Mandamus Or Other Remedy Not Precluded
Title 10. Actions In Particular Cases · Chapter 9. Validating Proceedings · Last amended 1963 · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 869 bars anyone but the public agency or its officers and agents from contesting a validated matter outside the time and manner this chapter specifies, while confirming that mandamus and other remedies remain available to the agency separately.
Full Text of § 869
Plain-English Summary
Once the window this chapter provides for contesting a matter has closed, § 869 shuts the door on further challenges -- except for the public agency itself, or its officers or agents. No one else can contest anything under this chapter outside the time and manner already specified.
That restriction runs only one direction. The section makes clear that a public agency's ability to use this chapter's validation remedy doesn't preclude the agency, or its officers or agents, from instead using mandamus or any other available remedy to test the validity of a matter. The chapter adds a tool; it doesn't take any others away from the agency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can someone contest a validated matter after the time this chapter allows has passed?
No, except the public agency or its officers or agents.
Does using this chapter's remedy stop an agency from using mandamus instead?
No. Section 869 preserves mandamus and other remedies for the agency.
Amendment History
Amended by Stats. 1963, Ch. 1865.
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: time limit contest validated matter californiamandamus alternative validation action