Harris, 110316 CAAGO, AGO 15-1201

Case DateNovember 03, 2016
CourtCalifornia
KAMALA D. HARRIS Attorney General
MANUEL M. MEDEIROS Deputy Attorney General
AGO 15-1201
No. 15-1201
California Attorney General Opinions
Office of the Attorney General State of California
November 3, 2016
         THE HONORABLE GREGORY P. PRIAMOS, RIVERSIDE COUNTY COUNSEL, has requested an opinion on the following question:          Should vacancies that occur in unexpired terms on the Banning Library District Board of Trustees be filled by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors pursuant to Education Code section 19426, or by the remaining library district trustees in accordance with Government Code section 1780?          CONCLUSION          Vacancies that occur in unexpired terms on the Banning Library District Board of Trustees should be filled by the remaining library district trustees in accordance with Government Code section 1780.          The Banning Unified School District Library District was established by public vote in 1916. At the time, state law provided that "Any union high school district of this state may establish, equip and maintain a public library for the dissemination of knowledge of the arts, sciences and general literature, in accordance with the provisions of this act."1 For this purpose, the voters in a given school district were empowered to form a "union high school district public library district" or "unified school district public library district."[2] Upon voter approval, the county board of supervisors would duly establish the library district by resolution, and place the library district in the control of the trustees of the corresponding school district.3          In accordance with this statutory scheme, the trustees of the Banning Unified School District also governed the Banning Unified School District Library District until 2006.4 In 2005, at the request of the Banning Unified School District governing board, the Legislature adopted Senate Bill 405, enacting Education Code section 18343.5 The measure expressly authorized the governing board of the Banning Unified School District to provide by resolution that, the Banning Unified School District Library District would be renamed the Banning Library District, and would thereafter be governed by a new board of trustees.[6] That resolution was adopted in December 2005.7          In February 2006, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors appointed a five-member board of trustees for the Banning Library District "from the membership of the Library Commission of the [former] Banning Unified School District Library District."8 Trustees to the Banning Library District board are now elected to staggered four-year terms.9 The question presented for our resolution concerns how a vacancy on the Banning Library District board of trustees should be filled when the vacancy occurs before the incumbent's term expires. Specifically, we are asked whether such vacancies should be filled under the procedures set forth in Education Code section 19426, which call for the county Board of Supervisors to fill the vacancy by appointment,10 or by those set forth in Government Code section 1780, which provide that the remaining library district trustees fill the vacancy by appointment or by calling an election.11          Public libraries in California may be established under a number of different statutory schemes, depending upon the type of governmental entity providing the library service.12 Two categories of library district merit discussion here. The first is one established by a school district—a "chapter 3" district,13 and the second is one established independently—a "chapter 8" district.14 The answer to the question presented to us depends on whether the Banning Library District continues to be a chapter 3 district, or whether it has become a chapter 8 district by virtue of the 2005 legislation. We conclude that the 2005 legislation did not change the character of the library district from a...

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