California Government Code GENERAL PROVISIONS

• Section 1.
  This act shall be known as the Government Code.(Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 134.)
• Section 2.
  The provisions of this code in so far as they are substantially the same as existing statutory provisions relating to the same subject matter shall...
• Section 3.
  All persons who at the time this code takes effect, hold office under any of the acts repealed by this code, which offices are continued...
• Section 4.
  No action or proceeding commenced before this code takes effect, and no right accrued, is affected by this code, but all procedure thereafter taken therein...
• Section 5.
  Unless the provision or the context otherwise requires, these general provisions, rules of construction, and definitions shall govern the construction of this code.(Enacted by Stats....
• Section 6.
  Title, division, part, chapter, article, and section headings do not in any manner affect the scope, meaning, or intent of the provisions of this code.(Enacted...
• Section 7.
  Whenever a power is granted to, or a duty is imposed upon, a public officer, the power may be exercised or the duty may be...
• Section 7.5.
  Whenever, by any law, the director of any state department is made a member of a state board, commission, or committee, or of the governing...
• Section 7.6.
  (a) If by law, any officer whose office is created by the California Constitution is made a member of a state board, commission, or committee, or...
• Section 7.7.
  The provisions of Sections 7.5 and 7.6 do not affect or modify in any manner the provisions of Section 7.(Added by Stats. 1953, Ch. 463.)
• Section 7.8.
  Notwithstanding anything in this code to the contrary, the Directors of Finance, General Services, and Education may appoint any deputy or assistant director in their...
• Section 7.9.
  (a) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the Controller, the Treasurer, the Director of Finance, or the Superintendent of Public Instruction may designate any...
• Section 7.9a.
  At the request of the Controller, two employees of that officer, in addition to those provided for in Section 7.9, shall be classified and compensated...
• Section 8.
  Writing includes any form of recorded message capable of comprehension by ordinary visual means. Whenever any notice, report, statement, or record is required or authorized...
• Section 9.
  Whenever reference is made to any portion of this code or of any other law of this State, the reference applies to all amendments and...
• Section 10.
  “Section” means a section of this code unless some other statute is specifically mentioned. “Subdivision” means a subdivision of the section in which the term...
• Section 11.
  The present tense includes the past and future tenses; and the future, the present.(Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 134.)
• Section 12.
  The masculine gender includes the feminine and neuter.(Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 134.)
• Section 12.2.
  “Spouse” includes “registered domestic partner,” as required by Section 297.5 of the Family Code.(Added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 50, Sec. 44. (SB 1005) Effective January...
• Section 12.5.
  The Legislature hereby declares its intent that the terms “man” or “men” where appropriate shall be deemed “person” or “persons” and any references to the...
• Section 13.
  The singular number includes the plural, and the plural the singular.(Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 134.)
• Section 14.
  “Shall” is mandatory and “may” is permissive.(Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 134.)
• Section 15.
  “Oath” includes affirmation.(Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 134.)
• Section 16.
  “Signature” or “subscription” includes mark when the signer or subscriber can not write, such signer’s or subscriber’s name being written near the mark by a...
• Section 16.5.
  (a) In any written communication with a public entity, as defined in Section 811.2, in which a signature is required or used, any party to the...
• Section 17.
  “Person” includes any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, limited liability company, business trust, corporation, or company.(Amended by Stats. 1994, Ch. 1010, Sec. 134. Effective January...
• Section 18.
  “State” means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. In the latter case, it includes the District of...
• Section 19.
  “County” includes city and county.(Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 134.)
• Section 20.
  “City” includes “city and county” and “incorporated town,” but does not include “unincorporated town” or “village.”(Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 134.)
• Section 21.
  “Town” includes “unincorporated town” and “village.”(Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 134.)
• Section 22.
  “Process” includes a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings of either a civil or criminal nature.(Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 134.)
• Section 23.
  If any provision of this code, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of the code, or the...
• Section 24.
  The Legislature hereby declares its intent that the term “workmen’s compensation” shall hereafter also be known as “workers’ compensation.” In furtherance of this policy it...
• Section 25.
  (a) For purposes of this code, “assessed value” means 25 percent of full value to, and including, the 1980–81 fiscal year, and 100 percent of full...
• Section 26.
  For the purposes of this code, “recycled water” or “reclaimed water” has the same meaning as recycled water as defined in subdivision (n) of Section...

Last modified: October 22, 2018