Public Service Commission whose counsel is appointed by the Gov-
ernor. The Attorney General or his assistants represent the State in
all litigation, including criminal appeals, before the Court of Appeals.
The Law Department acts as counsel to all Baltimore City officials
appointed by the Governor, and to the Clerks of Courts, the Regis-
ters of Wills, the Sheriffs, and State's Attorneys, and the Trial Mag-
istrates of the several counties and the City of Baltimore, as well
as certain other county officials. The Department, however, does not
represent the Boards of County Commissioners, the Boards of Edu-
cation, the Boards of Supervisors of Elections or such other boards
or officials of the counties who have the power to employ and appoint
their own counsel. The Attorney General may render an opinion on
any legal subject or matter upon the request of the Governor, the
General Assembly, or either House thereof, or of any department or
agency of the State (Code 1951, Art. 32A; Code 1955 supp.. Art. 32A,
sec. 6).

The administrative rules and regulations promulgated by any State
officer or agency must be submitted to the Attorney General for
review as to their legality before they may become effective (Code
1961, Art. 41, sec. 9). The Department is responsible for the enforce-
ment of the Subversive Activities Act (Code 1951, Art. 85A, secs.
1-19).

Appropriations 1955 1956
General Fund ............................ $109,163 $111,317

Staff: 21.
t.

DEPARTMENT OF LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE
Carl N. Everstine, Director
City Hall, Baltimore 2 Telephone: Plaza 2-2000

The Department of Legislative Reference was originally created in
1906 to serve the City of Baltimore; in 1916 the scope of the Depart-
ment was enlarged to serve the State as well. The Department col-
lects, compiles and indexes information on all questions of proposed
legislation. The Department investigates and reports on the laws of
Maryland and other States at the request of the Governor, any com-
mittee or member of the General Assembly, or any State agency. At
the request of a member of the General Assembly, the Department
prepares or aids in the drafting of any law or resolution. During
sessions of the General Assembly, the Department maintains offices
in the State House at Annapolis. Each department of the State Gov-
ernment is required to transmit to the Department of Legislative
Reference at least two copies of each of its reports which are used
for exchange and reference purposes by the agency. To aid in their
research, the Department maintains a complete index and a complete
file on all bills introduced in the General Assembly from 1908 to the
present, the Codes and Laws of other States, and a library compris-
ing 19,000 books and 66,000 pamphlets and reports, in addition to a
number of periodicals and clippings from magazines and newspapers.
The Department also has supervision of the Archives of Baltimore
(Code 1951, Art. 41, secs. 117-121).

Appropriations 1955 1956
General Fund ............................ $24,332 $17,620

Staff: 3.