ARCHIVIST OF THE HALL OF RECORDS 37

Approved March 23, 1960.

EXPLANATION : Italics indicate new matter added to ex-
isting law.

[Brackets] indicate matter stricken
from existing law.

CAPITALS indicate amendments to bill.
Strike out indicates matter stricken out
of bill.

So long as anyone knows, clerks of the court have been required
by law to prepare an index for each land record volume in addition to
the general index, which is also mandatory. The index at the end of
the volume was a useless duplication and an expensive one. Moreover,
with the introduction of photographic recording, the manuscript indexes
at the back of a binder of photostats or projection prints became espe-
cially inconvenient and expensive. In any case, no recordkeeping act in
Maryland was more honored by the breach than by the observance. On
several occasions, the clerks of court and the Hall of Records had tried
to have this provision repealed, but without success. Such a repealer
passed at the 1960 Session. It will save us the cost of many superfluous
shots when the volumes are microfilmed. The Act follows:

CHAPTER 27
(House Bill 4)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Sec-
tion 50 of Article 17 of the Annotated Code of Mary-
land (1957 Edition), title "Clerks of Courts", sub-title
"Clerks of Circuit Courts and Superior Court of Bal-
timore City", to include a requirement for indexing
in the laws placing on the clerks of courts the duty
of recording deeds, mortgages, and other interests
affecting the title to land or personal property in the
land or chattel records of the Circuit Courts and the
Superior Court of Baltimore City, AND ELIMINA-
TING THE REQUIREMENT FOR AN ALPHA-
BETICAL INDEX IN EACH BOOK.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of
Maryland, That Section 50 of Article 17 of the Anno-
tated Code of Maryland (1957 Edition), title "Clerks
of Courts", sub-title "Clerks of Circuit Courts and Su-
perior Court of Baltimore City", be and it is hereby
repealed and re-enacted, with amendments, to read as
follows:

50. Land records and chattel records.