196

LAWS OF MARYLAND.

Duty of per-
sons having
charge of
funerals.

Sec. 5. Be it enacted, That every Sexton, Coro-
ner, Undertaker or other person, having charge
of the obsequies or funeral rites, preliminary to
the interment of the body of a stranger or friend-
less person, shall forthwith obtain and return to
the Clerk aforesaid of the county or city, in which
the deceased resided or the death occurred, the
facts required by this act to be recorded by said
officer concerning the deceased, any person ne-
glecting or refusing to make such return within
one month thereafter shall forfeit and pay a sum
not exceeding ten dollars.

Notice may
be deposited
with Justices
of the Peace

Sec. 6. Be it enacted, That tlie notice required,
to be furnished by sections three and five, accord-
ing to section one, may for greater convenience he
deposited with any Justice of the Peace, residing
in the election district wherein the birth, marri-
age or deajth takes place, and it shall be the duty
of the said Justices of the Peace to transmit the
same to said Clerk every three months.

Clerk to trans-
mit.

Sec. 7. Be it enacted, That the Clerk of the
court aforesaid shall annually on or before the
first day of February transmit to the Secretary of
the Senate, certified copies of the records of the
births, marriages and deaths, which shall have
occurred in said county or city during the year
ending on the thirty-first of December proceeding.

Records to be
evidence.

Sec. 8. Be it enacted, That the records of the
Clerks of said courts relative to any births, mar-
riages or deaths shall be prima facie evidence in
legal proceedings of the facts recorded; the certi-
ficate signed by said Clerk with the seal of his
office affixed thereto shall be admissable as evi-
dence of any such record.

Compensation.

Sec. 9. Be it enacted, That the Clerk aforesaid
shall receive from his county or city for obtaining,
recording, indexing and returoing to the Secretary
of the Senate the facts in relation to a birth, mar-
riage or death, fifteen cents, for each case recorded
as the same shall be certified by the Secretary of
the Senate; he shall forfeit and pay a sum not less
than twenty nor more than fifty dollars, for each
refusal or neglect to perform any duty required of
him by this act.