With respect to water corporations and water companies, the following procedures shall apply:
(a) Upon the filing of the petition, the commission shall make its order to show cause. The order shall specify the nature of the proceeding, contain a general description of the lands, property, and rights which petitioner desires to acquire by condemnation or otherwise, and direct the owners and claimants named in the petition, who shall also be named in the order, to appear before the commission at a time and place specified in the order and to show cause, if any they have, why the commission should not proceed to hear the petition and to fix the just compensation to be paid for the lands, property, and rights.
The order shall direct the executive director of the commission to serve or cause to be served upon each owner and claimant a copy of the order certified under the seal of the commission to which shall be attached a copy of the petition.
(b) In response to the order to show cause, in response to a petition of the first class, as specified in Section 1403, the respondent public utility, or the owners of more than one-half interest in the public utility, may present the commission with a certified copy of a filed motion to the superior court where the utility property is located to take jurisdiction of the matter. When presented the motion before, or at the time of, the hearing on the order to show cause, the commission shall dismiss the proceeding. The superior court shall then grant the motion to take jurisdiction of the matter. The political subdivision may then file, within 60 days of the court’s granting the motion, an action in eminent domain pursuant to the Code of Civil Procedure and any further proceedings shall be conducted pursuant to those provisions.
(c) All proceedings held pursuant to either subdivision (b) or (d) shall be given priority over all civil cases in accordance with Section 1260.010 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(d) In response to an order to show cause in response to a petition of the second class, as specified in Section 1403, and upon presentation of the motion specified in subdivision (b), the commission shall suspend the proceeding, but shall not dismiss the proceeding. The superior court shall then grant the motion to take limited jurisdiction of the matter solely for the purpose of determining the amount of just compensation. The political subdivision may then file, within 30 days, an action in the nature of eminent domain, solely for the purpose of determining, pursuant to the Evidence Code and the Code of Civil Procedure, the just compensation to be paid for the land, property, and rights. Upon a determination of just compensation, the court shall certify the finding to the commission. The finding shall not be appealable, and the court shall be acting as an agent of the commission in making the finding. The finding shall be binding on the commission as if it had been made by the commission itself pursuant to Section 1411. The commission shall then continue the matter pursuant to this chapter.
(e) If the respondent public utility, or the owners of more than one-half interest in the public utility, in the case of a petition of either the first or second class, files a motion to remove the matter from the commission to superior court pursuant to this section, the commission and the court shall not make an award of any litigation expenses incurred prior to the commission’s dismissal or suspension of the matter.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the date of valuation for purposes of just compensation shall be fixed by the superior court as of the day on which the court grants the motion filed by the public utility pursuant to subdivision (b) or (d).
(g) A political subdivision is liable only as provided in Sections 1414 and 1415 for payment of the reasonable expenditures of the owner in any proceeding initiated pursuant to subdivision (d). For purposes of this subdivision, the proceeding before the commission, as used in Section 1415, includes any proceedings conducted pursuant to subdivision (d).
(h) The amendments made to this section by Assembly Bill 616 during the 1987 portion of the 1987–88 Regular Session of the Legislature shall not apply to or affect any petition filed pursuant to this section before January 1, 1988.
(Amended by Stats. 1989, Ch. 1360, Sec. 132.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018