Blood v. Woods

Citations

• 95 Cal. 78
• 30 P. 129
• 1892 Cal. LEXIS 789

Syllabus

<p>Toll-road — Expiration op Franchise—Public Highway. —A franchise for a toll-road, granted by the legislature for the period of twenty years expires by limitation at the end of the twenty years, and the road then . becomes a public highway.</p> <p>Id. — Possession op Toll-road — Collection of Tolls — Presumption. — A person in the possession of a road claimed by him to be a toll-road, authorized by the legislature to be continued for twenty years, who has collected tolls thereon for over twenty years since the passage of the act, and who shows no other'franchise therefor, will be presumed to have claimed the right to tolls under the original grant, and to have collected them lawfully during the existence of the franchise, although there is no direct evidence that the persons named in the act, or their assigns, constructed the road, or that he was an assignee of such persons, or collected tolls under that franchise.</p> <p>Id. — Dedication of Public Road — Condition as to Tolls. — The act of constructing and opening a toll-road for use, followed by public user thereof, constitutes a dedication of it as a public road. The fact that tolls are demanded, and that the public uses the road only upon condition of paying tolls, does not affect the question of dedication.</p> <p>Id. — Authority of Supervisors — Free Public Road—Tolls—Franchise. — The board of supervisors of a county has no authority to grant a franchise to collect tolls upon a free public road.</p> <p>Id. —Leghslative Act — Excess of Authority — Limits of Procedure.— The granting of a franchise for a toll-road by the board of supervisors of a county is a legislative act, and the board, in granting it, cannot exceed the authority vested in them, or transcend the limits of the procedure required of them.</p> <p>Id. —Judicial Inquiry as to Character of Road — Collateral Attack upon Authority of Supervisors. —The granting, by the board of su. pervisors of a county, of a franchise to collect tolls, does not prec