ART. IV] JUDICIARY DEPARTMENT. 151

Sec. 29. The Circuit Court of Baltimore City shall have
exclusive jurisdiction in Equity within the limits of said city,
and all such jurisdiction as the present Circuit Court of Balti-
more City has; provided, the said Court shall not have juris-
diction in applications for the writ of habeas carpus in cases of
persons charged with criminal offenses.

Sec. 30. The Criminal Court of Baltimore shall have and
exercise all the jurisdiction now held and exercised by the
Criminal Court of Baltimore, except in such Appeal Cases as
are herein assigned to the Baltimore City Court.

Sec. 31. There shall be. elected by the legal and qualified
voters of said city, at the election, hereinbefore provided for,
one Chief Judge and four Associate Judges, who, together,
shall constitute the Supreme Bench of Baltimore City, and
shall hold their offices for the term of fifteen years, subject to the
provisions of this Constitution with regard to the election and
qualifications of Judges and their removal from office, and shall
exercise the jurisdiction, hereinafter specified, and shall each
receive an annual salary of three thousand five hundred dollars,*
payable quarterly, which shall not be diminished during their
term of office; but authority is hereby given to the Mayor and
City Council of Baltimore to pay to each of the said Judges an
annual addition of five hundred dollars to their respective
salaries; provided, that the same being once granted shall not
be diminished nor increased during the continuance of said
Judges in office.

Sec. 32. It shall be the duty of the said Supreme Bench of
Baltimore City, as soon as the Judges thereof shall be elected
and duly qualified, and from time to time, to provide for the
holding of each of the aforesaid Courts, by the assignment of
one or more of their number to each of the said Courts, who
may sit either separately or together in the trial of cases; and
the said Supreme Bench of Baltimore City may, from time to
time, change the said assignment, as circumstances may require,
and the public interest may demand; and the Judge or Judges,
so assigned to the said several Courts, shall, when holding the
same, have all the powers and exercise all the jurisdiction
which may belong to the Court so being held; and it shall also
be the duty of the said Supreme Bench of Baltimore City, in
case of the sickness, absence or disability of any Judge or
Judges assigned as aforesaid, to provide for the hearing of the

*Increased by Act of 1892, ch 388, to four thousand five hundred dollars