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    All persons who at the time this code takes effect, hold office under any of the acts repealed by this code, which offices are continued...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