3240 ARTICLE 15.

1910, ch. 403 (p. 920), sec. 167C. 1916, ch. 304, sec. 167C. 1920, ch. 411.
1922, ch. 210. 1929, ch. 41S, sec. 167C.

298. The County Commissioners of Kent County shall on the first day
of June, 1929, or as soon thereafter as possible, appoint some competent
person, who shall have a sufficient knowledge of civil engineering to enable
him to accurately make surveys, plats, profiles and specifications for the
grading, draining, maintenance, repairs and reconstruction of the public
roads of said County, and also to do the necessary engineering work for
the building or rebuilding of bridges, and who shall have at least three
years' experience in road engineering work (and who shall be approved
as a competent road engineer by the State Roads Commission of Mary-
land and by the Chief Engineer thereof) to be County Road Engineer for
Kent County for the term of four vears, at a salary of Fifteen Hundred

Dollars a year, payable monthly and the said County Road Engineer shall
hold his office and be paid for his services from the day he enters upon
his duties, unless removed for cause, as hereinafter provided; and the
said County Commissioners shall make such appointments without any
reference whatever to the political opinion of the persons so appointed.
Richardson v. Kent County, 120 Md. 153.

1910, ch. 403 (p. 920), sec. 167D. 1916, ch. 304, sec. 167D.

299. The said County Road Engineer shall not be liable to removal
from office during his term for any reason other than incompetency, neglect
of duty or misconduct in office, and then upon sworn complaint of ten or
more resident taxpayers of Kent County, to be filed with the said County
Commissioners or upon complaint by the clerk of the said County Com-
missioners, filed by their direction, and every such complaint shall state
specifically the nature and character of the charge preferred, and of which
due notice shall be given the said County Road Engineer; and if the
County Commissioners, after hearing said charges, at which the Engineer
and the parties making the complaint shall be entitled to be represented by
counsel and to produce any competent testimony, shall find that said County
Road Engineer is incompetent or has been guilty of neglect of duty or mis-
conduct in office, it shall be their duty to immediately remove said County
Road Engineer from office, but either party to such hearing shall be en-
titled to an appeal from the decision of said County Commissioners to the
Circuit Court for Kent County; provided that said appeal is taken within
five days thereafter, which appeal shall be heard de novo by said Court
at its next regular term, without the intervention of a jury, and if the said
Court, after hearing all the evidence, shall find that the said County Road
Engineer is incompetent or has been guilty of neglect of duty, it shall pass
an order removing said engineer from office, in which case the said Road
Engineer shall not be entitled to receive any salary from the date of the
order of the County Commissioners from which said appeal is taken.

1910, ch. 403 (p. 920), sec. 167E. 1916, ch. 304, sec. 167B. 1929, ch. 418, sec. 167E.

300. The County Road Engineer shall reside in Kent County during
the term of his office and shall have (entire) charge, control and super-