164 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [CH. 71

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act is hereby
declared to be an emergency measure and necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public health and safety and
having been passed by a yea and nay vote, supported by three-
fifths of all the members elected to each of the two Houses of
the General Assembly of Maryland, the same shall take effect
from the date of its passage.

Approved November 10, 1947.

CHAPTER 71.
(House Bill 36)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Section
124A of Article 16 of the Annotated Code of Maryland
(1939 Edition), title "Chancery", sub-title "Non Compos
"Mentis", as said section was enacted by Chapter 751 of the
Acts of 1947, clarifying the provisions of said Act in re-
lation to the filing of petitions in the circuit courts of
Baltimore City.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Mary-
land, That Section 124A of Article 16 of the Annotated Code
of Maryland (1939 Edition), title "Chancery'', sub-title "Non
Compos Mentis", as said section was enacted by Chapter 751
of the Acts of 1947, be and it is hereby repealed and re-
enacted, with amendments, to read as follows:

124A. The use of a Sheriff's Jury in proceedings to deter-
mine the sanity of an alleged lunatic is hereby abolished.
Upon the filing of a petition for a writ de lunatico inquirendo,
the sanity of the alleged lunatic shall be determined in the
first instance by the Circuit Courts of the several counties in
equity or the circuit Courts of Baltimore City, as the
case may be. The jury to be used in such proceedings shall be
empanelled by the Court, from the jurors in attendance upon
the law or criminal court in said county or city, or, if there
be no jurors in attendance, the court shall forthwith select
twenty (20) good and lawful men from the names upon the
regular jury list of the last Jury Term of the law or criminal
court in said county or city to be summoned to attend as
jurors in said case. The summoning of said jurors and the
empanelling of a jury of twelve men from said regular panel
or from said list of jurors so summoned shall proceed as far
as practicable in accordance with the rules and practice of
obtaining for the selection and empanelling of jurors in
other civil cases.