"No further amendment was offered to this
section.
The next section of the report was then
read as follows:
STATE'S ATTORNEYS.
"Section 1. There shall be an attorney for
the State in each county and the city of Baltimore,
to be styled "the State's attorney,"
who shall be elected' by the voters thereof,
respectively, on the ——, and on the
same day every fourth year thereafter, and
hold his office for four years from the ——
next ensuing his election, and until his suc-
cessor shall be elected and qualified, and
shall be re-eligible thereto, and be subject
to removal' therefrom for incompetency, wil-
ful neglect of duty of misdemeanor in office
on conviction in a court of law "
On motion of Mr. SMITH, of Carroll, the
first blank was filled with the words, " Tuesday
next after the first Monday in November,
1867."
On Motion of Mr. SMITH, of Carroll,
The second blank was filled with the words,
" first Monday of January."
No further amendment was offered to this
section.
The next section was then read, as follows :
"See. 2. All election for the State's attorney
shall be certified to, and returns made
thereof, by the clerks of the said counties and
city to the judges thereof having criminal
Jurisdiction, respectively, whose duty it shall
be to decide upon the elections and qualifica-
tions of the persons returned', and in cane of
a tie between two or more persons, to desig-
nate which of said persons shall qualify as
State's attorney, and to administer the oaths
of office to the persons elected."
Mr. MILLER. I know this section follows?
the phraseology of the old constitution, but
It will depend upon the new organization of
the courts, whether these words "having
criminal jurisdiction respectively" ought to
be inserted in this section.
Mi?, THOMAS. There will always be some
court in the counties,, and in the city of Baltimore
which must necessarily have criminal
jurisdiction. I can see no difficulty in this
section.
Mr. MILLER. These returns are to be re-
ported " to the judges."
Mr. THOMAS, the gentleman can secure
his object my making it read " to the judge
or judges."
Mr. SMITH, of Carroll, The committee on
revision can determine that after we shall
have completed the report of the committee
on the judiciary.
No amendment was offered to this section.
SALARY OF STATE'S ATTORNEYS.
The next section was read as follows :
Sec. 3. The State's attorney shall per-
form such duties, and receive such fees and |
commissions as are now prescribed by law.
and such other duties, fees and commissions
as may hereafter be prescribed by law, and
if any State's attorney shall receive any other
fee or reward than such as is, or may be
allowed by law, he shall on conviction thereof,
be removed' from office; provided, the State 'i
attorneys of the several counties shall receive
not less than — dollars per annum; and
provided' the State's attorney for Baltimore
city shall have the power to appoint one
deputy, at a salary of not more than ——'
dollars per annum, to be paid by the mayor
and city council of Baltimore, as city officers'
are paid.
1 Mr. THOMAS submitted the following amendment:
Insert after the word " than," in the seventh
line, the word's " eight hundred."
Mr. THOMAS said; It very often happens
in some counties of the State that the office'
of State's attorney pays so badly that we
cannot get a member of the bar to take the'
position with' the trouble it gives him, unless
be is guaranteed a certain salary. the idea;
of the committee, or at least portion of
them—for I do not know whether the committee
was unanimous upon the subject, or
not—was that $800 should be fixed, so as to
insure the State's attorney at least $800 as a
salary, which I think is very small, to be
paid by the county commissioners.
Mr. DANIEL. I move to fill the blank in-
serting " five hundred." In some of the coun-
ties the State's attorney has very little to do.
Besides that, it is frequently a very excellent
school for practitioners, and I have known it
' to he one of the best ways of introducing
young practitioners in their professions. Ill
does not interfere with their practice; and 1
think that $500 'would be ample, especially
as I knew that in many counties the fees do'
not amount to more than $200 or $300.
Mr. BERRY, of Prince George's. I should
think, if it could be accomplished', that it
would be better to leave it to the commissioners
of the several counties to fix the salary to'
be paid to the State's attorney, With us, we
have a good deal of commercial business,
land the State's attorneyship is worth $1400
or 111500. In some counties it is worth very
little. If you fix. a uniform salary for all of
them, you give those who have a good deal
of work no more than those who have little
to' do.
Mr. SMITH, of Carroll. That is not the
construction we have given to the language.
' It i to give them this amount, at least.
Mr. MAYHUGH. I should prefer to substitute
the compensation new allowed by law.
Mr. CLARKE, is it proposed to pay the
deficiency, if there should be any, from the
county or the State treasury ?
Mr. SMITH, of Carroll, It is to be paid by
the county commissioners. I have an amendment
to meet that. |
