incredibly small and simple. The governor and a handful of associates handled the day to day affairs
of state directly, from drafting memorials to Congress and the commander in chief to ordering wood
for the State House fireplaces. As late as the end of the nineteenth century, when Elihu Riley
published the first Maryland Manual, the offices and officials of Maryland State and local government
could be fully described in a small volume of just over 200 pages.

The goal of the Maryland Manual is to record, every two years, the current status of Maryland
State, county, and local government. As government becomes more complex, so does the task of com-
piling the Manual. To a large extent the quality of the book is dependent upon the people in the cities
and towns, the counties, and the various State agencies who take the time to answer our letters and re-
spond to our telephone inquiries. The staff of the Hall of Records, in particular, deserves special men-
tion. While the Hall of Records has compiled the Maryland Manual biennially since 1949, it has never
had a single staff position specifically devoted to the task. When the time comes to begin work on a
new edition, personnel on the staff must be diverted from other, equally important, tasks to get the job
done. As a result, the workload on the entire staff is increased for the six to eight months required to
complete the book. Therefore, those of us involved in the production of this Maryland Manual wish to
extend our sincere thanks to our co-workers for their patience, understanding, and assistance.

Cooperation from the Department of General Services, of which the Hall of Records is a part, was
essential for the successful completion of this book. Secretary J. Max Millstone, Deputy Secretary Je-
rome W. Klasmeier, Assistant Secretary Robin J. Zee, and Jack A. Kelly, Director of the Office of
Central Services, proved supportive as always. Will Culen of the Department of General Services' Pur-
chasing Department reviewed the specifications and supervised the bidding of the contracts involved in
the job. Our special thanks are due to Carleton "B" Hayek, General Services' talented graphic artist,
for both the book and cover design. Production of the book was further facilitated by the experienced
and expert personnel of International Computaprint Corporation of Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.
Eileen Colahan and her staff provided every consideration possible throughout the composition of this
long and complex book.

Legislative redistricting following the 1980 census necessitated that new graphics be developed for
this edition of the Manual. Joan Burns of the University of Maryland Legislative Liaison Office kindly
alerted us to the availability of State redistricting maps produced by the Cartographic Services Lab,
Department of Geography, of the University of Maryland. Philip V. Bikle, president of Cartography,
Inc., of Hagerstown personally supervised the creation of the splendid county district maps that ap-
pear hereafter. Compilation of information on redistricting was assisted by Susan Alderman of the De-
partment of State Planning and Karl Aro of the State Department of Legislative Reference. Other
graphics in the book were quickly and expertly provided by Donna March of Severn Graphics in Glen
Burnie.

While legislative redistricting required that considerable attention be given to new graphics, other
changes were also incorporated into this edition of the Maryland Manual to improve its value as a ref-
erence book. Information in the county section was expanded, and a new section on Interstate Agen-
cies was added. The practice of listing defunct agencies, begun with the last edition, was expanded.
Agency histories have been expanded, and at the suggestion of Kirk Hurley of Dorchester County ad-
ditional information has been added to the Historical List section of the book. By law, the Constitu-
tion of Maryland must appear in each edition of the Maryland Manual, and the Manual is the most
readily available source for the text of that document. Traditionally, footnotes that appear in the Con-
stitution as printed in the Manual have only referred to the most recent amendments affecting particu-
lar sections. In preparation for this edition, Diane Frese, associate editor of the Manual, undertook the
extensive research necessary to expand the footnotes in the Constitution so that they now document
every change that has occurred by way of ratified amendment since the Constitution was adopted in
1867.

Due to the lack of full-time staff to devote to the Maryland Manual, we must rely on intern assis-
tance for a portion of the research required for compiling the book and improving specific sections.
This edition benefited from the diligence of Kay Davis, Monica Forbes, Gene Mahan, and Eileen Par-
ris, participants in the Hall of Records State Publications internship program. These interns conducted
much of the research required for developing improved agency histories. Eileen Parris returned to help
us complete the book, and her expanded role is reflected on the title page of the book. The other edi-
torial assistant, Nancy Gribko, came to us as an intern from Frostburg College. Working part-time for
several months, she helped assemble much of the data that appears hereafter and undertook responsi-
bility for the unglamorous, but vital, task of mailing out clipsheets and logging in replys.

Cooperation from the Governor's Appointments Office is critical in compiling the Maryland Manual,
and Constance R. Beims, the Governor's Appointments Officer, and Pat Joyce and Deborah Janis of
her staff were always helpful. Margaret Lee, Chief Clerk of the Central Files Office in the Executive