24250-24262

GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 24250-24262




24250.  Sheriffs, clerks, recorders, treasurers, and auditors, shall
have their offices at the county seat in the courthouse, hall of
records, jail, or other buildings. However, these officials may
situate their offices outside the county seat, provided that the
offices are conveniently located and easily accessible to the public,
and notice of their location is prominently displayed in the county
administration building and other appropriate county facilities.



24250.1.  Sheriffs shall also have offices in each city in which
they perform court-related services and a facility of the superior
court is located.


24252.  Sheriffs and clerks shall also have offices in any city
containing a population of not less than 20,000 as ascertained by the
preceding census taken under the authority of the Congress or the
Legislature in which the city hall is not less than 30 miles distant
from the county courthouse.



24253.  Sheriffs and clerks shall also have offices in any city
containing a population of not less than 50,000 as ascertained by the
last census taken under the authority of the Congress or the
Legislature in which the city hall is not less than six miles distant
from the county courthouse.



24254.  Sheriffs and clerks shall also have offices in any city
containing a population of not less than 7,000, as ascertained by the
preceding census taken under the authority of Congress or the
Legislature in which the city hall is not less than 55 miles distant
from the site of the county courthouse. Such offices shall be kept
open for the transaction of business continuously every day, except
Sundays and holidays, in the period during which a superior court is
in session in the city.



24254.5.  Sheriffs and clerks shall also have offices in each city
wherein the city hall is not less than eighteen miles from the site
of the county courthouse and which has a population of not less than
ten thousand, and within the ten-mile radius from the city hall of
which there is a population of not less than fifty thousand, if there
are residing in the county at least eighteen miles from the county
courthouse not less than fifteen thousand persons, some of whom would
be required to travel 50 miles to attend court at said city and at
least ten miles farther in order to attend the superior court at the
county courthouse, and in each city or town within the county
containing a population of not less than two thousand two hundred
wherein the city hall of said city or town is not less than sixty
miles distant from the site of the county courthouse, or any other
place where sessions of the superior court have been established,
such populations being ascertained by the latest population
determination as made under the authority of the Congress of the
United States, or the Legislature of the State of California.




24255.  All offices required by this chapter shall be provided by
the county through the board of supervisors.



24256.  Whenever the law specifies that an office or building shall
be located at the county seat and an incorporated city has been
designated as the county seat, the location of that office or
building may be either within or in the immediate vicinity of the
corporate limits of said city. However, the prescribed offices and
buildings may be situated outside the county seat or its immediate
vicinity, provided that those offices and buildings are conveniently
located and easily accessible to the public, and notice of their
location is prominently displayed in the county administration
building and other appropriate county facilities.




24257.  In this chapter "transaction of business" means that during
the hours named there shall be present in each office at least one
person qualified and prepared to transact the business that properly
comes into the office.


24258.  If any officer required by this chapter to have an office
has no regularly appointed deputy paid by the county at the same time
and in the same manner as the principal, he may close his office
during the hour from 12 o'clock noon to 1 o'clock p.m.




24259.  If the officer has a branch office to which a single deputy
is assigned, he may close the branch office during the hour from 12 o'
clock noon to 1 o'clock p.m.



24260.  In all counties county officers shall keep their offices
open for the transaction of business during such hours and on such
days as are fixed by the board of supervisors by ordinance or
resolution.


24261.  The judges of the superior court shall have chambers at the
county seat and establish rules and hours for the dispatch of
official business; provided that such rules must require that the
courts shall be open for the transaction of judicial business on days
on which an election is held throughout the State where county
offices are open for the transaction of county business during such
election days pursuant to ordinance.



24262.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, no
office of the sheriff or clerk shall be established elsewhere than at
the county seat without the approval of the board of supervisors.