WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER, Governor

FOR the purpose of requesting that the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the
House appoint a Joint Committee to study the creation of a training program for
Judges of the Orphans' Courts; prescribing the number and members of the Joint
Committee; requiring the Joint Committee to report its findings and
recommendations by a certain date; providing that the Joint Committee shall be
staffed by the Department of Legislative Reference; requiring that copies of this
Resolution be forwarded to certain persons; and generally relating to Judges of the
Orphans' Courts.

WHEREAS, The Orphans' Courts are part of the Judicial System of the State of
Maryland (Constitution of Maryland, Article IV, Judicial Department, Part 1, Section 1);
and

WHEREAS, The Judges of the District Court, Circuit Courts, Court of Special
Appeals, and Court of Appeals all receive State-funded instruction regarding their judicial
duties; and

WHEREAS, The Judges of the Orphans' Courts deal with specialized, complex
probate procedures and issues in the performance of their duties; and

WHEREAS, The appropriate legal training in probate procedures and other relevant
areas of the law would serve to enhance the administration of Orphans' Courts in the State
of Maryland; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, That the
President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House are requested to appoint a Joint
Committee to study the creation of a program of State-funded training and continuing
education for Judges of the Orphans' Courts in the State; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Committee be composed of: (1) 3 members of the House
Judiciary Committee, appointed by the Speaker; (2) 3 members of the Judicial Proceedings
Committee, appointed by the President of the Senate; and (3) 3 members of the Maryland
Association of the Judges of the Orphans' Courts, appointed by the Association President,
one of whom shall be an attorney; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Joint Committee shall report its findings and
recommendations to the General Assembly by October 1, 1989; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the staff for the Committee shall be provided by the Department
of Legislative Reference; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be forwarded by the Department of
Legislative Reference to the Honorable William Donald Schaefer, Governor of Maryland;
the Honorable Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr., President of the Senate of Maryland; the
Honorable R. Clayton Mitchell, Jr., Speaker of the House of Delegates; the Honorable
Joseph Curran, Jr., Attorney General of the State of Maryland, Office of the Attorney
General, Calvert and Fayette Streets, 2nd Floor, Baltimore, Maryland 21202; the
Honorable Robert C. Murphy, Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, Courts of Appeal
Building, 361 Rowe Boulevard, Annapolis, Maryland 21401; Roger W. Titus, Esquire,
President of the Maryland State Bar Association, 520 West Fayette Street, Baltimore,
Maryland 21201; and the Honorable Michael Waring Lee, President of the Maryland
Association of the Judges of the Orphans' Courts, 11 North Calvert Street, Room 311,
Baltimore, Maryland 21202.

- 4529 -