4.5 Quo Warranto

• Library: Appellate Practice - Virginia and Federal Courts (Virginia CLE) (2016 Ed.)

4.5 QUO WARRANTO

A writ of quo warranto may be issued to determine whether a person exercising power or control is doing so illegally. ⁸⁷ The common law writ has been abolished, but it remains in a statutory form. ⁸⁸ Under the statute, however, unlike the common law, ⁸⁹ "quo warranto . . . actions may be brought only on behalf of the Commonwealth." ⁹⁰

The Supreme Court discussed some of the differences between quo warranto and mandamus in Deshazo v. Davis, a case in the court's original jurisdiction, in 1932. ⁹¹ 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." ⁹² "Mandamus cannot be employed," however, "for the purpose of settling conflicting claims to an office. It is no part of its functions to 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...