Public corruption - Revision history

Sysop at 16:27, 29 May 2026

2026-05-29T16:27:13Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:27, 29 May 2026
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	==Eligibility for public officer==		==Eligibility for public officer==

			Relevant Statutes:
			Educ. Code § 35107
			Elec. Code §§ 2000, 2150,
			18100, 18203, 18501,
			15860
			Gov. Code § 36502
			Penal Code §§ 118, 127
			Water Code § 71501

			===Quo Warranto===
			Although residency within the political district is required by the statutes mentioned, the statutes are not criminal and a failure to comply cannot be prosecuted criminally. An elected official who did not reside within the district at the time of election, or who moved out of the district during his term of office, vacates that office. Remaining in office subjects the office holder to a civil action in quo warranto removing him or her from the illegally held position.

			The procedures for prosecuting a quo warranto action are found in California Code of Civil Procedure §§ 803-811 (actions for usurpation of an
			office). Additional quo warranto procedural information is found in the California Code of Regulations, Title 11. Actions in quo warranto are brought by the Attorney General's Office on its own or upon the complaint of a private party. Quo warranto actions brought by private parties or district attorney's offices cannot proceed without the permission and oversight of the Attorney General's Office.

			California Code of Civil Procedure § 809 states: "When a defendant, against whom such action has been brought, is adjudged guilty of usurping or intruding into, or unlawfully holding any office, franchise, or privilege, judgment must be rendered that such defendant be excluded from the office, franchise, or privilege, and that he pay the costs of the action." Thus, the result of a successful quo warranto action is the removal of the offending official from office. Quo warranto actions are more commonly brought in "incompatible office" type cases
			than in residency disputes.

			Although violations of the residency requirements for holding specific offices are not criminal, non-resident candidates commit other crimes in order to run for the office.

			False candidacy papers:
			Candidates for most public offices are required to file some type of document with the city clerk when they declare their candidacy. These documents usually (but not always) require the candidate to state their residence. Knowingly filing a false candidacy paper violates Elections Code § 18203, which is a criminal statute. Section 18203 is a wobbler.

			Perjury:
			The false candidacy papers filed with the city clerk may require the candidate to sign under penalty of perjury. Additionally, the city clerk may place the candidate under oath and have them state that the information contained in the document is true and correct. In such situations, the prosecutor should consider prosecution pursuant to Penal Code § 118, Perjury. Perjury is a felony
			punishable by two, three or four years in state prison.

			In order to be consistent in his or her false claim of residency, the candidate may also sign other documents under penalty of perjury providing the false address, including voter registration forms, DMV documents, school records for school aged children or home loan documents in which the candidate states that the home will be his/her primary residency.

			The most common issue arising in a perjury prosecution is the materiality of the false statement. To violate P.C. § 118, the declarant must willfully state as true a "material matter" that he knows to be false. In a perjury prosecution arising out of a residency matter, the domicile of the defendant will always be material. In some residency cases, the candidate will ask others to sign documents under penalty of perjury to bolster his or her false claim of residency. In those situations consider California Penal Code § 127, subornation of perjury.

			Voter fraud:

			In addition to the residency requirements for holding office, there are residency requirements for voting in public elections. California Elections Code § 2000 lists the requirements for voting in public elections held within the state and allows qualified voters to vote in any election held within the territory within which the voter resides.

			Prior to voting in an election, each voter must register to vote and fill out an affidavit of registration described in California Elections Code § 2150. In addition to other personal information, the voter must state on the affidavit their place of residence. The actual words on the affidavit of registration state: "The place where you live." Just so there is no confusion, there is a place for the voter to include his mailing address, if different from his residence address. The voter certifies under penalty of perjury that the content of the affidavit is true and correct

			Elections Code § 18100 prohibits the registration of a voter who is not qualified. (A wobbler subject to a maximum penalty of 16 months in state prison.) If the candidate actually votes in the election, they are subject to Elections Code § 18560, which prohibits casting a fraudulent ballot. (A straight felony subject to a maximum penalty of 16 months in state prison.) If the candidate is an incumbent who commits voter fraud the officeholder can be prosecuted for a violation of Elections Code § 18501, which prohibits a public official from knowingly allowing fraud in connection with a vote. Section 18501 is also a straight felony with a maximum sentence of 16 months state prison and a lifetime bar on holding office in California.

			Since the affidavit of registration is signed under penalty of perjury, consider P.C. § 118 charges as well. If residency within the voting precinct is a requirement for registration, then voter's residence is demonstrably material.

			Residence versus Domicile
			The Government Code sections requiring school board and water board
			members to reside within the districts they represent do not define the term
			"residence." Government Code § 36502, pertaining to city officials, requires the
			city official to be a registered voter of the city. For purposes of voting, the
			Elections Code contains several statutes defining residence.
			Elections Code § 349 defines residence, for voting purposes, to mean a
			person's domicile. A persons' domicile is defined as "that place in which his or
			her habitation is fixed, wherein the person has the intention of remaining, and to
			which, whenever he or she is absent, the person has the intention of returning. At
			a given time, a person may have only one domicile."
			Section 349(c) defines a person's residence as "that place in which the
			person's habitation is fixed for some period of time, but wherein he or she does
			not have the intention of remaining. At a given time, a person may have more
			than one residence."

			Additional Elections Code sections further define residence and domicile:
			Elections Code § 2021
			(a) A person who leaves his or her home to go into another state or
			precinct in this state for temporary purposes merely, with the
			intention of returning, does not lose his or her domicile.
			(b) A person does not gain a domicile in any precinct into which he
			or she comes for temporary purposes merely, without the
			intention of making that precinct his or her home.

			Elections Code § 2024
			The mere intention to acquire a new domicile, without the fact of
			removal, avails nothing; neither does the fact of removal without the
			intention.
			Elections Code § 2027
			The place where a person's family is domiciled is his or her
			domicile unless it is a place for temporary establishment for his or
			her family or for transient objects.
			Residence in a trailer or vehicle or at any public camp or camping
			ground may constitute a domicile for voting purposes if the
			registrant complies with the other requirements of this article.

			Based upon a reading of these statutes, it is clear that a person can only
			have one domicile. Acquiring a new, legal domicile requires action plus the intent
			to making the new location the permanent, sole domicile. Temporarily changing
			where one lives does not result in a change of domicile because a legal change
			of domicile requires permanency.

			Certain public offices require the office holder to reside within the district served. These include city council members, city clerks, city treasurers, school board members and water board members.

			===Government Code § 36502===

			(a) A person is not eligible to hold office as council member, city clerk, or city treasurer unless he or she is at the time of assuming the office an elector of the city, and was a registered voter of the city at the time nomination papers are issued to the candidate as provided for in Section 10227 of the Elections Code. If, during his or her term of office, he or she moves his or her place of residence outside of the city limits or ceases to be an elector of the city, his or her office shall immediately become vacant.

			Therefore, in order to be eligible to hold office as an elected city official, there are two requirements: the council member elect must be an elector of the city at the time of assuming office (in other words he must be a United States citizen, 18 years or older, and a resident of an election precinct at least 29 days prior to an election), and he must be a registered voter of the city at the time the
			nomination papers are issued.

			===Education Code 35107===
			California Education Code § 35107 requires school board members to be 18 years of age or older, a citizen of the state, a resident of the school district and a registered voter.


			===Water Code 71501===
			California Water Code § 71501 requires each director of a water board to be a resident of the division he represents.

	===Irrigation district===		===Irrigation district===

Sysop: /* Irrigation district */

2026-05-29T04:27:38Z

Irrigation district

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 (c) In a district providing retail electricity for residents of the district, each director, except as otherwise provided in this division, shall be a voter of the district and a resident of the division that he or she represents at the time of his or her nomination or appointment and during his or her entire term, . . . . .
 Government Code section 244 says:
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 Cell phone location data

Sysop: Created page with " ==Penal Code 165 bribery of local elected officials== Every person who gives or offers a bribe to any member of any common council, board of supervisors, or board of trustees of any county, city and county, city, or public corporation, with intent to corruptly influence such member in his action on any matter or subject pending before, or which is afterward to be considered by, the body of which he is a member, and every member of any of the bodies mentioned in this s..."

2026-05-29T04:20:49Z

Created page with " ==Penal Code 165 bribery of local elected officials== Every person who gives or offers a bribe to any member of any common council, board of supervisors, or board of trustees of any county, city and county, city, or public corporation, with intent to corruptly influence such member in his action on any matter or subject pending before, or which is afterward to be considered by, the body of which he is a member, and every member of any of the bodies mentioned in this s..."

New page

==Penal Code 165 bribery of local elected officials==

Every person who gives or offers a bribe to any member of any common council, board of supervisors, or board of trustees of any county, city and county, city, or public corporation, with intent to corruptly influence such member in his action on any matter or subject pending before, or which is afterward to be considered by, the body of which he is a member, and every member of any of the bodies mentioned in this section who receives, or offers or agrees to receive any bribe upon any understanding that his official vote, opinion, judgment, or action shall be influenced thereby, or shall be given in any particular manner or upon any particular side of any question or matter, upon which he may be required to act in his official capacity, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three or four years, and upon conviction thereof shall, in addition to said punishment, forfeit his office, and forever be disfranchised and disqualified from holding any public office or trust.

==Gov Code 9054 Bribery of legislator==

Every person who obtains, or seeks to obtain, money or other thing of value from another person upon a pretense, claim, or representation that he can or will improperly influence in any manner the action of any member of a legislative body in regard to any vote or legislative matter, is guilty of a felony. Upon the trial no person otherwise competent as a witness may be excused from testifying concerning the offense charged on the grounds that the testimony may criminate himself, or subject him to public infamy. The testimony shall not afterwards be used against him in any judicial proceeding except for perjury in giving the testimony.

==Eligibility for public officer==

===Irrigation district===

Water Code 21100, subdivision (c), as amended by SB1939 in 2000 says:

(c) In a district providing retail electricity for residents of the district, each director, except as otherwise provided in this division, shall be a voter of the district and a resident of the division that he or she represents at the time of his or her nomination or appointment and during his or her entire term, . . . . .

Government Code section 244 says:

In determining the place of residence the following rules shall be observed:

(a) It is the place where one remains when not called elsewhere for labor or other special or temporary purpose, and to which he or she returns in seasons of repose.

(b) There can only be one residence.

(c) A residence cannot be lost until another is gained.

(d) The residence of the parent with whom an unmarried minor child maintains his or her place of abode is the residence of such unmarried minor child.

(e) The residence of an unmarried minor who has a parent living cannot be changed by his or her own act.

(f) The residence can be changed only by the union of act and intent.

(g) A married person shall have the right to retain his or her legal residence in the State of California notwithstanding the legal residence or domicile of his or her spouse.

Residence and domicile for purposes of elections are essentially the same. (Walters v. Weed (1988) 45 Cal.3d 1, 7.) A change in domicile requires an intent to live there. (DeMiglio v. Mashore (1992) 4 Cal.App.4th 1260, 1268.) As in, “whether there is an intent to return or an intent to make a new home.” (Ibid.)

In the context of determining a person's residence for the purpose of registering to vote, or running for certain elected positions, residence means domicile, a place in which a person's habitation is fixed, wherein she has the intention of remaining, and to which, whenever she is absent, she has the intention of returning. At any given time, a person may have only one domicile, and a person does not lose their domicile, or gain a new one, by going to another place for a temporary purpose. However, residence does not always mean domicile. Residence can also mean a place in which a person's habitation is fixed for some shorter period, but wherein she does not have the intention of remaining indefinitely. At any given time, a person may have more than one residence for various purposes other than voting or running for office.

False nomination paperwork would be prosecuted under Elections Code 18203.

Perjury is Penal Code 118.

Voter registration history

The nomination paperwork

DMV records, including both license and vehicle registration

Property records

USPS records about change-of-address

FPPC filings

Firearm purchase records

Social media

CLEAR / Lexis

License Plate Readers

Business filing with Secretary of State

Witness interviews

Surveillance

Lease agreements

Call records

Cell phone location data