either of them, at the discretion of the Gov-
ernor, 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 secu-
rity to be taken every year, and no sheriff
shall be qualified to act before the same be
given In case of death, refusal, disqualifi-
cation or removal out of the county, before
the expiration of the said two years, the
other person chosen as aforesaid, shall be
commissioned by the Governor to execute the
said office for the residue of the said two
years, the said person giving bond with securi-
ty as aforesaid. No person shall be eligible
to the office of sheriff but a resident of such
county or city respectively, who shall have
been a citizen of this State at least five years
preceding his election, and above the age of
twenty-one years. The two candidates, prop-
erly qualified, having the highest number of
legal ballots, shall be declared duly elected
for the office of sheriff for such county or
city, and returned to the Governor, with a
certificate of the number of ballots for each
of them.
SEC. 21. Coroners, elisors and notaries
public shall be appointed for each county and
the city of Baltimore, in the manner now
prescribed by law, or in such other manner
as the general assembly may hereafter direct.
SEC. 22. No judge 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, with such degrees
as may be prescribed by law, or where he
shall have been of counsel in the case; and
whenever any of the judges of the circuit
courts, or of the courts for Baltimore city,
shall be thus disqualified, or whenever, by
reason of sickness, or any other cause, the
said judges, or any of them, may be unable
to sit in any cause, the parties may, by con-
sent, appoint a proper person to try the said
cause, or the judges, or any of them, shall do
so when directed by law,
Sic. 23. The present chancellor and the
register in chancery, and, in the event of any
vacancy in their respective offices, their suc-
cessors in office respectively, who are to be
appointed as at present, by the Governor and
senate, shall continue in office, with the pow-
ers and compensation as at present established,
until the expiration of two years after the
adoption of this Constitution by the people,
and until the end of the session of the legisla-
ture next thereafter, after which the said
offices of chancellor and register shall be abol-
ished The legislature shall, in the mean
time, provide by law for the recording, safe-
keeping, or other disposition, of the records,
decrees, and other proceedings of the court
of chancery, and for the copying and attesta-
tion thereof, and for the custody and use of
the great seal of the State, when required,
after the expiration of the said two years, and
2 |
for transmitting to the said counties, and to
the city of Baltimore, all the cases and pro-
ceedings in said court then undisposed of and
unfinished, in such manner, and under such
regulations as may be deemed necessary and
proper: provided, that no new business shall
originate in the said court, nor shall any
cause be removed to the same from any other
court, from and after the ratification of this
Constitution.
SEC. 24. The first election of judges, clerks,
registers of wills, and all other officers, whose
election by the people is provided for in this
article of the Constitution, except justices of
the peace and constables, shall take place
throughout the State on the first Wednesday
of November next after the ratification of this
Constitution by the people.
SEC. 25. In case of the death, resignation,
removal, or other disqualification of a judge
of any of the courts of law, the Governor, by
and with the advice and consent of the senate,
shall thereupon appoint a person, duly quali-
fied, to fill said office until the .next general
election for delegates thereafter: at which
time an election shall be held as hereinbefore
prescribed, for a judge, who shall hold the
said office for ten years, according to the pro-
visions of this Constitution.
SEC. 26. In case of the death, resignation,
removal, or other disqualification of the judge
of an orphans' court, the vacancy shall be
filled by the appointment of the Governor, by
and with the advice and consent of the senate.
SEC. 27. Whenever lands lie partly in one
county, and partly in another, or partly in a
county and partly in the city of Baltimore, or
whenever persons proper to be made defend-
ants to proceedings in chancery, reside some
in one county and some in another, that court
shall have jurisdiction in which proceedings
shall have been first commenced, subject to
such rules, regulations and alterations as may
be prescribed by law.
SEC. 28. In all suits or actions at law,
issues from the orphans' court or from any
court sitting in equity, in petitions for free-
dom, and in all presentments and indictments
now pending, or which may be pending at
the time of the adoption of this Constitution.
by the people, or which may be hereafter
instituted in any of the courts of law of this
State, having jurisdiction thereof, the judge
or judges thereof, upon suggestion in writing,
if made by the State's attorney, or the prose-
cutor for the State, or upon suggestion in
writing, supported by affidavit, made by any
of the parties thereto, or other proper evi.
dence, that a fair and impartial trial cannot
be had In the court where such suit or action
at law, issues or petitions, or presentment
and indictment is depending, shall order and
direct the record of proceedings in such suit
or action, issues or petitions, presentment or
indictment, to be transmitted to the court of
any adjoining county; provided, that the re- |
