citation: HSC § 6610

text: Notice of bond elections shall be given by posting notices, signed by not less than a majority of the board, in three public places in the district, at least one of which shall be in each county in which the district is located, not less than 20 days before the election, and by publishing the notice not less than once a week for three successive weeks before the election in a newspaper published in the district, if there is one, and if not, in a newspaper published in each county in which the district is located.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1961, Ch. 1629.)

article: 3. Bond Elections

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 1. SANITARY DISTRICT ACT OF 1923 > 5. Elections > 3. Bond Elections


kind: section

code: HSC

citation: HSC § 6611

text:
The notice shall contain:

(a) Time and place of holding the election.

(b) The names of the officers of election appointed to conduct it.

(c) The hours during the day in which the polls will be open.

(d) A statement of the purpose for which the election is held.

(e) The amount of the proposed bonds, the rate of interest or maximum rate of interest to be paid and the number of years not to exceed which the whole of the bonds are to run.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1949, Ch. 977.)

division: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS

part: 1. SANITARY DISTRICT ACT OF 1923

chapter: 5. Elections

article: 3. Bond Elections


citation: HSC § 6612

text:
The vote shall be by ballot, without reference to the general law in regard to form of ballot.

The ballots shall have printed on them the words “Shall the measure (stating the nature thereof) be adopted?” To the right or below the statement of the measure to be voted on, the words “Yes” and “No” shall be printed on separate lines, with voting targets.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 303, Sec. 22. (AB 1512) Effective January 1, 2026.)

article: 3. Bond Elections


citation: HSC § 6613

text:
After the votes have been announced the ballots shall be sealed and delivered to the secretary or president of the board, which board shall on the seventh day after the election meet and canvass the returns and enter the results in its minutes.

The entry is conclusive evidence of the fact and regularity of all prior proceedings and of the facts stated in the entry.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1953, Ch. 765.)

article: 3. Bond Elections


citation: HSC § 6640

text: A district may issue bonds as provided in this part.

history: (History: Enacted by Stats. 1939, Ch. 60.)

chapter: 6. Bonds

article: 1. Generally

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 1. SANITARY DISTRICT ACT OF 1923 > 6. Bonds > 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6641

text: A district may issue bonds to raise money for any of the purposes stated in Section 6512 hereof.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1944, 4th Ex. Sess., Ch. 53.)

article: 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6642

text: By order entered in its minutes, when in its judgment it is advisable, the board may and shall, upon a petition of a majority of the qualified electors residing in the district, call an election and submit to the electors of the district the question whether bonds shall be issued.

article: 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6643

text: The order calling the election may submit as one proposal the question of issuing bonds to make all of the outlays, or so many of them as may be selected, or the order may submit at the election as separate questions the issuance of bonds for any of the outlays singly or in combination.

article: 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6644

text: If, at the election, two-thirds of the votes cast are in favor of the issuance of bonds, the board may issue and dispose of the bonds as proposed in the order calling the election.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1955, Ch. 1874.)

article: 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6645

text: Bonds issued by the district under the provisions of this part shall be of such denomination or denominations as the board determines.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1963, Ch. 736.)

article: 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6646

text: The bonds shall be payable in lawful money of the United States at the office of the treasurer and bear interest at a rate not exceeding 8 percent per annum, payable semiannually in like lawful money. The interest for the first year may be payable in one installment at the end of such year, or the interest for the period from the date of the bonds to a date not later than 30 days after the date the second installment of the first district taxes levied after the date of said bonds will become delinquent may be payable in one installment at the end of such period.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1975, Ch. 130.)

article: 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6647

text:
No bonds shall be payable in installments, but each shall be payable in full on the date specified therein by the board, which need not be an anniversary of the date of the bond.

The board may provide that any bond issued by the district may be subject to call and retirement prior to maturity at such times and prices and upon such other terms as the board may specify. If a bond is subject to call and retirement prior to maturity that fact shall be stated in the bond.

article: 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6648

text:
Each bond shall be signed by the president and countersigned by the secretary.

The bonds shall be numbered consecutively, beginning with number one, and shall have coupons attached referring to the number of the bond.

article: 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6649

text:
The bonds shall be sold by the board in such manner and in such quantities as may be determined by it in its discretion but not less than 95 percent of the par value thereof.

Before selling the bonds, or any part thereof, the board shall give notice inviting sealed bids in such manner as the board may prescribe. If satisfactory bids are received, the bonds offered for sale shall be awarded to the highest responsible bidder. If no bids are received, or if the board determines that the bids received are not satisfactory as to price or responsibility of the bidders, the board may reject all bids received, if any, and either again give notice inviting bids or sell the bonds at private sale.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1969, Ch. 194.)

article: 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6650

text: The term of bonds issued shall not exceed forty years.

article: 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6651

text:
The outstanding bonds of the district shall not at any one time exceed 15 percent of the assessed value of the real and personal property of the district, except where the board elects to use the county assessor’s tax roll pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 6780) of Chapter 7 of this part, in which case the outstanding bonds of the district may equal an amount not to exceed 20 percent of the assessed value of the real and personal property of the district.

Within the meaning of this section the term “bonds” means only bonds payable from the proceeds of taxes levied upon taxable property in the district.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1965, Ch. 1881.)

article: 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6653

text: An action to determine the validity of bonds may be brought pursuant to Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 860) of Title 10 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1961, Ch. 1558.)

article: 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6654

text:
(1) An issue of bonds is hereby defined to be the aggregate principal amount of all of the bonds authorized to be issued in accordance with a proposal submitted to and approved by the electors of the district, but no indebtedness will be deemed to have been contracted until bonds shall have been sold and delivered and then only to the extent of the principal amount of bonds so sold and delivered.

(2) The sanitary board of any district issuing any bonds heretofore or hereafter authorized may, in its discretion, divide the aggregate principal amount of such issue into two or more divisions or series and fix different dates for the bonds of each separate division or series. In the event any authorized issue is divided into two or more divisions or series, the bonds of each division or series may be made payable at such time or times as may be fixed by the legislative body of the district separate and distinct from the time or times of payment of bonds of any other division or series of the same issue.

(3) The provisions of this section shall also apply to bonds issued in an annexed territory and to reconstruction bonds and refunding bonds.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 1949, Ch. 977.)

article: 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6655

text:
In determining the amount of bonds to be issued, the legislative body may include:

(a) All costs and estimated costs incidental to or connected with the acquisition, construction, improving or financing of the project.

(b) All engineering, inspection, legal and fiscal agent’s fees, costs of the bond election and of the issuance of said bonds, bond reserve funds and working capital and bond interest estimated to accrue during the construction period and for a period of not to exceed 12 months after completion of construction.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 1957, Ch. 1378.)

article: 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6660

text: At any time after the annexation of territory, the board may issue bonds to raise money for any of the purposes stated in Section 6512 hereof in or for the benefit of said annexed area in the same manner as in any other part of the district, except, only qualified electors resident within the annexed territory are entitled to petition or vote in the proceedings. In the event any such bonds are issued in such annexed territory, or in lieu thereof proceedings are had under Article 3 of Chapter 4 of this part, said territory shall not be subject to taxation for any bonds of the district or of any area previously annexed thereto theretofore authorized to be issued for one or more of the same purposes under Article 1 of Chapter 6 of this part. When no such bond proceedings are intended to be taken in such territory, then in the order of the sanitary board fixing the boundaries thereof, or by resolution adopted subsequently thereto when it is found by said sanitary board to be necessary in order to provide equality of taxation in said annexed area, said sanitary board may determine that said annexed area shall not be subject to taxation for any prior indebtedness of said district or of any other part thereof. Certified copies of said resolution shall be filed with the county clerk and also with the county assessor and with the State Board of Equalization in Sacramento and thereafter said annexed area shall not be subject to taxation for any such prior indebtedness.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 1967, Ch. 920.)

article: 2. Bonds of Annexed Territory

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 1. SANITARY DISTRICT ACT OF 1923 > 6. Bonds > 2. Bonds of Annexed Territory


citation: HSC § 6661

text: The provisions of this part with reference to bonds in annexed territory do not limit the powers or alter the procedure provided for the issuance of bonds by an entire district and payable out of taxes levied upon all taxable property whether the boundaries of the district remain as originally established or have been altered by annexation.

article: 2. Bonds of Annexed Territory


text: Bonds of the district for the purpose of providing funds for the construction of a larger main sewer or a different system shall be authorized and issued in the same manner as that provided in this part for other bonds of the district.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 1953, Ch. 765.)

article: 3. Reconstruction Bonds

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 1. SANITARY DISTRICT ACT OF 1923 > 6. Bonds > 3. Reconstruction Bonds


citation: HSC § 6680

text: After a district organized under the Sanitary District Act of 1891, or Chapter 161, Statutes of 1891, has been reorganized under this part the entire amount of bonds issued by it under either act may be presented by the holder to the board, and there shall be issued in exchange to the holder, by the board, bonds issued in accordance with this part for the various amounts of the bonds surrendered.

article: 4. Exchange of Bonds

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 1. SANITARY DISTRICT ACT OF 1923 > 6. Bonds > 4. Exchange of Bonds


citation: HSC § 6681

text:
The new bonds shall be payable as nearly as practicable at the same time as the installments on the old bonds and in equal amounts.

Interest on the new bonds shall be paid at the same time and rate as on the old bonds.

The amount of the new bonds payable in any one year shall equal the amount of the installments on the old bonds payable in that year.

article: 4. Exchange of Bonds


citation: HSC § 6682

text: The expenses of the exchange shall be borne by the holder of the bonds presented for exchange.

article: 4. Exchange of Bonds


citation: HSC § 6683

text: After the exchange the old bonds shall be canceled by punching holes in the signatures, and shall be retained by the county treasurer.

article: 4. Exchange of Bonds


citation: HSC § 6690

text: The board may cause refunding bonds to be issued for the purpose of refunding any or all outstanding bonds of the district.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 1939, Ch. 304.)

article: 5. Refunding Bonds

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 1. SANITARY DISTRICT ACT OF 1923 > 6. Bonds > 5. Refunding Bonds


citation: HSC § 6691

text: Refunding bonds shall be issued and delivered only when the bonds to be refunded have matured or are about to mature or are subject to retirement before maturity, or, if the outstanding bonds are not subject to retirement the retirement thereof shall have been assured or obtained by consent of the holders thereof.

article: 5. Refunding Bonds


citation: HSC § 6692

text: Except as otherwise provided in this article, refunding bonds shall be issued in substantially the manner and form prescribed for the issuance of other bonds under this part and the provisions of this part concerning the authorization, certification, issuance, and sale of bonds shall be applicable to bonds issued under this article.

article: 5. Refunding Bonds


citation: HSC § 6693

text:
The board desiring to refund any of its bonds may formulate a proposed plan for that purpose and shall call an election for the purpose of authorizing the issuance of such refunding bonds.

The election shall be called and held and the result thereof determined and declared substantially in the same manner as provided by this part for the issuance of other bonds of the district.

article: 5. Refunding Bonds


citation: HSC § 6694

text: Only a majority vote shall be required to authorize the issuance of refunding bonds.

article: 5. Refunding Bonds


text: The maturity date of refunding bonds shall be fixed by the board but in no case shall the maturity of any such bonds be more than forty years from the date thereof.

article: 5. Refunding Bonds


text: The rate of interest on refunding bonds shall not exceed 8 percent per annum payable semiannually.

article: 5. Refunding Bonds


text: Refunding bonds may be issued in a principal amount sufficient to provide funds for the payment of the bonds to be refunded thereby and in addition all expenses incidental to the calling, retiring or payment of such outstanding bonds and the issuance of such refunding bonds.

article: 5. Refunding Bonds


citation: HSC § 6695

text:
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this part, no more than sixty cents ($0.60) on each one hundred dollars ($100) assessed valuation shall be levied for all the district purposes in any one year, besides what is required for the payment of the bond principal and interest for that year.

(b) Except as otherwise provided in this part, if the board elects to use the county assessor’s tax roll pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 6780) of this chapter, no more than one dollar ($1) on each one hundred dollars ($100) assessed valuation shall be levied for all the district purposes in any one year, besides what is required for the payment of the bond principal and interest for that year.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1961, Ch. 990.)

chapter: 7. Finances and Taxation

article: 1. Generally

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 1. SANITARY DISTRICT ACT OF 1923 > 7. Finances and Taxation > 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6696

text: The board may prescribe the time and manner of assessing, levying, and collecting taxes for district purposes, except as otherwise provided in this part.

article: 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6697

text:
District taxes may be assessed, levied, and collected for any or all of the following purposes:

(a) To pay the principal and interest of the bonds issued by the district.

(b) To raise money for any of the purposes stated in Sections 6512 and 6660 hereof.

(c) To pay any lawful claims against the district.

(d) To pay the running expenses of the district.

article: 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6698

text: The board shall annually levy a tax upon the taxable property in the district sufficient to pay the interest on bonds for the year, and such portion of the principal as is due or is to become due during the year, so that the entire amount of principal and interest of the bonds shall be paid at or before maturity, and in any event within forty years of the date of issuance of the bonds.

article: 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6699

text: If any portion of the interest or principal due for any year remains unpaid, it shall be added to the levy for the next year, and shall be collected and paid accordingly.

article: 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6700

text: The payment of the principal and interest of all bonds, within forty years from their issuance, is the obligation of the district; and, if necessary to accomplish that purpose, a special tax shall be levied.

article: 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6701

text: Taxes for the payment of the principal and interest of bonds of annexed territory shall be limited to the taxable property in the annexed territory.

article: 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6715

text: Between the first Mondays in March and July annually the assessor shall assess all taxable property in the district to the persons by whom it was owned or claimed, or in whose possession or control it was at twelve o'clock noon of the first Monday in March next preceding.

article: 2. Assessment by District Assessor

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 1. SANITARY DISTRICT ACT OF 1923 > 7. Finances and Taxation > 2. Assessment by District Assessor


citation: HSC § 6716

text: No mistake in the name of the owner of any property, or any informality in the description or in other parts of the assessment, shall invalidate the assessment.

article: 2. Assessment by District Assessor


citation: HSC § 6717

text: The assessor shall verify his assessment roll, and shall deposit it with the board on the first Monday in July in each year, or as soon thereafter as is practicable.

article: 2. Assessment by District Assessor


citation: HSC § 6718

text: All the provisions of law relating to assessment of property by county assessor shall, so far as applicable, apply to and govern the acts of the assessor in the assessment of taxable property in the district.

article: 2. Assessment by District Assessor


citation: HSC § 6730

text: Annually, on the first Monday of July at seven thirty p.m. the board shall meet as a board of equalization.

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 1. SANITARY DISTRICT ACT OF 1923 > 7. Finances and Taxation > 3. Equalization of Assessments by District Assessor


citation: HSC § 6731

text: If the district assessor has returned the assessment roll for the year the board shall proceed to equalize the assessments.

article: 3. Equalization of Assessments by District Assessor


citation: HSC § 6732

text: If the assessment roll has not been returned by the district assessor the board shall adjourn from time to time until the roll has been returned, and for the purpose of adjournment one or more of the members of the board present may make and announce the adjournment.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1959, Ch. 161.)


citation: HSC § 6733

text: When the assessment roll is returned by the district assessor, the board shall equalize the assessments, and the board shall continue in session as a board of equalization with reasonable intermissions until the roll has been examined, rectified, and equalized.


citation: HSC § 6734

text: The board may hear complaints as to the proceedings of the district assessor and adjudicate and determine the controversy. It may of its own motion raise an assessment, after such reasonable notice to the party whose assessment is to be raised, as may be ordered by the board.


citation: HSC § 6745

text: After the equalization of the assessments has been completed, the board shall, by resolution, fix the rate of taxation for district purposes, designating the number of cents on each one hundred dollars to be levied for each fund and shall designate the fund into which the proceeds shall be paid.

article: 4. Levy of Tax

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 1. SANITARY DISTRICT ACT OF 1923 > 7. Finances and Taxation > 4. Levy of Tax


citation: HSC § 6746

text: After the entry in the minutes of the resolution fixing the rate of the tax the board shall cause the district assessor to compute the amount of the tax upon each item of real and personal property, and enter the amount on the assessment roll.

article: 4. Levy of Tax


citation: HSC § 6747

text:
When completed, the roll shall be verified by the district assessor and signed by the president and secretary.

The amount of the tax then is a lien on the property against which it is assessed, and has the effect of a judgment against the owner.

The lien has the force and effect of an execution duly levied against all the property of the delinquent, and is not satisfied and the lien is not extinguished until the taxes are paid or the property sold to satisfy them. The statute of limitations shall not apply.

article: 4. Levy of Tax


citation: HSC § 6760

text: As soon as practicable, but not later than the third Monday in August, after the taxes have been computed and extended on the assessment roll, verified by the district assessor and signed by the president and secretary of the board, the board shall transmit, or cause the district assessor to transmit, the roll or a duplicate to the tax collector of the county.

article: 5. Collection

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 1. SANITARY DISTRICT ACT OF 1923 > 7. Finances and Taxation > 5. Collection


citation: HSC § 6761

text: The tax collector shall collect the taxes shown to be due, in the same manner as he collects the county taxes.

article: 5. Collection


citation: HSC § 6762

text: All the provisions of the laws of the state as to the collection of taxes and delinquent taxes, and the enforcement of their payment, so far as applicable, apply to the collection of district taxes.

article: 5. Collection


citation: HSC § 6763

text:
The board may direct the district attorney of the county to commence and prosecute suits for the collection of the whole or any portion of the delinquent taxes.

The district attorney shall carry out such directions of the board.

The district attorney and the sureties on his official bond are responsible for the due performance of the duty imposed upon him by this part.

article: 5. Collection


citation: HSC § 6764

text: All money collected for district purposes by the district attorney under this part shall be at once paid to the treasurer.

article: 5. Collection


citation: HSC § 6765

text: The board may at any time, by order entered in its minutes, provide a system for the collection of delinquent taxes, or make any change in the manner of their collection.

article: 5. Collection


citation: HSC § 6766

text: The tax collector shall immediately pay to the treasurer all money collected by him for district purposes and the treasurer shall keep it in the county treasury as provided in this part.

article: 5. Collection


citation: HSC § 6767

text: The tax collector and the sureties on his official bond are responsible for the due performance of the duties imposed upon him by this part.

article: 5. Collection


citation: HSC § 6780

text: The board may elect to avail itself of the assessment made by the assessor of the county in which the district is situated, and may take that assessment as the basis for district taxation.

article: 6. Use of County Assessor’s Roll

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 1. SANITARY DISTRICT ACT OF 1923 > 7. Finances and Taxation > 6. Use of County Assessor’s Roll


citation: HSC § 6781

text:
The board shall declare its election by resolution and shall file a certified copy with the auditor and the assessor of the county on or before the first Monday in February of the year in which the district proposes to use the county assessment roll.

Until the board by resolution elects otherwise all taxes shall be levied by the board of supervisors of the county in which the district is situated and collected by the county assessor and tax collector of the county.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1939, Ch. 1059.)

article: 6. Use of County Assessor’s Roll


citation: HSC § 6782

text: Following the board’s election, the county auditor shall on or about the third Monday of August of each year transmit to the board a written statement showing the total value of all property in the district, which value shall be ascertained from the assessment roll used by the county for that year.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1963, Ch. 426.)

article: 6. Use of County Assessor’s Roll


citation: HSC § 6783

text: The board shall, then, before September 1st, estimate the amount of money needed and fix the rate of taxation for district purposes and for the payment of the principal and interest of that year upon outstanding bonds and the payment of the principal and interest that the board believes will become due during the year on bonds authorized but not sold.

article: 6. Use of County Assessor’s Roll


citation: HSC § 6784

text: The board shall designate the number of cents on each one hundred dollars ($100) to be levied for each fund and the fund into which the proceeds shall be paid, using as a basis the value of property as assessed on the county roll. These acts by the board are a valid assessment of the property and a valid levy of the taxes so fixed.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1970, Ch. 17.)

article: 6. Use of County Assessor’s Roll


citation: HSC § 6785

text: The board shall by September 1st of each year certify to the county auditor of the county in which the district is situated the rate of taxation fixed.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1984, Ch. 884, Sec. 11.)

article: 6. Use of County Assessor’s Roll


citation: HSC § 6786

text:
The county auditor shall compute and enter in the county assessment roll the respective sums to be paid as a district tax on the property in the district, using the rate of levy as fixed by the board and the assessed value as found on the assessment roll.

The taxes shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as county taxes are collected, and when collected shall be at once paid to the treasurer.

article: 6. Use of County Assessor’s Roll


citation: HSC § 6787

text: The taxes are a lien on all the property in the district, and the taxes, whether for the payment of a bonded indebtedness, or for other purposes, shall be of the same force and effect as other liens for taxes, and their collection shall be enforced by the same means as provided for the enforcement of liens for county taxes.

history: (History: Enacted by Stats. 1939, Ch. 60.)

article: 6. Use of County Assessor’s Roll


citation: HSC § 6789

text:
Taxes for a district which is situated in more than one county and which has availed itself of the county assessor’s roll pursuant to Sections 6780 and 6781 shall be levied in accordance with the following procedure:

(a) The district board shall annually, before the time of fixing the general tax levy for county purposes, estimate the amount of money necessary to be raised by taxation to meet the requirements for district purposes, including, but not limited to, operation, maintenance, and payment of principal and interest on outstanding bonds which will become payable before the proceeds of another tax levy made at the time of the next general tax levy for county purposes can be made available for payment of such operation, maintenance, principal and interest.

(b) The total estimate shall be divided by the district board in proportion to the value of the real property of the district in each county. The value shall be determined from the equalized values of the last assessment rolls of the counties. When the division of the estimate has been made, the district board shall promptly certify to the boards of supervisors of the counties in which the district is situated the respective parts of the estimate apportioned to each county.

(c) The board of supervisors of each county in which is situated any part of a district shall annually, at the time of levying county taxes, levy a tax upon all the property within the district situated in the county sufficient to raise the amount so certified to the board of supervisors by the district board.

(d) The tax shall be collected by the same officers and in the same manner as other county taxes, and the money so collected shall be transmitted to the district treasurer.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 1961, Ch. 1629.)

article: 6.5. Districts in More Than One County

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 1. SANITARY DISTRICT ACT OF 1923 > 7. Finances and Taxation > 6.5. Districts in More Than One County


citation: HSC § 6790

text: In a fund called the “bond fund of sanitary district” (naming it) the treasurer shall keep the money levied by the board for that fund.

article: 7. Funds

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 1. SANITARY DISTRICT ACT OF 1923 > 7. Finances and Taxation > 7. Funds


citation: HSC § 6791

text: No part of the money in the bond fund may be transferred to any other fund or be used for any purpose other than the payment of the principal and interest of the bonds of the district, and for the retirement of bonds that have been issued by a district that formerly formed a part of the district while any bonds are unpaid.

article: 7. Funds


citation: HSC § 6792

text: In a fund called the “running expense fund of ____ Sanitary District” (naming it) the treasurer shall place and keep the money levied by the board for that fund.

article: 7. Funds


citation: HSC § 6793

text: The whole or any part of the money in the running expense fund shall be transferred to the bond fund, or to any other fund provided for in this part, on the order of the board.

article: 7. Funds


citation: HSC § 6794

text:
(a) The treasurer, or other person or persons that are authorized by the board, shall draw checks or warrants to pay demands when demands have been approved by the board and signed by the president and secretary.

(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the board may adopt a procedure that provides for checks or warrants to pay claims and demands without approval by the board of directors before payment if the district treasurer determines that the demands are payable within the district’s approved budget. The procedure shall contain appropriate internal controls with measures to prevent fraud and ensure accountability, and which are necessary for financial reporting in conformance with generally accepted accounting principles. Demands so paid shall be presented to the board of directors at the next regular meeting for review. Demands exceeding the district’s approved budget shall be subject to board approval.

history: (History: Repealed and added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 19, Sec. 2. (AB 759) Effective January 1, 2024.)

article: 7. Funds


citation: HSC § 6795

text: The treasurer shall keep the order as his voucher, and shall keep a specific account of receipts and disbursements for the district.

article: 7. Funds


citation: HSC § 6796

text: The proceeds of the sale of bonds shall be deposited with the treasurer and shall be by him placed in the fund to be called the “sewer construction fund of ____ sanitary district” (naming it).

article: 7. Funds


citation: HSC § 6797

text: The money in the sewer construction fund shall be used for the purpose indicated in the order calling the election upon the question of the issuance of the bonds, and for no other purpose, but, if after those purposes are entirely fulfilled any balance remains in the fund, the balance may, upon the order of the board, be transferred to either of the other funds provided by this part.

article: 7. Funds


citation: HSC § 6798

text: All fines for the violation of any regulation or order of the board shall, after the expenses of the prosecution are deducted, be paid to the secretary, who shall forthwith deposit them with the treasurer, who shall place them in the running expense fund of the district.

article: 7. Funds


citation: HSC § 6799

text: The county treasurer and sureties upon his official bond are liable for the due performance of the duties imposed upon him by this part.

article: 7. Funds


citation: HSC § 6800

text:
Notwithstanding the provisions of any other section of this article, the board may, out of any surplus funds remaining in the bond fund, the running expense fund or the sewer construction fund, purchase in the open market its outstanding unmatured bonds.

No bonds shall be purchased at a price above par and accrued interest plus an allowance of six months interest from the date of purchase. All bonds so purchased shall be canceled.

article: 7. Funds


citation: HSC § 6801

text:
(a) As an alternative to the functions of the treasurer, the district board may elect to disburse funds of the district. Such election shall be made by resolution of the board and the filing of a certified copy thereof with the treasurer. The treasurer shall thereupon and thereafter deliver to the district all funds of the district. Such funds shall be deposited by the board in a bank or banks, or savings and loan association or savings and loan associations, approved for deposit of public funds. The treasurer shall deposit with the district, prior to October 1st of each year, a surety bond in the annual amount fixed by the district board. The deposit and withdrawal of funds of the district shall thereafter be subject to the provisions of Article 2 (commencing at Section 53630), Chapter 4, Part 1, Division 2, Title 5, of the Government Code. The district board shall appoint a district treasurer who shall be responsible for the deposit and withdrawal of funds of the district.

(b) Funds shall be withdrawn by the district treasurer only by written order of the district board, signed by the president and secretary.

(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), the board may adopt a procedure that provides for checks or warrants to pay claims and demands without approval by the board of directors before payment if the district treasurer determines that the demands are payable within the district’s approved budget. The procedure shall contain appropriate internal controls with measures to prevent fraud and ensure accountability, and which are necessary for financial reporting in conformance with generally accepted accounting principles. Demands so paid shall be presented to the board of directors at the next regular meeting for review. Demands exceeding the district’s approved budget shall be subject to board approval.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 19, Sec. 3. (AB 759) Effective January 1, 2024.)

article: 7. Funds


citation: HSC § 6805

text: All claims for money or damages against the district are governed by Part 3 (commencing with Section 900) and Part 4 (commencing with Section 940) of Division 3.6 of Title 1 of the Government Code except as provided therein, or by other statutes or regulations expressly applicable thereto.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1963, Ch. 1715.)

article: 8. Claims

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 1. SANITARY DISTRICT ACT OF 1923 > 7. Finances and Taxation > 8. Claims


citation: HSC § 6810

text: A district organized under Chapter 161, Statutes of 1891, or under the Sanitary District Act of 1919 may be reorganized as a district under this part.

chapter: 8. Reorganization

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 1. SANITARY DISTRICT ACT OF 1923 > 8. Reorganization


citation: HSC § 6811

text: To effect the reorganization a petition, signed by not less than twenty-five residents and freeholders within the district, and also by a majority of the members of the district board, shall be presented to the board of supervisors.


citation: HSC § 6812

text: The petition shall be verified by at least one of the petitioners in the manner prescribed by law for the verification of pleadings, and shall set forth the boundaries and name of the district and pray that it be reorganized under this part.


citation: HSC § 6813

text: The petition shall be published for at least two weeks preceding the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation published in the county, together with a notice stating the time when the petition will be presented to the board of supervisors, and that all persons interested may appear and be heard.


citation: HSC § 6814

text:
At that time the board of supervisors shall hear the petition.

The board of supervisors shall not modify the boundaries of the district as set forth in the petition so as to exclude from the district any land which would be benefited by the reorganization of the district under this part, nor shall any lands which will not in the judgment of the board of supervisors be benefited by the reorganized district be included within the district.


citation: HSC § 6815

text: If the board of supervisors finds, upon the final hearing of the petition, that the statements therein are correct the board shall make an order approving the petition, describing the boundaries of the territory included within the district, and declaring that the territory is organized as a district under this part.


citation: HSC § 6816

text:
From and after the making of the order of reorganization by the board of supervisors, the district is organized under this part with all the powers conferred by this part.

The persons in office at the time of the reorganization are entitled immediately to enter upon the duties of the like offices of the reorganized district and shall continue to serve until the election and qualification of their respective successors in accordance with this part.


citation: HSC § 6817

text: A district reorganized under this part is for all purposes the district previously existing.


citation: HSC § 6818

text: Reorganization shall not affect or impair the title to any property owned or held by or in trust for the district, or any debt, demand, liability, or obligation existing in favor of or against the district, or any proceeding then pending.


citation: HSC § 6819

text: Reorganization shall not operate to repeal or affect in any manner any ordinance previously passed or adopted and remaining unrepealed, or to discharge any person from any liability then existing for any violation of the ordinance. Proceedings commenced before reorganization shall, after reorganization, be conducted in accordance with this part.


citation: HSC § 6823

text:
The district may contract with the Federal Government of the United States or any branch thereof, or with any county, city and county, municipal corporation, district or other public corporation or with any person, firm or corporation, for the joint acquisition or construction or use of any sewer or sewers or other works or facilities for the handling, treatment or disposal of sewage or industrial waste from the district and such other area as may be designated in said contract, when in the judgment of the legislative body of said district it is for the best interests of the district so to do. Any such contract may provide for the construction and maintenance of such sewer or sewers, or such other works or facilities, and for the payment by or for the parties thereto of such proportionate part of the cost of the acquisition, construction or maintenance of such sewer or sewers or other works or facilities as may be stated in said contract, the payments to be made at such times and in such amounts as may be provided by said contract. Any such contract may provide for the joint use of any sewer or sewers, works or facilities for the handling, treatment or disposal of sewage or industrial waste upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon by the parties thereto, and for the flowage, treatment or disposal of sewage or industrial waste from such area for each of the parties thereto as may be described in the contract.

Any district which has acquired or constructed or which proposes to acquire or construct, any sewer or sewers, or works or other facilities for the handling, treatment or disposal of sewage or industrial waste, may contract with the Federal Government of the United States or any branch thereof, or with any county, city and county, municipal corporation, district or other public corporation or with any person, firm or corporation for the use of any such sewer or sewers, works or facilities by any such county, city and county, municipal corporation, district or other public corporation, or for the flowage, treatment or disposal of sewage or industrial waste from any area designated by such person, firm or corporation so contracting, upon such terms and conditions as may be provided in said contract.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 1949, Ch. 843.)


citation: HSC § 6825

text: Any duty imposed by this part on any county officer shall be deemed imposed on the county officers of the respective counties in which is situated a sanitary district reorganized under Section 4857 of this code from a county sanitation district encompassing territory in more than one county; provided, that where appropriate, the board may select the officers of one county to perform such duties for the entire district.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 1955, Ch. 1636.)

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 1. SANITARY DISTRICT ACT OF 1923 > 8.5. District Reorganized From County Sanitation District


citation: HSC § 6830

text:
There may be annexed to a district any of the following territory which is in the same county as the district or which is within another county but in the natural watershed area of the district:

(a) Any territory contiguous to the district.

(b) Any territory any point of which touches any point of the district.

(c) Any territory separated from the district by a “separating barrier,” which term includes a street, road, highway, railway line, railway crossing, railway right-of-way, watercourse, lagoon, or other natural barrier.

(d) Any territory not contiguous to the district that will, in the opinion of the district board, be benefited by inclusion in the district.

Any territory specified in this section may consist of one or more separate parcels of land, but it is not necessary that all parcels shall constitute in the aggregate one tract of land.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1965, Ch. 2043.)

chapter: 9. Annexation

article: 1. Generally

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 1. SANITARY DISTRICT ACT OF 1923 > 9. Annexation > 1. Generally


citation: HSC § 6935

text: No right or obligation accrued by the formation, organization, reorganization or operation of a sanitary district pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 161 of the Statutes of 1891 or the provisions of the Sanitary District Act of 1919 is affected by the repeal of those acts and any district so organized or reorganized may continue in existence and subject to the act under which it was organized or reorganized or may reorganize pursuant to this part.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 1941, Ch. 990.)

part: 2. OTHER SANITARY DISTRICT ACTS

chapter: 1. General

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 2. OTHER SANITARY DISTRICT ACTS > 1. General


citation: HSC § 6936

text: Pursuant to Section 1002 of the Elections Code, any election held under Chapter 161 of the Statutes of 1891 or the Sanitary District Act of 1919 shall be held on the second Tuesday in March rather than the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1994, Ch. 923, Sec. 125. Effective January 1, 1995.)


citation: HSC § 6940

text: Notwithstanding the provisions of Chapter 161 of the Statutes of 1891, or the provisions of the Sanitary District Act of 1919, as the provisions of these acts existed at the time of their repeal, the board of any sanitary district organized or reorganized under and continuing in existence and subject to these acts may elect to avail itself of the assessment roll of the properties within the district, used by the county in which the district is situated, and may take that assessment as the basis for district taxation.

chapter: 2. Use of County Assessor’s Roll

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 2. OTHER SANITARY DISTRICT ACTS > 2. Use of County Assessor’s Roll


text:
The board shall declare its election by resolution and shall file a certified copy with the auditor and the assessor of the county on or before the first Monday in February of the year in which the district proposes to use the county assessment roll.

Thereafter, until the board by resolution elects otherwise all taxes shall be collected by the county assessor and tax collector of the county.


text: Following the board’s election, the county auditor shall on or about the third Monday in August of each year transmit to the board a written statement showing the total value of all property in the district, which value shall be ascertained from the assessment roll used by the county for that year.


text: Before the first day of September the district board shall fix the rate of taxation for district purposes and for the payment of the principal and interest of that year upon outstanding bonds and the payment of the principal and interest that the board believes will become due during the year on bonds authorized but not sold.


text:
The board shall designate the number of cents on each one hundred dollars ($100) to be levied for each fund and the fund into which the proceeds shall be paid, using as a basis the value of property as assessed on the county roll.

The district board shall immediately transmit to the auditor of the county in which the district is situated a statement of the tax rate fixed.


text:
The county auditor shall compute and enter in the county assessment roll the respective sums to be paid as a district tax on the property in the district, using the rate of levy as fixed by the board and the assessed value as found on the assessment roll.

The taxes so levied shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as county taxes are collected, and when collected shall be at once paid to the treasurer.


text: The taxes are a lien on all the property in the district, and the taxes, whether for the payment of a bonded indebtedness, or for other purposes, shall be of the same force and effect as other liens for taxes, and their collection shall be enforced by the same means as provided for the enforcement of liens for county taxes.


citation: HSC § 6950

text: “Board” or “board of directors” means the governing authority of a public agency.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 1977, Ch. 1125.)

chapter: 3. On-Site Wastewater Disposal Zones

article: 1. Definitions

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 2. OTHER SANITARY DISTRICT ACTS > 3. On-Site Wastewater Disposal Zones > 1. Definitions


citation: HSC § 6951

text:
“Public agency” means a city, a county, a special district, or any other political subdivision of the state which is otherwise authorized to acquire, construct, maintain, or operate sanitary sewers or sewage systems.

“Public agency” does not mean an improvement district organized pursuant to the Improvement Act of 1911 (Division 7 (commencing with Section 5000), Streets and Highways Code), or the Municipal Improvement Act of 1913 (Division 12 (commencing with Section 10000), Streets and Highways Code) or the Improvement Bond Act of 1915 (Division 10 (commencing with Section 8500), Streets and Highways Code), or a county maintenance district.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1978, Ch. 445.)

article: 1. Definitions


citation: HSC § 6952

text: “On-site wastewater disposal system” means any of several works, facilities, devices, or other mechanisms used to collect, treat, recycle, or dispose of wastewater without the use of communitywide sanitary sewers or sewage systems.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1995, Ch. 28, Sec. 8. Effective January 1, 1996.)

article: 1. Definitions


text: “Owner of real property” means any public agency owning land and any person shown as the owner of land on the last equalized assessment roll; provided that where such person is no longer the owner, the term means any person entitled to be shown as owner on the next assessment roll and where land is subject to a recorded written agreement of sale, the term means any person shown therein as purchaser.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 1978, Ch. 445.)

article: 1. Definitions


citation: HSC § 6953

text: “Zone” means an on-site wastewater disposal zone formed pursuant to this chapter.

article: 1. Definitions


citation: HSC § 6954

text: “Real property” means both land and improvements to land which benefit, directly or indirectly from, or on behalf of, the activities of the zone.

article: 1. Definitions


citation: HSC § 6955

text: Whenever the board of directors of a public agency deems it necessary to form an on-site wastewater disposal zone in all or a portion of the public agency’s jurisdiction, the board shall by resolution declare that it intends to form such a zone.

article: 2. Formation

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 2. OTHER SANITARY DISTRICT ACTS > 3. On-Site Wastewater Disposal Zones > 2. Formation


text: A proposed zone shall contain at least 12 voters, as defined in Section 359 of the Elections Code. However, where there are fewer than 12 registered voters within a proposed zone, the public agency may form a zone if the county health officer determines that an existing or potential public health hazard exists. The board of supervisors shall receive a notice of this determination.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1994, Ch. 923, Sec. 126. Effective January 1, 1995.)

article: 2. Formation


citation: HSC § 6956

text:
The resolution of intention shall also state:

(a) A description of the boundaries of the territory proposed to be included within the zone. The description may be accompanied by a map showing such boundaries.

(b) The public benefit to be derived from the establishment of such a zone.

(c) A description of the proposed types of on-site wastewater disposal systems and a proposed plan for wastewater disposal.

(d) The number of residential units and commercial users in the proposed zone which the public agency proposes to serve.

(e) The proposed means of financing the operations of the zone.

(f) The time and place for a hearing by the board on the question of the formation and extent of the proposed zone, and the question of the number and type of the residential units and commercial units that the public agency proposes to serve in the proposed zone.

(g) That at such time and place any interested persons will be heard.

article: 2. Formation


text: The resolution of intention shall be filed for record in the office of the county recorder of the county in which all or the greater portion of the land in the proposed zone is situated.

article: 2. Formation


citation: HSC § 6957

text:
(a) A proposal to form a zone within a public agency may also be initiated by filing a petition with the board. Such a petition shall contain all the matters specified in subdivisions (a), (b), (c), and (d) of Section 6956. Such a petition shall be signed as provided in either of the following:

(1) By not less than 10 percent of the voters who reside within the territory proposed to be included within the zone.

(2) By not less than 10 percent of the number of owners of real property, including both land and improvements to land, within the territory proposed to be included within the zone who also own not less than 10 percent of the assessed value of the real property within such territory.

(b) Each signer of a petition shall add to his or her signature, the date of signing. If the signer is signing the petition as a voter, he or she shall add to his or her signature his or her place of residence, giving street and number, or a designation sufficient to enable the place of residence to be readily ascertained. If the signer is signing the petition as an owner of real property, he or she shall add to his or her signature a description of the real property owned by him or her sufficient to identify the real property.

(c) Following certification of the petition, the board shall set the time and place of the hearing on the question of the formation of the proposed zone.

article: 2. Formation


citation: HSC § 6958

text:
(a) Notice of the hearing shall be given by publishing a copy of the resolution of intention or the petition, pursuant to Section 6066 of the Government Code, prior to the time fixed for the hearing in a newspaper circulated in the public agency.

(b) Notice of the hearing shall also be given to the local health officer, the board of supervisors, the governing body of any other public agency within the boundaries of the proposed zone, the governing body of any public agency whose sphere of influence, as determined pursuant to the provisions of Section 54774 of the Government Code, includes the proposed zone, the affected local agency formation commission, and the regional water quality control board in whose jurisdiction the proposed zone lies.

article: 2. Formation


citation: HSC § 6959

text: The hearing by the board on the question of the formation of the proposed zone shall be commenced no less than 45 days nor more than 60 days from adoption of a resolution of intention or the receipt of a petition containing a sufficient number of signatures and shall be completed no more than 90 days after the first day of the hearing.

article: 2. Formation


citation: HSC § 6960

text: After receiving notice pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 6958, a local health officer shall review the proposed formation and report his or her findings in writing to the board of directors of the public agency. The report shall specify the maximum number, type, volume, and location of on-site wastewater disposal systems which could be operated within the proposed zone without individually or collectively, directly or indirectly, resulting in a nuisance or hazard to public health. The local health officer may require from the public agency such information as may be reasonably necessary to make the findings required in this section.

article: 2. Formation


text: After receiving notice pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 6958, the affected regional water quality control board shall review the proposed formation and report its findings in writing to the board of directors of the public agency. The report shall specify the maximum number, type, volume, and location of on-site wastewater disposal systems which could be operated within the proposed zone without individually or collectively, directly or indirectly, resulting in a pollution or nuisance, or adversely affecting water quality. The regional water quality control board may require from the public agency such information as may be reasonably necessary to make the findings required in this section.

article: 2. Formation


text: The number, type, volume, and location of on-site wastewater disposal systems to be operated within the zone shall not exceed the number specified pursuant to either Section 6960 or Section 6960.1.

article: 2. Formation


text: The formation of an on-site wastewater disposal zone shall be subject to review and approval by a local agency formation commission which has adopted rules and regulations affecting the functions and services of special districts pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 56450) of Part 2 of Division 3 of Title 5 of the Government Code.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1989, Ch. 323, Sec. 8.)

article: 2. Formation


text: Prior to any decision on the question of the formation of the proposed zone, the board shall obtain approval for the proposed plan for wastewater disposal from the affected regional water quality control board if such plan involves the disposal of wastewater to a wastewater treatment facility. For any other method of wastewater disposal, and prior to any decision, the board shall obtain approval for the proposed plan from the local health officer and the affected regional water quality control board. The affected regional water quality control board or the local health officer shall not approve any plan which does not comply with applicable requirements of federal, state, regional, or local law, order, regulation, or rule relating to water pollution, the disposal of waste, or public health.

article: 2. Formation


citation: HSC § 6961

text: At the time and place fixed in the resolution of intention or the petition, or at any time or place to which the hearing is adjourned, any interested person may appear and present any matters material to the questions set forth in the resolution of intention or the petition. At the hearing the board shall also hear the reports of any local health officer, and any public agency with statutory responsibilities for setting water quality standards, regarding any matters material to the questions set forth in the resolution of intention or the petition.

article: 2. Formation


citation: HSC § 6962

text:
At the hearing the board shall also hear and receive any oral or written protests, objections, or evidence which shall be made, presented, or filed. Any person who shall have filed a written protest may withdraw the same at any time prior to the conclusion of the hearing. The board shall have the following powers and duties:

(a) To exclude any territory proposed to be included in a zone when the board finds that such territory will not be benefited by becoming a part of such zone.

(b) To include any additional territory in a proposed zone when the board finds that such territory will be benefited by becoming a part of such zone.

article: 2. Formation


citation: HSC § 6963

text:
At the close of the hearing the board shall find and declare by resolution that written protests, filed and not withdrawn prior to the conclusion of the hearing, represent one of the following:

(a) Less than 35 percent of either of the following:

(1) The number of voters who reside in the proposed zone.

(2) The number of owners of real property in the proposed zone who also own not less than 35 percent of the assessed value of the real property within the proposed zone.

(b) Not less than 35 percent but less than 50 percent of either of the following:

(1) The number of voters who reside in the proposed zone.

(2) The number of owners of real property in the proposed zone who also own not less than 35 percent but less than 50 percent of the assessed value of the real property within the proposed zone.

(c) Not less than 50 percent of either of the following:

(1) The number of voters who reside in the proposed zone.

(2) The number of owners of real property in the proposed zone who also own not less than 50 percent of the assessed value of the real property within the proposed zone.

article: 2. Formation


citation: HSC § 6964

text: If the number of written protests filed and not withdrawn is the number described in subdivision (c) of Section 6963, the board shall abandon any further proceedings on the question of forming a proposed zone.

article: 2. Formation


citation: HSC § 6965

text:
If the number of written protests filed and not withdrawn is the number described in subdivision (a) of Section 6963, the board shall find and declare by resolution all of the following:

(a) A description of the exterior boundaries of the zone as proposed or modified.

(b) The number of on-site wastewater disposal systems which the public agency proposes to acquire, operate, maintain, or monitor.

(c) That the operation of the proposed zone will not result in land uses that are not consistent with applicable general plans, zoning ordinances, or other land use regulations.

(d) The method of financing the operations of the zone.

article: 2. Formation


citation: HSC § 6966

text: The board may order the formation of the zone either without election or subject to confirmation by the voters within the zone upon the question of such formation. However, the board shall not order any such formation without an election if the number of written protests filed and not withdrawn is a number described in subdivision (b) of Section 6963.

article: 2. Formation


citation: HSC § 6967

text:
If the board does not order the formation of the proposed zone, an election on the question shall be conducted if, within 30 days of the date upon which the board did not order the formation, the board receives a petition requesting such an election signed by either of the following:

(a) Not less than 35 percent of the voters who reside within the territory proposed to be included within the zone.

(b) Not less than 35 percent of the number of owners of real property within the territory proposed to be included within the zone who also own not less than 35 percent of the assessed value of the real property within such territory.

article: 2. Formation


citation: HSC § 6968

text: Any election conducted pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be conducted pursuant to the provisions of law pertaining to regular or special elections held in the public agency.

article: 2. Formation


citation: HSC § 6969

text: After the canvass of returns of any election on the question of forming a proposed zone, the board shall adopt a resolution ordering the formation of the zone if a majority of votes cast at such election are in favor of such formation.

article: 2. Formation


citation: HSC § 6970

text: No public agency shall form a zone which includes any territory already included within another zone.

article: 2. Formation


citation: HSC § 6971

text: No public agency shall form a zone if such formation will permit other land uses which are not consistent with the general plans, zoning ordinances, or other land use regulations of any county or city within which the proposed zone is located.

article: 2. Formation


citation: HSC § 6972

text: After the formation of the zone pursuant to this article, all taxes levied to carry out the purposes of the zone shall be levied exclusively upon the property taxable in the zone by the public agency.

article: 2. Formation


citation: HSC § 6973

text: If the board does not form a zone after the close of a hearing in accordance with Section 6967 and no petition is filed pursuant to Section 6967, or if the board abandons proceedings on the proposal to form a zone, or if the formation of a zone is not confirmed by the voters, no further proceeding shall be taken thereon. No application for a subsequent proposal involving substantially the same territory and undertaken pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be considered or acted upon by the public agency for at least one year after the date of disapproval of, abandonment of, or election on the proceedings.

article: 2. Formation


citation: HSC § 6974

text: Territory within the public agency may be annexed to a zone, provided that such territory is not part of another zone. The requirements and proceedings for the annexation of territory shall be the same as the requirements and proceedings for formation of a zone.

article: 2. Formation


text: Land already a part of a zone may be detached if the board finds and determines, following notice and hearing in the same manner provided for formation of the zone, that the land will not be benefitted by its continued inclusion in the zone.

article: 2. Formation


citation: HSC § 6975

text: An on-site wastewater disposal zone may be formed to achieve water quality objectives set by regional water quality control boards, to protect existing and future beneficial water uses, protect public health, and to prevent and abate nuisances. Whenever an on-site wastewater disposal zone has been formed pursuant to this chapter, the public agency shall have the powers set forth in this article, which powers shall be in addition to any other powers provided by law. A public agency shall exercise its powers on behalf of a zone.

article: 3. Powers

path: 6. SANITARY DISTRICTS > 2. OTHER SANITARY DISTRICT ACTS > 3. On-Site Wastewater Disposal Zones > 3. Powers


citation: HSC § 6976

text:
An on-site waste water disposal zone shall have the following powers:

(a) To collect, treat, reclaim, or dispose of waste water without the use of communitywide sanitary sewers or sewage systems and without degrading water quality within or outside the zone.

(b) To acquire, design, own, construct, install, operate, monitor, inspect, and maintain on-site wastewater disposal systems, not to exceed the number of systems specified pursuant to either Section 6960 or Section 6960.1, within the zone in a manner which will promote water quality, prevent the pollution, waste, and contamination of water, and abate nuisances.

(c) To conduct investigations, make analyses, and monitor conditions with regard to water quality within the zone.

(d) To adopt and enforce reasonable rules and regulations necessary to implement the purposes of the zone. Such rules and regulations may be adopted only after the board conducts a public hearing after giving public notice pursuant to Section 6066 of the Government Code.

article: 3. Powers


citation: HSC § 6977

text: The public agency shall do all such acts as are reasonably necessary to secure compliance with any federal, state, regional, or local law, order, regulation, or rule relating to water pollution or the discharge of pollutants, waste, or any other material within the zone. For such purpose, any authorized representative of the public agency, upon presentation of his credentials, or, if necessary under the circumstances, after obtaining an inspection warrant pursuant to Title 13 (commencing with Section 1822.50) of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure, shall have the right of entry to any premises on which a water pollution, waste, or contamination source, including, but not limited to, septic tanks, is located for the purpose of inspecting such source, including securing samples of discharges therefrom, or any records required to be maintained in connection therewith by federal, state, or local law, order, regulation, or rule.

article: 3. Powers


citation: HSC § 6978

text:
(a) Violation of any of the provisions of a rule or regulation adopted pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 6976 may be abated as a public nuisance by the board. The board may by regulation establish a procedure for the abatement of such a nuisance and to assess the cost of such abatement to the violator. If the violator maintains the nuisance upon real property in which he has a fee title interest, the assessment shall constitute a lien upon such real property in the manner provided in subdivision (b).

(b) The amount of any costs, which are incurred by the zone in abating such a nuisance upon real property, shall be assessed to such real property and shall be added to, and become part of, the annual taxes next levied upon the real property subject to abatement and shall constitute a lien upon that real property as of the same time and in the same manner as does the tax lien securing such annual taxes. All laws applicable to the collection and enforcement of county ad valorem taxes shall be applicable to such assessment, except that if any real property to which such lien would attach has been transferred or conveyed to a bona fide purchaser for value, or if a lien of a bona fide encumbrancer for value has been created and attached thereon, prior to the date on which such delinquent charges appear on the assessment roll, then a lien which would otherwise be imposed by this section shall not attach to such real property and the delinquent and unpaid charges relating to such property shall be transferred to the unsecured roll for collection. Any amounts of such assessments collected are to be credited to the funds of the zone from which the costs of abatement were expended.

article: 3. Powers


citation: HSC § 6979

text:
(a) The owner of any real property upon which is located an on-site wastewater disposal system, which system is subject to abatement as a public nuisance by the public agency, may request the public agency to replace or repair, as necessary, such system. If replacement or repair is feasible, the board may provide for the necessary replacement or repair work.

(b) The person or persons employed by the board to do the work shall have a lien, subject to the provisions of subdivision (b) of Section 6978, for work done and materials furnished, and the work done and materials furnished shall be deemed to have been done and furnished at the request of the owner. The zone, in the discretion of the board, may pay all, or any part, of the cost or price of the work done and materials furnished; and, to the extent that the zone pays the cost or price of the work done and materials furnished, the zone shall succeed to and have all the rights, including, but not limited to, the lien, of such person or persons employed to do the work against the real property and the owner.

article: 3. Powers


citation: HSC § 6980

text: A board may exercise all of the public agency’s existing financial powers on behalf of a zone, excepting that any assessment or tax levied upon the real property of a zone shall be subject to the provisions of Sections 6978 and 6981.

article: 3. Powers


citation: HSC § 6981

text: Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a public agency may levy an assessment reasonably proportional to the benefits derived from the zone, as determined by the board, and subject to the approval of the voters pursuant to the provisions of Article 6 (commencing with Section 2285) of Chapter 3 of Part 4 of Division 1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code. Such benefit assessment shall be in addition to any other charges, assessments, or taxes otherwise levied by the public agency upon the property in the zone.

article: 3. Powers


citation: HSC § 6982

text:
(a) Notwithstanding Section 6952, the West Bay Sanitary District may use the procedures in this chapter to provide alternative or innovative wastewater technologies in the district’s jurisdiction.

(b) The determination of a public health officer pursuant to Section 6955.1 shall include written findings, adopted by the district board of directors, regarding the existing or potential public health hazard.

(c) “Alternative or innovative wastewater technologies” means either (1) an onsite wastewater disposal system, as defined in Section 6952, or (2) such a system in conjunction with communitywide sewer or sewage systems, if one or more of the components of the system is located on or in close proximity to the real property and employs innovative or alternative wastewater technologies, including, but not limited to, grinder pump pressure sewer systems, septic tank effluent pump pressure sewer systems, vacuum sewer systems, or small-diameter gravity septic tank systems.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2004, Ch. 193, Sec. 78. Effective January 1, 2005.)

article: 3. Powers


citation: HSC § 7000

text: The definitions in this chapter apply to this division, Division 8 (commencing with Section 8100) and Division 102 (commencing with Section 102100) of this code and Chapter 12 (commencing with Section 7600) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 571, Sec. 31. (SB 1480) Effective January 1, 2019.)

division: 7. DEAD BODIES

part: 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

chapter: 1. Definitions

path: 7. DEAD BODIES > 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS > 1. Definitions


citation: HSC § 7001

text: “Human remains” or “remains” means the body of a deceased person, regardless of its stage of decomposition, and includes cremated, reduced, or hydrolyzed human remains.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 399, Sec. 28. (AB 351) Effective January 1, 2023.)


citation: HSC § 7002

text: “Cremated remains” means the ashes and bone fragments of a human body that are left after cremation in a crematory, and includes ashes from the cremation container. “Cremation remains” does not include foreign materials, pacemakers, or prostheses.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 436, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 2002.)


text:
(a) “Hydrolyzed human remains” means bone fragments of a human body that are left after hydrolysis in a hydrolysis facility. “Hydrolyzed human remains” does not include foreign materials, pacemakers, or prostheses.

(b) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2020.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 846, Sec. 27. (AB 967) Effective January 1, 2018. Section operative July 1, 2020, by its own provisions.)


text:
(a) “Reduction facility” means a structure, room, or other space in a building or real property where natural, organic reduction of a human body occurs.

(b) “Reduced human remains” means the remains of a human body that have been reduced to soil through a process of reduction. “Reduced human remains” does not include foreign materials, pacemakers, or prostheses.

(c) “Reduction” means the process of transforming a human body into soil using the natural decomposition process, accelerated with the addition of organic materials through the following steps:

(1) The body of a deceased person is mixed together with natural materials and air and is periodically turned, eventually resulting in the body’s reduction to a soil material.

(2) Large tanks, containers, or similar vessels hold human remains together with straw, wood chips, or other natural materials until the process is complete.

(3) The processing of the remains after removal from the reduction chamber pursuant to Section 7010.3.

(d) “Reduction chamber” means the enclosed space within which individual human remains are reduced and any other attached, nonenclosed, mechanical components that are necessary for the safe and proper functioning of the equipment. A reduction chamber shall meet or exceed the requirements set by the State Department of Public Health and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for destruction of human pathogens, including complying with Section 7714.3.

(e) “Reduced human remains container” means a receptacle into which human remains are placed after reduction.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 399, Sec. 29. (AB 351) Effective January 1, 2023.)


citation: HSC § 7003

text:
(a) “Cemetery” means either of the following:

(1) Any of the following that is used or intended to be used and dedicated for cemetery purposes:

(A) A burial park, for earth interments.

(B) A mausoleum, for crypt or vault interments.

(C) A crematory and columbarium, for interment of cremated remains or hydrolyzed human remains.

(2) A place where six or more human bodies are buried.

(b) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2020.

history: (History: Repealed (in Sec. 28) and added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 846, Sec. 29. (AB 967) Effective January 1, 2018. Section operative July 1, 2020, by its own provisions.)


citation: HSC § 7004

text: “Burial park” means a tract of land for the burial of human remains in the ground, used or intended to be used, and dedicated, for cemetery purposes.

history: (History: Enacted by Stats. 1939, Ch. 60.)


citation: HSC § 7005

text: Except in Part 5 (commencing with Section 9501) of Division 8, “mausoleum” means a structure or building for the entombment of human remains in crypts or vaults in a place used, or intended to be used, and dedicated, for cemetery purposes.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 436, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 2002.)


citation: HSC § 7006

text: “Crematory” means a building or structure containing one or more furnaces for the reduction of bodies of deceased persons to cremated remains.


text:
(a) “Hydrolysis facility” means a building or structure containing one or more chambers for the reduction of bodies of deceased persons by alkaline hydrolysis.

(b) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2020.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 846, Sec. 30. (AB 967) Effective January 1, 2018. Section operative July 1, 2020, by its own provisions.)


text: “Cremation chamber” means the enclosed space within which the cremation of human remains is performed.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 1993, Ch. 1232, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 1994.)


text:
(a) “Hydrolysis chamber” means the enclosed space within which the hydrolysis of human remains is performed and any other attached, nonenclosed, mechanical components that are necessary for the safe and proper functioning of the equipment. Allowable hydrolysis chambers for the disposition of human remains shall meet or exceed State Department of Public Health and federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requirements applicable for destruction of human pathogens, specified in the hydrolysis chamber approval issued pursuant to Section 7639.08 of the Business and Professions Code.

(b) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2020.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 846, Sec. 31. (AB 967) Effective January 1, 2018. Section operative July 1, 2020, by its own provisions.)


text: “Cremation container” means a combustible, closed container resistant to leakage of bodily fluids into which the body of a deceased person is placed prior to insertion in a cremation chamber for cremation.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 1993, Ch. 1232, Sec. 7. Effective January 1, 1994.)


text:
(a) “Hydrolysis container” means a hydrolyzable body wrapping into which the body of a deceased person is placed prior to insertion into a hydrolysis chamber. The wrapping must consist of 100-percent protein-based material, such as silk, suede, leather, feather, fur, or wool.

(b) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2020.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 846, Sec. 32. (AB 967) Effective January 1, 2018. Section operative July 1, 2020, by its own provisions.)


text: “Cremated remains container” means a receptacle in which cremated remains are placed after cremation.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 1993, Ch. 1232, Sec. 8. Effective January 1, 1994.)


text:
(a) “Hydrolyzed human remains container” means a receptacle in which hydrolyzed human remains are placed after hydrolysis.

(b) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2020.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 846, Sec. 33. (AB 967) Effective January 1, 2018. Section operative July 1, 2020, by its own provisions.)


citation: HSC § 7007

text: Except in Part 5 (commencing with Section 9501) of Division 8, “columbarium” means a structure, room, or other space in a building or structure containing niches for inurnment of cremated human remains in a place used, or intended to be used, and dedicated, for cemetery purposes.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 436, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 2002.)


citation: HSC § 7008

text: “Crematory and columbarium” means a building or structure containing both a crematory and columbarium.


citation: HSC § 7009

text: “Interment” means the disposition of human remains by entombment or burial in a cemetery or, in the case of cremated remains, by inurnment, placement or burial in a cemetery, or burial at sea as provided in Section 7117.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1993, Ch. 1232, Sec. 9. Effective January 1, 1994.)


citation: HSC § 7010

text:
“Cremation” means the process by which the following three steps are taken:

(a) The reduction of the body of a deceased human to its essential elements by incineration.

(b) The repositioning or moving of the body or remains during incineration to facilitate the process.

(c) The processing of the remains after removal from the cremation chamber pursuant to Section 7010.3.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 436, Sec. 7. Effective January 1, 2002.)


text:
(a) “Hydrolysis” means the process by which the following two steps are taken:

(1) The reduction of the body of a deceased person to its essential organic components and bone fragments by alkaline hydrolysis. “Alkaline hydrolysis” is a process using heat or heat and applied pressure, water, and potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide in a hydrolysis chamber.

(2) The processing of the remains after removal from the hydrolysis chamber pursuant to Section 7010.3.

(b) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2020.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 846, Sec. 34. (AB 967) Effective January 1, 2018. Section operative July 1, 2020, by its own provisions.)


text:
(a) “Processing” means the removal of foreign objects, pursuant to Section 7051, and the reduction of the particle size of cremated remains or hydrolyzed human remains by mechanical means, including, but not limited to, grinding, crushing, and pulverizing to a consistency appropriate for disposition.

(b) For purposes of reduced human remains, “processing” means the removal of foreign objects, pursuant to Section 7051, and any necessary preparation for the reduced human remains to be integrated into the soil.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 399, Sec. 30. (AB 351) Effective January 1, 2023.)


text: “Residue” means human ashes, bone fragments, prostheses, and disintegrated material from the chamber itself, imbedded in cracks and uneven spaces of a cremation chamber, that cannot be removed through reasonable manual contact with sweeping or scraping equipment. Material left in the cremation chamber, after the completion of a cremation, that can be reasonably removed shall not be considered “residue.”

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 436, Sec. 8. Effective January 1, 2002.)


text:
(a) “Scattering” means the authorized dispersal of cremated remains or hydrolyzed human remains at sea, in other areas of the state, or commingling in a defined area within a dedicated cemetery, in accordance with this part.

(b) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2020.

history: (History: Repealed (in Sec. 37) and added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 846, Sec. 38. (AB 967) Effective January 1, 2018. Section operative July 1, 2020, by its own provisions.)


text:
(a) “Integrate into the soil” means the authorized addition and mixing of reduced human remains with existing soil in a defined area within a dedicated cemetery, conservation area, property where the person who has control over the disposition of the reduced human remains has obtained written permission of the property owner or governing agency, or other area in the state where integration is permitted pursuant to this division or Chapter 12 (commencing with Section 7600) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code. The reduced human remains are intended to act as a soil amendment.

(b) “Soil amendment” means any material added to a soil to improve its physical properties, including, but not limited to, water retention, permeability, water infiltration, drainage, aeration, or structure.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 399, Sec. 31. (AB 351) Effective January 1, 2023.)


citation: HSC § 7011

text:
(a) “Inurnment” means placing cremated remains or hydrolyzed human remains in a cremated remains container or hydrolyzed human remains container suitable for placement, burial, or shipment.

(b) “Inurnment” also means placing reduced human remains in a reduced human remains container suitable for placement, burial, or shipment.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 399, Sec. 32. (AB 351) Effective January 1, 2023.)


text:
(a) “Placement” means the placing of a container holding cremated remains or hydrolyzed human remains in a crypt, vault, or niche.

(b) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2020.

history: (History: Repealed (in Sec. 41) and added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 846, Sec. 42. (AB 967) Effective January 1, 2018. Section operative July 1, 2020, by its own provisions.)


citation: HSC § 7012

text: “Entombment” means the process of placing human remains in a crypt or vault.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 436, Sec. 10. Effective January 1, 2002.)


citation: HSC § 7013

text: “Burial” means the process of placing human remains in a grave.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 436, Sec. 11. Effective January 1, 2002.)


citation: HSC § 7014

text: “Grave” means a space of earth in a burial park, used, or intended to be used, for the disposition of human remains.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 436, Sec. 12. Effective January 1, 2002.)


citation: HSC § 7015

text:
(a) “Crypt” or “vault” means a space in a mausoleum of sufficient size, used or intended to be used, to entomb human remains that have been neither cremated nor hydrolyzed.

(b) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2020.

history: (History: Repealed (in Sec. 43) and added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 846, Sec. 44. (AB 967) Effective January 1, 2018. Section operative July 1, 2020, by its own provisions.)


citation: HSC § 7016

text:
(a) “Niche” means a space in a columbarium used, or intended to be used, for the placement of cremated human remains or hydrolyzed human remains.

(b) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2020.

history: (History: Repealed (in Sec. 45) and added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 846, Sec. 46. (AB 967) Effective January 1, 2018. Section operative July 1, 2020, by its own provisions.)


citation: HSC § 7017

text:
(a) “Hydrolysate” means the resultant liquid from the hydrolysis of human remains, which liquid is a sterile, benign, micronutrient-rich solution consisting of sugars, salts, peptides, and amino acids. Hydrolysate and calcium phosphate “ashes” are the two end results from the alkaline hydrolysis process.

(b) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2020.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 846, Sec. 47. (AB 967) Effective January 1, 2018. Section operative July 1, 2020, by its own provisions.)


citation: HSC § 7018

text: “Cemetery authority” includes cemetery association, corporation sole, limited liability company, or other person owning or controlling cemetery lands or property.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2008, Ch. 114, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 2009.)


citation: HSC § 7019

text: “Cemetery corporation,” “cemetery association,” or “cemetery corporation or association,” means any corporation now or hereafter organized which is or may be authorized by its articles to conduct any one or more or all of the businesses of a cemetery, but do not mean or include a corporation sole.

history: (History: Enacted by Stats. 1939, Ch. 60.)


citation: HSC § 7020

text: “Cemetery business,” “cemetery businesses,” and “cemetery purposes” are used interchangeably and mean any and all business and purposes requisite to, necessary for, or incident to, establishing, maintaining, operating, improving, or conducting a cemetery, interring human remains, and the care, preservation, and embellishment of cemetery property, including, but not limited to, any activity or business designed for the benefit, service, convenience, education, or spiritual uplift of property owners or persons visiting the cemetery.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1955, Ch. 595.)


citation: HSC § 7021

text: “Directors” or “governing body” means the board of directors, board of trustees, or other policymaking body of a cemetery association.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 436, Sec. 15. Effective January 1, 2002.)


citation: HSC § 7022

text: “Lot,” “plot,” or “interment plot” means space in a cemetery, used or intended to be used for the interment of human remains. Such terms include and apply to one or more than one adjoining graves, one or more than one adjoining crypts or vaults, or one or more than one adjoining niches.


citation: HSC § 7023

text: “Plot owner,” “owner,” or “lot proprietor,” means any person in whose name an interment plot stands of record as owner, in the office of a cemetery authority.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1939, Ch. 339.)


citation: HSC § 7024

text: “Permit for Disposition of Human Remains” includes “burial permit” and is a permit, issued pursuant to law, for the interment, disinterment, removal, reinterment or transportation of human remains.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1957, Ch. 363.)


citation: HSC § 7025

text: “Disposition” means the interment, integration into soil, or scattering of human remains within California, or the shipment outside of California, for lawful interment, integration into soil, or scattering elsewhere, including release of remains pursuant to Section 103060.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 399, Sec. 33. (AB 351) Effective January 1, 2023.)


text:
(a) Every person who knowingly mutilates or disinters, wantonly disturbs, or willfully removes any human remains in or from any location other than a dedicated cemetery without authority of law is guilty of a misdemeanor, except as provided in Section 5097.99 of the Public Resources Code. The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to any person carrying out an agreement developed pursuant to subdivision ( l) of Section 5097.94 of the Public Resources Code or to any person authorized to implement Section 5097.98 of the Public Resources Code.

(b) In the event of discovery or recognition of any human remains in any location other than a dedicated cemetery, there shall be no further excavation or disturbance of the site or any nearby area reasonably suspected to overlie adjacent remains until the coroner of the county in which the human remains are discovered has determined, in accordance with Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 27460) of Part 3 of Division 2 of Title 3 of the Government Code, that the remains are not subject to the provisions of Section 27491 of the Government Code or any other related provisions of law concerning investigation of the circumstances, manner and cause of any death, and the recommendations concerning the treatment and disposition of the human remains have been made to the person responsible for the excavation, or to his or her authorized representative, in the manner provided in Section 5097.98 of the Public Resources Code. The coroner shall make his or her determination within two working days from the time the person responsible for the excavation, or his or her authorized representative, notifies the coroner of the discovery or recognition of the human remains.

(c) If the coroner determines that the remains are not subject to his or her authority and if the coroner recognizes the human remains to be those of a Native American, or has reason to believe that they are those of a Native American, he or she shall contact, by telephone within 24 hours, the Native American Heritage Commission.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1987, Ch. 404, Sec. 1.)

chapter: 2. General Provisions

path: 7. DEAD BODIES > 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS > 2. General Provisions


citation: HSC § 7051

text:
(a) A person who removes part of any human remains from a place where it has been interred, or from a place where it is deposited while awaiting interment, cremation, reduction, or hydrolysis, with intent to sell it or to dissect it, without authority of law, or written permission of the person or persons having the right to control the remains under Section 7100, or with malice or wantonness, has committed a public offense that is punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code.

(b) This section does not prohibit the removal of foreign materials, pacemakers, or prostheses from cremated, reduced, or hydrolyzed human remains by an employee of a licensed crematory, reduction facility, or hydrolysis facility prior to final processing of remains. Dental gold or silver, jewelry, or mementos, to the extent that they can be identified, may be removed by the employee prior to final processing if the equipment is such that it will not process these materials. However, any dental gold and silver, jewelry, or mementos that are removed shall be returned to the urn, cremated remains container, reduced human remains container, or hydrolyzed human remains container, unless otherwise directed by the person or persons having the right to control the disposition.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 399, Sec. 34. (AB 351) Effective January 1, 2023.)


text: A person who removes or possesses dental gold or silver, jewelry, or mementos from human remains without specific written permission of the person or persons having the right to control those remains under Section 7100 is punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code. The fact that residue and any unavoidable dental gold or dental silver, or other precious metals remain in the cremation chamber, reduction chamber, hydrolysis chamber, or other equipment or a container used in a prior cremation, reduction, or hydrolysis is not a violation of this section.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 399, Sec. 35. (AB 351) Effective January 1, 2023.)


citation: HSC § 7052

text:
(a) A person who willfully mutilates, disinters, removes from the place of interment, or commits an act of sexual penetration on, or has sexual contact with, remains known to be human, without authority of law, is guilty of a felony. This section does not apply to a person who, under authority of law, removes the remains for reinterment, or performs a cremation, reduction, or hydrolysis.

(b) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1) “Sexual penetration” means the unlawful penetration of the vagina or anus, however slight, by any part of a person’s body or other object, or any act of sexual contact between the sex organs of a person and the mouth or anus of a dead body, or any oral copulation of a dead human body for the purpose of sexual arousal, gratification, or abuse.

(2) “Sexual contact” means any willful touching by a person of an intimate part of a dead human body for the purpose of sexual arousal, gratification, or abuse.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 399, Sec. 36. (AB 351) Effective January 1, 2023.)


text: Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7052, cremated, reduced, or hydrolyzed human remains may be removed from the place of interment for disposition as provided in Section 7054.5 or 7054.6 or for burial at sea as provided in Section 7117.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 399, Sec. 37. (AB 351) Effective January 1, 2023.)


citation: HSC § 7053

text: Every person who arrests, attaches, detains, or claims to detain any human remains for any debt or demand, or upon any pretended lien or charge, or fails to release any human remains, the personal effects, or any certificate or permit required under Division 102 (commencing with Section 102100) that is in his or her possession or control forthwith upon the delivery of authorization for the release signed by the next of kin or by any person entitled to the custody of the remains, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2003, Ch. 874, Sec. 34. Effective January 1, 2004.)


citation: HSC § 7054

text:
(a) (1) Except as authorized pursuant to the sections referred to in subdivision (b), a person who deposits or disposes of human remains in any place, except in a cemetery, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(2) Every licensee or registrant pursuant to Chapter 12 (commencing with Section 7600) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code and the agents and employees of the licensee or registrant, or an unlicensed person acting in a capacity in which a license from the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau is required, who, except as authorized pursuant to the sections referred to in subdivision (b), deposits or disposes of human remains in any place, except in a cemetery, is guilty of a misdemeanor that shall be punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both that imprisonment and fine.

(b) (1) Cremated remains or hydrolyzed human remains may be disposed of pursuant to Sections 7054.6, 7116, 7117, and 103060.

(2) Reduced human remains may be disposed of pursuant to Sections 7054.5, 7116, and 103060.

(c) Subdivision (a) of this section shall not apply to the reburial of Native American remains under an agreement developed pursuant to subdivision (l) of Section 5097.94 of the Public Resources Code, or implementation of a recommendation or agreement made pursuant to Section 5097.98 of the Public Resources Code.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 399, Sec. 38. (AB 351) Effective January 1, 2023.)


text: Cremated, reduced, or hydrolyzed human remains shall not be removed from the place of cremation, reduction, or hydrolysis, and there shall not be a charge for the cremation, reduction, or hydrolysis, unless the remains have been processed so that they are suitable for inurnment. Every contract for cremation, reduction, or hydrolysis services shall include specific written notification of the processing to the person having the right to control the disposition of the remains under Section 7100.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 399, Sec. 39. (AB 351) Effective January 1, 2023.)


text: Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a recognizable dead human fetus of less than 20 weeks uterogestation not disposed of by interment shall be disposed of by incineration.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 1971, Ch. 377.)


text:
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, recognizable anatomical parts, human tissues, anatomical human remains, or infectious waste following conclusion of scientific use shall be disposed of by interment, incineration, or any other method determined by the state department to protect the public health and safety.

As used in this section, “infectious waste” means any material or article which has been, or may have been, exposed to contagious or infectious disease.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1972, Ch. 883.)