Pub. Resources Code, § 7921

When a contest arises before the commission concerning the approval of a survey or location, or concerning a certificate of purchase or other evidence of title, the commission may, when the question involved is as to the survey, or one purely of fact, or whether the land applied for is a part of the swamp or overflowed lands of the State, or whether it is included within a confirmed grant, the lines of which have been run by authority of law, proceed to hear and determine the contest. When, in the judgment of the commission, a question of law is involved, or when either party demands a trial in the courts of the State, the commission shall make an order referring the contest to the superior court of the county in which the land is situated, and shall enter the order in a record book in its office.