Hunsaker v. Borden

Citations

• 5 Cal. 288
• 1855 Cal. LEXIS 113

Syllabus

<p>The Act of February, 1855, to fund the debt of Contra Costa County, and which provides that all indebtedness of the county prior to the first day of February, 1855, shall be paid only by funding it, does not impair the obligation of contracts, and is not therefore unconstitutional.</p> <p>The obligation to pay is acknowledged by the Act, and the plaintiff’s right to receive the whole amount of his debt is unaffected. The only charge made is in the mode and time of payment.</p> <p>A County Government is a portion of the State Government, and the county debt, created by authority of law. is a part of the public Stale debt, and in the same manner, as there is no remedy ag.iui.st the State, there may be none against the county.</p> <p>A county is not a person in any sense—it is not a corporation. It cannot sue or be sued, except where specially permitted by statute, aud such permission can be withdrawn or denied at any time the Legislature may think proper.</p> <p>Where the State has passed an Act to fund the indebtedness of a county the holders of warrants on the County Treasury are not compelled to accept bonds for them, or in other words to fund them; they are simply left unprovided for in any other way.</p>