CA Legislative Explainer: General and Special Statutes

CA Legislative Explainer: General and Special Statutes By Chris Micheli

A general statute is essentially a law that pertains uniformly to an entire community or all persons generally. On the other hand, a special statute is essentially a law that applies to a particular person, place, or interest. California law provides for both types of statutes.

California’s Constitution in Article IV, Section 16, provides “(a) All laws of a general nature have uniform operation. (b) A local or special statute is invalid in any case if a general statute can be made applicable.”

As a result, general statutes are the main type of statutes enacted and they apply uniformly by their language; however, special statutes can be pursued so long as a general statute would not apply in the particular circumstance.

Working with the bill author, the Office of Legislative Counsel will make a determination whether a special statute will pass constitutional muster and, if so, how the bill must be drafted. The initial determination is whether the proposed legislation can be addressed by a bill of general application. If not, then a special law would be required.

With a special statute bill, a reader will see similar language to the following in a bill:

 

“The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of ___ (with an explanation of why the special statute is required).”

The bill must contain an explanation of the special nature of the bill and why a bill of general application will not work in this particular circumstance. An example of this explanatory language could be the following (taken from a prior year bill):

 

“The unique island location of the City of Coronado and its proximity to large military installations requires a special law. In addition, the complexities of amending a general plan and a local coastal plan for the City of Coronado will take significantly longer than six months. As a result, a general law cannot be made applicable.”

The bill will also contain in the Legislative Counsel’s Digest language that specifies this bill is a special statute measure. An example of this language could be the following (taken from a current year bill): 

This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City of Elk Grove.

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