California Government Code CHAPTER 2 - Definitions

  • Section 56010.
    Unless the provision or context otherwise requires, the definitions contained in this chapter govern the construction of this division. The definition of a word applies...
  • Section 56011.
    “Affected city” means any city that contains or would contain, or whose sphere of influence contains or would contain, territory for which a change of...
  • Section 56012.
    “Affected county” means any county that contains, or would contain, any territory for which a change of organization is proposed or ordered either singularly or...
  • Section 56013.
    “Affected district” means any special district, as defined by Section 56036, that contains or would contain, or whose sphere of influence contains or would contain,...
  • Section 56014.
    “Affected local agency” means any local agency that contains, or would contain, or whose sphere of influence contains or would contain, any territory for which...
  • Section 56015.
    “Affected territory” means any territory for which a change of organization or reorganization, or sphere of influence change, is proposed or ordered.(Amended by Stats. 2011,...
  • Section 56016.
    “Agricultural lands” means land currently used for the purpose of producing an agricultural commodity for commercial purposes, land left fallow under a crop rotational program,...
  • Section 56017.
    “Annexation” means the inclusion, attachment, or addition of territory to a city or district.(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 300, Sec. 6. (AB 1430) Effective January...
  • Section 56017.1.
    “Applicant” means a local agency or person or persons that submits an application, as defined by Section 56017.2.(Added by Stats. 2011, Ch. 300, Sec. 7....
  • Section 56017.2.
    “Application” means any of the following:(a) A resolution of application or petition initiating a change of organization or reorganization with supporting documentation as required by the...
  • Section 56019.
    “Board of directors” means the legislative body or governing board of a district.(Repealed and added by Stats. 1985, Ch. 541, Sec. 3. Effective September 9,...
  • Section 56020.
    “Board of supervisors” means the legislative body or governing board of a county.(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 300, Sec. 10. (AB 1430) Effective January 1,
  • Section 56020.5.
    “Certificate of completion” means the document prepared by the executive officer and recorded with the county recorder that confirms the final successful completion of a...
  • Section 56020.6.
    “Certificate of filing” means the document issued by the executive officer that confirms an application for a change of organization or reorganization has met submission...
  • Section 56020.7.
    “Certificate of termination” or “certificate of termination of proceedings” means the document prepared by the executive officer and retained by the commission that indicates that...
  • Section 56021.
    “Change of organization” means any of the following:(a) A city incorporation.(b) A district formation.(c) An annexation to a city.(d) An annexation to a district.(e) A detachment from a city.(f) A detachment...
  • Section 56023.
    “City” means any incorporated chartered or general law city, including any city the name of which includes the word “town.”(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 300,...
  • Section 56024.
    “City council” means the legislative body or governing board of a city.(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 300, Sec. 16. (AB 1430) Effective January 1, 2012.)
  • Section 56025.
    “City officer” means the mayor or a member of the city council.(Repealed and added by Stats. 1985, Ch. 541, Sec. 3. Effective September 9, 1985....
  • Section 56026.
    “Clerk” means the clerk or secretary of a commission, county, city, or district, or the clerk or secretary of the legislative body of a county,...
  • Section 56027.
    “Commission” means a local agency formation commission.(Repealed and added by Stats. 1985, Ch. 541, Sec. 3. Effective September 9, 1985. Operative January 1, 1986, by...
  • Section 56028.
    “Commission proceedings” means proceedings which are taken by a commission pursuant to Part 3 (commencing with Section 56650).(Repealed and added by Stats. 1985, Ch. 541,...
  • Section 56029.
    “Conducting authority” means the commission of the principal county, or the commission’s executive officer when authorized by the commission, when exercising its responsibility to conduct...
  • Section 56030.
    “Consolidation” means the uniting or joining of two or more cities located in the same county into a single new successor city or two or...
  • Section 56031.
    (a) “Contiguous” means territory that abuts or shares a common boundary with territory within a local agency.(b) Territory is not contiguous if the only contiguity is based...
  • Section 56032.
    “County officer” means a member of the board of supervisors.(Repealed and added by Stats. 1985, Ch. 541, Sec. 3. Effective September 9, 1985. Operative January...
  • Section 56032.5.
    “Dependent special district” or “dependent district” includes any special district that has a legislative body that consists, in whole or part, of ex officio members...
  • Section 56033.
    “Detachment” means the exclusion, deletion, or removal from a city or district of any portion of the territory of that city or district.(Amended by Stats....
  • Section 56033.5.
    “Disadvantaged unincorporated community” means inhabited territory, as defined by Section 56046, or as determined by commission policy, that constitutes all or a portion of a...
  • Section 56034.
    “Disincorporation” means the dissolution, extinguishment, or termination of the existence of a city and the cessation of its corporate powers, except for the purpose of...
  • Section 56035.
    “Dissolution” means the disincorporation, extinguishment, or termination of the existence of a district and the cessation of all its corporate powers, except as the commission...
  • Section 56036.
    (a) “District” or “special district” are synonymous and mean an agency of the state, formed pursuant to general law or special act, for the local performance...
  • Section 56036.5.
    (a) For the purposes of Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 57000) to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 57176), inclusive, of Part 4 or Part 5 (commencing...
  • Section 56036.6.
    (a) For the purposes of Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 57000) to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 57176), inclusive, of Part 4 or Part 5 (commencing...
  • Section 56037.2.
    “Divestiture of power” means the termination of the power and authority to provide particular functions or classes of services within all or part of the...
  • Section 56037.5.
    “Elections official” shall have the same meaning as in Section 320 of the Elections Code.(Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 761, Sec. 10. Effective January 1,
  • Section 56038.
    “Executive officer” means the person appointed by a commission pursuant to Section 56384.(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 300, Sec. 27. (AB 1430) Effective January 1,
  • Section 56038.5.
    “Feasible” means capable of being accomplished in a successful manner within a reasonable period of time, taking into account economic, legal, social, and technological factors.(Added...
  • Section 56039.
    “Formation” means the creation of a district.(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 300, Sec. 28. (AB 1430) Effective January 1, 2012.)
  • Section 56040.
    “Function” means any power granted by law to a local agency to provide designated governmental or proprietary services or facilities for the use, benefit, or...
  • Section 56041.
    “Improvement district” means an area or zone formed for the sole purpose of designating an area which is to bear a special tax or assessment...
  • Section 56042.
    “Inactive district” means a special district that meets all of the following:(a) The special district is as defined in Section 56036.(b) The special district has had no...
  • Section 56043.
    “Incorporation” means the creation or establishment of a city. Any area proposed for incorporation as a city shall have at least 500 registered voters residing...
  • Section 56044.
    “Independent district” or “independent special district” includes any special district having a legislative body all of whose members are elected by registered voters or landowners...
  • Section 56045.
    “Independent special district officer” means the presiding officer or a member of the legislative body of an independent special district.(Repealed and added by Stats. 1985,...
  • Section 56045.5.
    “Indirect cost” has the same meaning as used in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 33338 of the Education Code.(Added by Stats. 2015, Ch....
  • Section 56046.
    “Inhabited territory” means territory within which there reside 12 or more registered voters. The number of registered voters, as determined by the elections officer, shall...
  • Section 56047.
    “Initiate” or “initiation” means the issuance of a certificate of filing by the executive officer.(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 300, Sec. 35. (AB 1430) Effective...
  • Section 56047.5.
    “Interested agency” means each local agency which provides facilities or services in the affected territory.(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 300, Sec. 36. (AB 1430) Effective...
  • Section 56047.7.
    “Joint powers agency” or “joint powers authority” means an agency or entity formed pursuant to the Joint Exercise of Powers Act (Article 1 (commencing with...
  • Section 56048.
    “Landowner” or “owner of land” means any of the following:(a) A person or persons shown as the owner of land on the last equalized assessment roll...
  • Section 56049.
    “Landowner-voter” means any person entitled to vote in a landowner-voter district, or the legal representative of that person or, in the case of an election,...
  • Section 56050.
    “Landowner-voter district” means a district whose principal act provides that owners of land within the district are entitled to vote upon the election of district...
  • Section 56050.5.
    “Latent service or power” means those services, facilities, functions, or powers authorized by the principal act under which the district is formed, but that are...
  • Section 56051.
    “Last equalized assessment roll” means the listing in use by a county, city, or district for the purpose of the annual levy and collection of...
  • Section 56052.
    “Legal representative” means an officer of a corporation, partnership, or limited liability company duly authorized to sign for, and on behalf of, the entity. Legal...
  • Section 56053.
    “Legislative body” means the governing board of a city, county, or district.(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 300, Sec. 42. (AB 1430) Effective January 1, 2012.)
  • Section 56054.
    “Local agency” means a city, county, or district.(Amended by Stats. 1985, Ch. 1599, Sec. 3.)
  • Section 56055.
    “Member district” means any district which is included, in whole or in part, within another district, a metropolitan water district, or any of the entities...
  • Section 56056.
    “Merger” means the termination of the existence of a district when the responsibility for the functions, services, assets, and liabilities of that district are assumed...
  • Section 56057.
    “Next equalized assessment roll” means the listing to be equalized and used by a city, county, or district for the purpose of the annual levy...
  • Section 56059.
    “Open space” means any parcel or area of land or water which is substantially unimproved and devoted to an open-space use, as defined in Section...
  • Section 56060.
    “Open-space use” means any use as defined in Section 65560.(Added by Stats. 1985, Ch. 541, Sec. 3. Effective September 9, 1985. Operative January 1, 1986,...
  • Section 56061.
    “Overlap” or “overlapping territory” means territory which is included within the boundaries of two or more districts or within one or more districts and a...
  • Section 56062.
    “Parent district” means any district, a metropolitan water district, or any of the entities enumerated in Section 56036.6, which includes all or any part of...
  • Section 56064.
    “Prime agricultural land” means an area of land, whether a single parcel or contiguous parcels, that has not been developed for a use other than...
  • Section 56065.
    “Principal act” means, in the case of a district, the law under which the district was formed and, in the case of a city, the...
  • Section 56066.
    “Principal county” means the county having the greater portion of the entire assessed value, as shown on the last equalized assessment roll of the county...
  • Section 56067.
    “Proceeding,” “proceeding for a change of organization,” or “proceeding for a reorganization” means proceedings taken by the commission for a proposed change of organization or...
  • Section 56069.
    “Proposal” means a desired change of organization or reorganization initiated by a petition or by resolution of application of a legislative body or school district...
  • Section 56069.5.
    “Protest proceedings” means proceedings taken by a commission, or its executive officer when authorized by the commission, as the conducting authority pursuant to Chapter 1...
  • Section 56070.
    “Public agency” means the state or any state agency, board, or commission, any city, county, city and county, special district, or any agency, board, or...
  • Section 56071.
    “Registered voter” means any elector registered under, and pursuant to, the Elections Code.(Repealed and added by Stats. 1985, Ch. 541, Sec. 3. Effective September 9,...
  • Section 56072.
    “Registered-voter district” means a district whose principal act provides that registered voters residing within the district are entitled to vote for the election of district...
  • Section 56073.
    “Reorganization” means two or more changes of organization contained within a single proposal.(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 300, Sec. 55. (AB 1430) Effective January 1,
  • Section 56073.1.
    “Resolution of application” means the document adopted by a local agency or school district initiating a change of organization or reorganization pursuant to Section 56654...
  • Section 56074.
    “Service” means a specific governmental activity established within, and as a part of, a general function of the special district, as provided by regulations adopted...
  • Section 56075.
    “Special assessment district” or “assessment district” means an area fixed, established, and formed by a city, county, district, or the state, pursuant to general law,...
  • Section 56075.5.
    “Special reorganization” means a reorganization that includes the detachment of territory from a city or city and county and the incorporation of that entire detached...
  • Section 56076.
    “Sphere of influence” means a plan for the probable physical boundaries and service area of a local agency, as determined by the commission.(Amended by Stats....
  • Section 56077.
    “Subject agency” means each district or city for which a change of organization or reorganization is proposed or provided in a plan of reorganization.(Amended by...
  • Section 56078.
    “Subsidiary district” means a district in which a city council is designated as, and empowered to act as, the ex officio board of directors of...
  • Section 56080.
    “Urban service area” means developed, undeveloped, or agricultural land, either incorporated or unincorporated, within the sphere of influence of a city, which is served by...
  • Section 56081.
    “Voter” means a landowner-voter or a registered voter.(Repealed and added by Stats. 1985, Ch. 541, Sec. 3. Effective September 9, 1985. Operative January 1, 1986,...

Last modified: October 22, 2018