Vacancies. 1872, c. 54, s. 17. Appeal from judgment of justice. Id. s. 18. Person violating subject to fine. the members of said board of special police shall be for two years from the first day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, and all vacancies that may occur from the expiration of term, or by removal from Harford or Cecil counties, or death, or conviction of malfeasance in office, or from any other cause, in the said board of special police, shall be filled by the county commissioners of the county wherein such vacancies may occur; also, provided, that the said board of special police shall always consist of two members from Harford county and one from Cecil county. 32. Any party or parties against whom any justice of the peace may render a judgment under this act, either to pay a fine or of condemnation of property, may at any time within ten days from the rendition of such judgment, appeal from such judgment to the Circuit Court of the county wherein the same may have been rendered; but no execution or sale shall be stayed, unless the party appealing shall give bond, with two sufficient securities, to be approved of by the justice, to the State of Maryland, in double the value of the property condemned, or of the fine imposed, as the case may be, with condition to prosecute such appeal with effect to the Circuit Court at its next session thereafter, and to pay the value of the property condemned and fine imposed, and all costs attending such proceedings, in case judgment shall be confirmed. 33. If any person shall violate any of the provisions of this act he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be liable for the fine imposed for such violation, and the same may be recovered by action of debt, in the name of the State, before a justice of the peace of either Harford, Kent, or Cecil county, or by indictment in the Circuit Court of either of said counties; and when any person is convicted of the violation of any of the provisions of this Refusing to pay act, and refuses or neglects to pay the fine for which judgment is given against him, he shall be committed to the county jail for a period of time not less than forty and not more than forty days, but the party or parties so committed to be released on the payment of the fine, costs, and jail expenses. fine, to be committed. Id. s. 19. For what time proportionate 34. For the time intervening between the time of the passage of this act and the thirty-first day of March next ensuing, each permay be paid son applying for a license for a sink-box, or for a sneak-boat, shall pay for each respectively a proportionate sum for said time, or for any shorter time. for license. Id. s. 20. What justices and courts to jurisdiction. 35. The justices of the peace for Harford, Kent, and for Cecil county, and the Circuit Courts of said counties, shall have concurhave concurrent rent jurisdiction in all cases that may arise under the provisions of Person arrested this act; and any person or persons arrested on the waters of the either county. Chesapeake bay, northward of the line named and described in the first section of this act, for a violation of any of its provisions, may be conveyed to either Harford, Kent, or Cecil county, for trial, and there tried before the proper tribunal. may be tried in 1878, c. 259. Time when fer 36. No person holding a license to gun for or after wild water said line. fowl shall, during the gunning season, as fixed by this act, be son licensed not to anchor vessel, allowed to anchor, or otherwise make stationary, any sink-box, etc., north of sneak-boat, or any other vessel or craft on the waters lying northward of the line named in this act, on any Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, or Sunday, prior to the first day of January of said gunning season, and on and after the said first day of January, on any Tuesday, Thursday, or Sunday, nor until the hour of three o'clock A. M on the morning of the day next succeeding each of said days above specified; and no person holding a license as above described, and engaged in gunning for wild waterfowl, shall go on or over said waters with sink-box, sneak-boat, or other vessel or craft, before the hour of three o'clock A. M. on the morning of the day next succeeding each of said days, as above specified; and any person violating this section shall be fined not less than twenty-five nor more than fifty dollars, to be recovered before a justice of the peace, as debts of like amount are recover- Penalty. able, one-half thereof to be paid to the officer making the arrest, and the other half to those assisting in making the arrest. TITLE X. Land Office. CONSTITUTION-ARTICLE VII-SECS. 4, 5. CONSTITUTION-ARTICLE VII-SECS. 4, 5. 4. Commissioner of the Land Office; duties; salary; report of fees. 5. State papers. 1852, c. 361; Commissioner of Land Office. Duties. SEC. 4. There shall be a commissioner of the Land Office, who shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 1853, c. 415.' who shall hold his office during the term of the governor, by whom he shall have been appointed, and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified. He shall perform such duties as are now required of the commissioner of the Land Office, or such as may hereafter be prescribed by law, and shall also be the keeper of the chancery records. He shall receive a salary of one thousand five hundred dollars per annum, to be paid out of the treasury, and shall charge such fees as are now, or may be hereafter fixed by law. He shall make a semi-annual report of all the fees of his office, both as commissioner of the Land Office and as keeper of the chancery records, to the comptroller of the treasury, and shall pay the same semi-annually into the treasury. SEC. 5 The commissioner of the Land Office shall also, without additional Salary. Report his fees papers. Collect all State compensation, collect, arrange, classify, have charge of, and safely keep all papers, records, relics, and other memorials connected with the early history of Maryland, not belonging to any other office. ARTICLE XVI. LAND OFFICE. COMMISSIONER OF THE LAND OFFICE. 1. A court of record; power to punish for con- 2. Clerk to commissioner. 3. Commissioner may summon and compel 4. Docket of disputed cases. 5. Record of proceedings. 6. Fees of commissioner. 7. Seal and process. 8. Bond of commissioner. 9. Moneys payable on account of public lands; 10. To record certificates and issue patents. 12. Notice of application to be given. 13. If no objection made, patent to issue; if 14. Within what time to decide. 15. To determine disputes about surveys and 16. Who to act when commissioner disqualified. 18. Warrants for vacant or escheat lands. 20. Common, special, or proclamation warrants, pay for. 21. Warrant of resurvey and adding contiguous vacancy. 22. Warrant for resurvey without adding con tiguous vacancy. 23. Notice of execution to be given. 24. When and how certificate to be returned. 25. When escheat warrant to issue. 26. When to be executed. 27. When to be paid by warrantees of vacant or escheat lands; failure to pay. 28. Priority. 29. Value of escheat lands and improvements; how fixed. 30. Return of certificate and renewal of war rant. 31. Certificates of survey to be examined; corrected certificate. 32. When patent to issue. 33. When caveat to be determined. veyors. 37. When lands on the Pennsylvania line may be patented. Art. 54, s. 1. 1853, c. 415, s. 1. Court of record, LAND RECORDS AND 43. Custody of land records, extracts of deeds, EXTRACTS OF DEEDS. 44. To receive and file extracts of deeds transmitted; indexes and bound record books; cost. 1. The commissioner of the Land Office is hereby declared to be a court of record, with the same power to preserve order, punish contempts, etc. contempts and enforce obedience to his orders and adjudications, as are possessed by any other court of record. power to punish 42 Md. 348; 30 Md. 473. 2. The commissioner of the Land Office shall have power to ap- 1872, c. 289. point a clerk, who shall receive a salary of ten hundred dollars per missioner. annum. Clerk to com Salary. 1782, c. 38, s. 11. may summion 3. The said commissioner may issue summons for witnesses to Art. 54, s. 2. testify in cases pending before him, and may compel their attend- Commissioner ance, and may order depositions to be taken in writing on reasona- and compel ble notice to the opposite party to be used in such cases. 4. He shall keep a docket in the form of the dockets used in courts of equity, of all disputed cases affecting the title to land, transcripts of which shall be evidence of the proceedings thereon. 5. All papers filed in disputed cases affecting the title to lands shall, with the proceedings, adjudications and orders of the commissioner of the Land Office, be duly recorded. attendance of Id. s. 3. 1853, c. 415, s. 2. puted cases. Id. s. 4. 1853, c. 415, s. 2. Id. s. 5. Const. art. 7, s. 4. Fees of commissioner. 6. The commissioner of the Land Office shall charge the same fees for recording such papers and proceedings as the clerks of Circuit Courts charge for similar services. 7. He shall keep a seal, and all process relating to proceedings Id. s. 6. in the Land Office shall issue under the seal of the Land Office, at- 13,415,8.3. tested by the commissioner. Seal and pro cess. 1853, c. 415, s. 5. 8. He shall give bond to the State of Maryland with security to Id. s. 7. be approved by the governor, and kept in the State department, in Bond of comthe penalty of two thousand dollars, for the faithful performance of the duties of his office. missioner. Const. art. 7, s. 4. Moneys payable on account of public lands. 9. All money's payable to the State on account of the public lands Id. s. 8. shall be paid to the commissioner of the Land Office, whose receipts 1853, e. 415, s. 5. therefor shall be a good acquittance to the party paying the same; and the said commissioner shall keep an account of all such payments in a book kept for the purpose, and shall account semi-annu- To account for. ally with the comptroller on oath and pay over to the treasurer all such moneys so received. 10. He shall record all certificates that may be returned to the Land Office and issue patents thereon, as soon as they are ready for patents. Id. s. 9. 1853, c. 415, s. 7. To record certif icates and issue patents. rd. s. 10. 1780, c. 45, 51; To issue patents lands. 11. Upon application in writing of any person claiming to be entitled to any of the British confiscated lands sold by the commissioners appointed under the authority of this State to preserve and sell British confiscated property, the title to which still remains in the State, and praying that title thereto may be granted to him, and upon satisfactory proof submitted to the commissioner of the Land Md. 113; 33 Md. Office that such applicant is entitled to receive title thereto, the said commissioner shall issue a patent for such land to the person appearing to him to be entitled thereto. 12. Before issuing any patent under the preceding section, the said commissioner shall order the party applying therefor to cause to be inserted in one or more newspapers published in the county or city where the land lies, if there be a newspaper published therein, at least once a week for three successive weeks, an advertisement setting forth the object of the application, and describing therein 23 Md. 211; 31 95; 43 Md. 23. Id. s. 11. 1852, c. 361, s. 1. cation to be Id. s. 12. 1852, c. 361, s. 1. If no objection made patent to issue. If objection, objections to be filed in writing. Id. s. 13. 1852, c. 361, s. 1. Within what time to decide. Id. s. 14. 1789, c. 35, s. 4. To determine disputes about surveys and patents. by metes and bounds, and such other description of the land for which the patent is sought, so that the land may be known, and also particularly describing the claim of the applicant for such patent, and containing a notification of the day and hour on which the applicant will apply to the commissioner to issue such patent, which day shall be at least sixty days from the day of filing the ap plication, and warning all parties interested to appear before said commissioner on the day and hour therein designated to show cause, if any they have, why such patent should not be issued. 13. If no person appears to contest the said application on the days appointed, a patent shall issue to the applicant, but if opposition be made to the issue of such patent, the party or parties making such opposition shall, by a day to be designated by the cominissioner of the Land Office, not exceeding thirty days, file in the Land Office their objections in writing to the issue of said patent. 14. The said commissioner shall fix some day, not less than ten nor more than twenty days after the objections are filed, to hear such application, and shall then hear the respective parties if they appear before him, and if not, he shall proceed to determine ex parte the rights of the parties claiming to be interested, and shall, within thirty days after such hearing, decide in favor of or reject the application as to him shall seem right and proper, filing his reasons therefor in writing. 15. The said commissioner shall have full power and authority 1781, c. 20, s. 6; to hear and determine all disputes which may arise concerning the validity of surveys made under warrants or orders issued by him; and also all disputes concerning the issuing of patents, and in all disputes that come before him, he shall have full power to decree Md. 81; 47 Md. thereon according to equity and good conscience, and the principles established in courts of equity. 33 Md. 95; 38 111. Id. s. 15. Const. art. 4,s. 19. 1846, c. 92. Who to act when commis .fied. 16. In any matter pending in the Land Office in which the commissioner for the time being may have been counsel, may be interested or related to the parties, and on that account incompetent sioner disquali- to act, he shall certify the same in writing to the judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit, who shall thereupon hear and decide such case or appoint some person to do so, which decision shall have the same effect and be liable to the same incidents as the decision of the commissioner of the Land Office. Id. s. 16. Who may take up vacant land or escheat land. 32 Md. 355. 1861, c. 3, s. 1. Warrants for vacant or escheat lands. 17. Any vacant land, whether cultivated or uncultivated, and any land which has escheated by reason of the last owner in fee simple dying intestate thereof and without heirs, may be taken up by any person not an alien by complying with the provisions herein contained. 18. Any person desiring to take up vacant land or lands which have escheated, shall obtain a warrant from the commissioner of the Land Office, directed to the surveyor of the county where the land lies, requiring him to survey the same, and return a certificate of survey to the Land Office within one year from the date of the war |