SEC. 3. Said Commissioners, and the persons in their official employment, shall, when in the performance of their official duties, have the right to pass free of charge on all railroads, steamers, ships, vessels, and boats, and on all vehicles employed in or by any railroad or other transportation company engaged in the transportation of freight and passengers within the State. SEC. 4. It shall be the duty of the Attorney-General and the District Attorney in every county, on request of said board, to institute and prosecute, and to appear and to defend, for said board, in any and all suits and proceedings which they or either of them shall be requested by said board to institute and prosecute, and to appear in all suits and proceedings to which the board is a party, shall have precedence over all other business, except criminal business; provided, that said board shall have the power to employ additional counsel to assist said Attorney-General, or said District Attorney, or otherwise, when in their judgment the exigencies of the case may so require, the fees and expenses of said additional counsel to be determined by the State Board of Examiners, and paid by the State. SEC. 5. The office of said board shall be in the City of San Francisco. Said office shall always be open (legal holidays and non-judicial days excepted). The board shall hold its sessions at least once a month in said City of San Francisco, and at such other times and such other places within this State as may be expedient. The sessions of said board shall be public, and when held at a place other than the office in the City of San Francisco, notice thereof shall be published once a week for two successive weeks before the commencement of such session, in a newspaper published in the county where such session is to be held; and if no newspaper is published in such county, then in a newspaper published in an adjacent county, such publication to be paid by the State in the manner as other publications authorized by law are paid. SEC. 6. The board shall have a seal, to be devised by its members, or a majority thereof. Such seal shall have the following inscription surrounding it: "Railroad Commission, State of California." The seal shall be affixed only to, first, writs; second, authentications of a copy of a record or other proceedings, or copy of a document on file in the office of said Commission. SEC. 7. The process issued by said board shall extend to all parts of the State. The board shall have power to issue writs of summons and of subpoena in like manner as courts of record. The summons shall direct the defendant to appear and answer within fifteen days from the day of service. The necessary process issued by the board may be served in any county in this State by the bailiff of the board, or by any person authorized to serve process of courts of record. SEC. 8. The secretary of said board shall issue all process and notices required to be issued, and do and perform such other duties as the board may prescribe. The bailiff shall preserve order during the sessions of said board, and shall have authority to make arrests for disturbances. He shall also have authority, and it shall be his duty, to serve all process, orders, and notices issued by said board when directed by the president, and make return of the same. SEC. 9. All complaints before said board shall be in writing and under oath. All decisions of said board shall be given in writing, and the grounds of the decisions shall be stated. A record of the proceedings of said board shall be kept, and the evidence of persons appearing before said board shall be preserved. SEC. 10. Whenever the board shall render any decision within the purview and pursuant to the authority vested in said board by section twenty-two of article twelve of the Constitution, said board, or the person, co-partnership, company, or corporation making the complaint upon which such decision was rendered, is authorized to sue upon such decision in any court of competent jurisdiction in this State. SEC. 11. Whenever said board, in the discharge of its duties, shall establish or adopt rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freight, pursuant to the provisions of the Constitution, said board shall serve a printed schedule of such rates, and of any changes that may be made in such rates, upon the person, co-partnership, company, or corporation affected thereby; and upon such service, it shall be the duty of such person, co-partnership, company, or corporation to immediately cause copies of the same to be posted in all its offices, station-houses, warehouses, and landing offices affected by such rates, or change of rates, in such manner as to be accessible to public inspection during usual business hours. Said board shall also make such further publication thereof as they shall deem proper and necessary for the public good. If the party to be served, as hereinbefore provided, be a corporation, such service may be made upon the president, vice-president, secretary, or managing agent thereof, and if a co-partnership, upon any partner thereof. The rates of charges established or adopted by said board, pursuant to the Constitution and this Act, shall go into force and effect on the twentieth day after service of said schedule of rates, or changes in rates, upon the person, co-partnership, company, or corporation affected thereby, as herein before provided. [See also Section 489, Civil Code.] SEC. 12. When jurisdiction is, by the Constitution, conferred on the Board of Railroad Commissioners, all the means necessary to carry it into effect are also conferred on said board; and when, in the exercise of jurisdiction within the purview of the authority conferred on said board by the Constitution, the course of proceeding be not specifically pointed out, any suitable process or mode of proceeding may be adopted by the board which may appear most conformable to the spirit of the Constitution. SEC. 13. The said board shall, immediately after entering upon the performance of its duties, demand and receive from the Transportation Commissioner, appointed under an Act approved April first, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, section nine, chapter one, all public property belonging to the office of said Transportation Commissioner, in his possession, or under his control, and it is hereby made his duty to deliver the same to the said board. SEC. 14. The term "transportation companies" shall be deemed to mean and include: First-All companies owning and operating railroads (other than street railroads) within this State. Second-All companies owning and operating steamships engaged in the transportation of freight or passengers from and to ports within this State. Third-All companies owning and operating steamboats used in transporting freight or passengers upon the rivers or inland waters of this State. The word "company," as used in this Act, shall be deemed to mean and include corporations, associations, partnerships, trustees, agents, assignees, and individuals. Whenever any railroad company owns and operates, in connection with its road and for the purpose of transporting its cars, freight, or passengers, any steamer or other watercraft, such steamer or other watercraft shall be deemed a part of its said road. Whenever any steamship or steamboat company owns and operates any barge, canal-boat, steamer, tug, ferryboat, or lighter, in connection with its ships or boats, the things so owned and operated shall be deemed to be part of its main line. SEC. 15. The salaries of the Commissioners, secretary, bailiff, and all other officers and attachés in any manner employed by the Board of Commissioners, and all expenses of any kind created under this Act, shall be paid out of any money in the General Fund not otherwise appropriated, and the Controller of State is hereby authorized and directed to draw his warrants from time to time for such purposes, and the State Treasurer is hereby authorized and directed to pay the same. SEC. 16. This Act shall take effect immediately. 105 Cal. 320; 130 Cal. 20. RULES OF THE BOARD OF RAILROAD COMMISSIONERS. The Railroad Commissioners of the State of California hereby adopt the following rules to govern the exercise of the judicial power conferred upon the Commissioners by the State Constitution, and the laws made in pursuance thereof: RULE I. Any person believing himself aggrieved by any railroad or other transportation company, in any particular, may file his complaint against such railroad or transportation company with the secretary of the Commissioners. The secretary must indorse on the complaint the day, month, and year that it is filed, and must, at the request of the person filing the same, issue a summons thereon. RULE II. The summons must be directed to the defendant, must be signed by the secretary, and attested by the seal of t'e Commissioners, and must contain: 1. The names of the parties to the proceeding; 2. A statement of the nature of the complaint; 3. A direction that the defendant appear and answer it within fifteen days after service thereof. RULE III. The summons may be served by the bailiff of the Commissioners, or by any citizen of the State, and shall be served by delivering a copy thereof, together with a copy of the complaint, to the defendant, or if the defendant is a corporation, to the president, secretary, treasurer, or managing agent thereof. Proof of service of summons and complaint must be as follows: 1. If made by the bailiff, his certificate thereof; 2. If by any other person, his affidavit thereof. RULE IV. From the time of the service of summons and copy of complaint, the Commissioners shall be deemed to have acquired jurisdiction of the parties and subject-matter. The voluntary appearance of the defendant is equivalent to personal service. RULE V. The complaint must contain: 1. The names of the parties to the proceeding; 2. A statement of the cause of complaint, in ordinary and concise language, giving such particulars of time, place, and circumstances as may enable the defendant to answer the same intelligently; 3. A demand of the relief claimed. RULE VI. The complainant may write several causes of complaint in the same complaint, but the causes so united must be separately stated. RULE VII. The defendant may, within the time required in the summons to answer, object to the complaint upon the following grounds: 1. That it does not state facts sufficient to authorize the proceedings; 2. That it contains more than one cause of action, and that such causes are not separately stated; 3. That it is ambiguous, uncertain, or unintelligible. RULE VIII. If the objection is sustained, the complainant may, within ten days thereafter, amend his complaint. If the objection is overruled, the defendant may, within ten days thereafter, answer the complaint. RULE IX. The answer of the defendant may contain: 1. A general or specific denial of the allegations of the complaint controverted by him; 2. A statement of any new matter of defense, or in mitigation or explanation of the charges made in the complaint. |