302 LAWS OF MARYLAND.

or the head of any department, or. a special commission or
board. All deeds, bonds, contracts and other legal instru-
ments involving the interest of the City or to be executed by or
passed to the Mayor or other officer of the City shall, before they
are executed or accepted, be submitted to the City Solicitor
and have endorsed upon them his opinion as to their sufficiency
and their compliance in terms and conditions with the laws
or ordinances under which they are executed. It shall be the
duty of all officers and departments of the City to submit all
such bonds, contracts or other written instruments to the City
Solicitor for his approval before executing or accepting the
same.

64. The Law Department shall have its offices and head-
quarters in such rooms in the City Hall, or elsewhere, as the
Mayor may designate, to be provided and furnished at the ex-
pense of the City, which shall be open on all business days,
between the hours of 9 A. M. and 3 P. M. All papers and
documents relating to the legal business of the City shall be
permanently filed in said office.

65. The City Solicitor is authorized to employ, at a total
cost not exceeding twenty-five hundred dollars per annum, a
clerk, stenographer and typewriter, and such other assistants
as he may require, who shall at all times be subject to his orders.
The said clerk shall, subject to the direction of the City Solic-
itor, have charge and custody of the office and papers of the
Law Department, which shall be arranged and indexed by him
in such convenient and orderly manner as to be at all times
readily accessible. He shall also keep in said office a complete
docket and duplicate pleadings of all suits, actions or proceed-
ings in which the City or any department or official thereof
is interested, pending in any court or tribunal, upon which
docket such appropriate entries shall be made as to show at all
times the condition of each one of such cases. He shall also
keep and re'cord in a book to be provided for that purpose, the
original or duplicate copies of all written opinions furnished
by the Law Department to the City, or to any department or
official thereof, and also of all abstracts of titles furnished to
the City by the Law Department. He shall also procure, as