in the law, having been admitted to practice in this State, and who shall have been a citizen of this State at least five years, and above the age of thirty years at the time of his election, and a resident of the judicial district, shall be elected from each of said districts by the legal and qualified voters therein, as a judge of the said Court of Appeals, who shall hold his office for the term of ten years from the time of his election, or until he shall have attained the age of seventy years, whichever may first happen, and be re-eligible thereto until he shall have attained the age of seventy years, and not after, subject to removal for incompetency, wilful neglect of duty, or misbehavior in office, on conviction in a court of law, or by the Governor upon the address of the General Assembly, two-thirds of the members of each house concurring in such address; and the salary of each of the Judges of the Court of Appeals shall be two thousand five hundred dollars annually, and shall not be increased or diminished during their continuance in office; and no fees or perquisites of any kind, shall be allowed by law to any of the said judges.

5. No Judge of the Court of Appeals shall sit in any case wherein he may be interested, or where either of the parties may be connected with him by affinity or consanguinity within such degrees as may be prescribed by law, or when he shall have been of counsel in said case; when the Court of Appeals, or any of its members shall be thus disqualified to hear and determine any case or cases in said court, so that by reason thereof no judgment can be rendered in said court, the same shall be certified to the Governor of the State, who shall immediately commission the requisite number of persons learned in the law for the trial and determination of said

case or cases.

6. All Judges of the Court of Appeals, of the Circuit Courts, and of the Courts for the city of Baltimore, shall, by virtue of their offices, be conservators of the peace throughout the State.

7. All public commissions and grants shall run thus: "The State of Maryland," &c., and shall be signed by the Governor, with the seal of the State annexed; all writs and process shall run in the same style, and be tested, sealed and signed as usual; and all indictments shall conclude "against the peace, government and dignity of the State."

8. The State shall be divided into eight Judicial Circuits, in manner and form following, to wit: St. Mary's, Charles and Prince George's counties shall be the first; Anne Arundel, Howard, Calvert and Montgomery counties shall be the second; Frederick and Carroll counties shall be the third; Washington and Allegany counties shall be the fourth; Baltimore city shall be the fifth; Baltimore, Harford and Cecil counties shall be the sixth; Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot and Caroline counties shall be the seventh; and Dorchester, Somerset and Worcester counties shall be the eighth ; and there shall be elected, as hereinafter directed, for each of the said Judicial Circuits, except the fifth, one person from among those learned in the

239 law, having been admitted to practice in this State, and who shall have been a citizen of this State at least five years, and above the age of thirty years at the time of his election, and a resident of the Judicial Circuit to be Judge thereof; the said Judges shall be styled Circuit Judges, and shall respectively hold a term of their courts at least twice in each year, or oftener if required by law, in each county composing their respective circuits; and the said courts shall be called Circuit Courts for the county in which they may be held, and shall have and exercise in the several counties of this State, all the power, authority and jurisdiction which the county courts of this State now have and exercise, or which may hereafter be prescribed by law, and the said Judges in their respective circuits, shall have and exercise all the power, authority and jurisdiction of the present Court of Chancery of Maryland; provided, nevertheless, that Baltimore county court may hold its sittings within the limits of the city of Baltimore, until provision shall be made by law for the location of a county seat within the limits of the said county proper, and the erection of a court-house and all other appropriate buildings, for the convenient administration of justice in said court.

9. The Judges of the several judicial circuits shall be citizens of the United States, and shall have resided five years in this State, and two years in the judicial circuit for which they may be respectively elected, next before the time of their election, and shall reside therein while they continue to act as Judges; they shall be taken from among those who, having the other qualifications herein prescribed, are most distinguished for integrity, wisdom and sound legal knowledge, and shall be elected by the qualified voters of the said circuits, and shall hold their offices for the term of ten years, removable for misbehavior, on conviction in a court of law or by the Governor, upon the address of the General Assembly, provided that two-thirds of the members of each house shall concur in such address, and the said Judges shall each receive a salary of two thousand dollars a-year, and the same shall not be increased or diminished during the time of their continuance in office; and no judge of any court in this State, shall receive any perquisite, fee, commission or reward, in addition thereto, for the performance of any judicial duty.

10. There shall be established for the city of Baltimore one court of law, to be styled "the Court of Common Pleas," which shall have civil jurisdiction in all suits where the debt or damage claimed shall be over one hundred dollars, and shall not exceed five hundred dollars; and shall, also, have jurisdiction in all cases of appeal from the judgment of justices of the peace in the said city, and shall have jurisdiction in all applications for the benefit of the insolvent laws of this State, and the supervision and control of the trustees thereof.

11. There shall also be established, for the city of Baltimore, another court of law, to be styled the Superior Court of Baltimore city, which shall have jurisdiction over all suits where the debt or

damage claimed shall exceed the sum of five hundred dollars, and in case any plaintiff or plaintiffs shall recover less than the sum or value of five hundred dollars, he or they shall be allowed or adjudged to pay costs in the discretion of the court. The said court shall also have jurisdiction as a court of equity within the limits of the said city, and in all other civil cases which have not been heretofore assigned to the Court of Common Pleas.

12. Each of the said two courts shall consist of one Judge, who shall be elected by the legal and qualified voters of the said city, and shall hold his office for the term of ten years, subject to the provisions of this Constitution, with regard to the election and qualification of Judges and their removal from office, and the salary of each of the said Judges shall be twenty-five hundred dollars a-year; and the Legislature shall, whenever it may think the same proper and expedient, provide, by law, another court for the city of Baltimore, to consist of one Judge to be elected by the qualified voters of the said city, who shall be subject to the same constitutional provisions, hold his office for the same term of years, and receive the same compensation as the Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the said city, and the said court shall have such jurisdiction and powers as may be prescribed by law.

13. There shall also be a criminal court for the city of Baltimore, to be styled the Criminal Court of Baltimore, which shall consist of one Judge, who shall also be elected by the legal and qualified voters of the said city, and who shall have and exercise all the jurisdiction now exercised by Baltimore city court, and the said Judge shall receive a salary of two thousand dollars a-year and shall be subject to the provisions of this Constitution with regard to the election and qualifications of Judges, term of office, and removal therefrom.

14. There shall be in each county a clerk of the Circuit Court, who shall be elected by the qualified voters of each county, and the person receiving the greatest number of votes shall be declared and returned duly elected clerk of said Circuit Court for the said county, and shall hold his office for the term of six years from the time of his election, and until a new election is held; shall be re-eligible thereto, and subject to removal for wilful neglect of duty, or other misdemeanor in office, on conviction in a court of law. There shall also be a clerk of the Court of Common Pleas in Baltimore city, and a clerk of the Superior Court of Baltimore city, and there shall also be a clerk of the Criminal Court of Baltimore city, and each of said clerks shall be elected as aforesaid by the qualified voters of the city of Baltimore, and shall hold his office for six years from the time of his election, and until a new election is held, and be reeligible thereto, subject, in like manner, to be removed for wilful neglect of duty or other misdemeanor in office, on conviction in a court of law. In case of a vacancy in the office of a clerk, the Judge or Judges of the court, of which he was clerk, shall have the power

to appoint a clerk until the general election of delegates held next thereafter, when a clerk shall be elected to fill such vacancy.

15. The clerk of the Court of Common Pleas for Baltimore city, shall have authority to issue within the said city, all marriage and other licenses required by law, subject to such provisions as the Legislature shall hereafter prescribe; and the clerk of the Superior Court for said city, shall have the custody of all deeds, conveyances, and other papers now remaining in the office of the clerk of Baltimore county court, and shall hereafter receive and record all deeds, conveyances, and other papers which are required by law to be recorded in said city. He shall also have the custody of all other papers connected with the proceedings on the law or equity side of Baltimore county court, and of the dockets thereof, so far as the same have relation to Baltimore city.

16. That the clerk of the Court of Appeals, and the clerks of the Circuit Courts in the several counties, shall respectively perform all the duties and be entitled to the fees which appertain to the offices of the clerks of Court of Appeals for the Eastern and Western Shores and of the clerks of County Courts, and the clerks of the Court of Common Pleas, the Superior Court, and the Criminal Court for Baltimore city, shall perform all the duties appertaining to their respective offices, and heretofore vested in the clerks of Baltimore County County Court and Baltimore City Court respectively, and be entitled to all the fees now allowed by law; and all laws relating to the clerks of Court of Appeal, clerks of the several County Courts and Baltimore City Court, shall be applicable to the clerks respectively of the clerk of Court of Appeals, the Circuit Courts, the Court of Common Pleas, the Superior Court, and the Criminal Court of Baltimore city, until otherwise provided by law; and the said clerks, when duly elected and qualified according to law, shall have the charge and custody of the records and other papers belonging to their respective offices.

17. The qualified voters of the city of Baltimore, and of the several counties of the State, shall, on the first Wednesday of November, eighteen hundred and fifty-one, and on the same day of the same month in every fourth year forever thereafter, elect three men to be Judges of the Orphans' Court of said city and counties respectively, who shall be citizens of the State of Maryland, and citizens of the city or county for which they may be severally elected at the time of their election. They shall have all the powers now vested in the Orphans' Courts of this State, subject to such changes therein as the Legislature may prescribe, and each of said Judges shall be paid at a per diem rate, for the time they are in session, to be fixed by the Legislature, and paid by the said counties and city respectively.

18. There shall be a Register of Wills in each county of the State, and in the city of Baltimore, to be elected by the legal and qualified voters of said counties and city respectively, who shall hold his

office for six years from the time of his election, and until a new election shall take place, and be re-eligible thereto, subject to be removed for wilful neglect of duty, or misdemeanor in office, in the same manner that the clerks of the county courts are removable. In the event of any vacancy in the office of Register of Wills, said vacancy shall be filled by the Judges of the Orphans' Court until the general election next thereafter for Delegates to the General Assembly, when a Register shall be elected to fill such vacancy.

19. The Legislature at its first session after the adoption of this Constitution, shall fix the number of Justices of the Peace and Constables for each ward of the city of Baltimore, and for each election district in the several counties, who shall be elected by the legal and qualified voters thereof respectively, at the next general election for delegates thereafter, and shall hold their offices for two years from the time of their election, and until their successors in office are elected and qualified; and the Legislature may, from time to time, increase or diminish the number of Justices of the Peace and Constables to be elected in the several wards and election districts, as the wants and interests of the people may require. They shall be, by virtue of their offices, conservators of the peace in the said counties and city respectively, and shall have such duties and compensation as now exist, or may be provided for by law. In the event of a vacancy in the office of a Justice of the Peace, the Governor shall appoint a person to serve as Justice of the Peace, until the next regular election of said officers, and in case of a vacancy in the office of Constable, the County Commissioners of the county, in which a vacancy may occur, or the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, as the case may be, shall appoint a person to serve as Constable until the next regular election thereafter for said officers. An appeal shall lie in all civil cases from the judgment of a Justice of the Peace to the Circuit Court, or to the Court of Common Pleas of Baltimore city, as the case may be, and on all such appeals, either party shall be entitled to a trial by jury, according to the laws now existing, or which may be hereafter enacted. And the Mayor and City Council may provide, by ordinance, from time to time, for the creation and government of such temporary additional police, as they may deem necessary to preserve the public peace.

20. There shall be elected in each county and in the city of Baltimore, every second year two persons for the office of sheriff for each county, and two for the said city, the one of whom having the highest number of votes of the qualified voters of said county or city, or if both have an equal number, either of them, at the discretion of the Governor, to be commissioned by the Governor for the said office, and, having served for two years, such person shall be ineligible for the two years next succeeding; bond with security, to be taken every year, and no sheriff shall be qualified to act before the same be given. In case of death, refusal, disqualification or removal out of the county, before the expiration of the said two years,