2.17 Quo Warranto

• Library: Virginia Law and Practice: A Handbook for Attorneys (Virginia CLE) (2020 Ed.)

2.17 QUO WARRANTO

A writ of quo warranto may be issued to determine whether a person exercising power or control is doing so illegally. ⁵⁷⁹ The common law writ has been abolished, but it remains in a statutory form. ⁵⁸⁰ Under the statute, however, unlike the common law, ⁵⁸¹ "quo warranto . . . actions may be brought only on behalf of the Commonwealth." ⁵⁸²

The Supreme Court discussed some of the differences between quo warranto and mandamus in DeShazo v. Davis, ⁵⁸³ a case in the court's original jurisdiction, in 1932. Mandamus is available to vindicate a person's right to an office, but only if he can "show a legal prima facie title, complete in everything but possession, particularly where the office is occupied by another claiming title." ⁵⁸⁴ "Mandamus cannot be employed," however, "for the purpose of settling conflicting claims to an office. It is no part of its functions to

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determine contested elections." Quo warranto, on the other hand, may be employed (or might have been employed, at common law) to determine the claim of title, where the applicable facts are...