HERBERT R. O'CONOR, GOVERNOR. 503

the sum of six hundred ($600. 00) dollars per annum payable
monthly and shall receive the extra compensation heretofore
provided for serving in capacities other than as County Com-
missioners and they shall meet at their office in Upper Marl-
boro four times in each month or oftener if in their judgment
the public interest shall require.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take
effect June 1, 1941.

Approved April 23, 1941.

CHAPTER 307.
(House Bill 76)

AN ACT to add a new section to Article 12 of the Annotated
Code of Maryland (1939 Edition), title "Bastardy and
Fornication", said new section to be known as Section 17
and to follow immediately after Section 16 of said Article,
providing for the taking of blood tests in bastardy cases to
determine parentage, and for admitting the results in evi-
dence in certain cases.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Mary-
land, That a new section be and it is hereby added to Article
12 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1939 Edition), title
"Bastardy and Fornication", said new section to be known as
Section 17 and to follow immediately after Section 16 of said
Article, and to read as follows:

17. Whenever the defendant in bastardy proceedings denies
that he is the father of the child, upon the petition of the
defendant, the court shall order that the complainant, her
child and the defendant submit to such blood tests as may be
deemed necessary to determine whether or not the defendant
can be excluded as being the father of the child. The result
of the test shall be received in evidence, but only in case defi-
nite exclusion is established. Such tests shall be made in
laboratories located in this State, selected by the judges of the
Circuit Courts of the counties, and the Criminal Courts of
Baltimore City. Reports of such tests shall be made by such
laboratories in writing and in the form required by the Courts.
These reports shall be accepted as prima facie evidence of the
results of such tests. The tests shall be paid for by the county
or Baltimore City, as the case may be. When the results of the
tests are admitted in evidence, the laboratory technicians who