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CHAP. 137.
Passed Feb 9 1820
If court, &c are
satisfied that per-
son charged with
confining, &c is
about to remove
person confined,
to command she-
riff to serve writ,
and cause person
immediately to be
brought before
them
Penalty on sheriff
neglecting or re-
fusing to serve writ
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CHAP. CXXXVII.
A Supplement to the act, entitled, An act respecting Writs of Habeas Corpus, par-
sed at November session one thousand eight hundred and nine.
1. Be it enacted, by the General Assembly of Maryland, That when-
ever application, or complaint in writing, shall be made to the
county court, or to the chancellor, the chief judge, or an associate
judge, of any of the judicial districts of this state, or to the chief
judge, or an associate judge of Baltimore city court, by or on be-
half of any person in confinement or detained within their respec-
tive jurisdiction, if it shall be made appear to the satisfaction of
the court, chancellor or judge, that there are strong grounds or
probable cause for believing that the person who may be charged
with confining or detaining the person making the application or
complaint, or on behalf of whom the same is made, is about to re-
move the person so confined or detained from the place where he
may then be confined or detained, for the purpose of evading any
writ of habeas corpus, or for any other purpose, or that the person
charged as aforesaid would evade or not obey any such writ if the
same was notified to or served on him in the usual manner such
writs are executed, then and in that case it shall and may be law-
ful for the court, chancellor or judge, to issue the said writ of
habeas corpus, in the usual form, directed to the person charged as
aforesaid, and also to insert in such writ a clause commanding and
requiring the sheriff of the county in which the person charged as
aforesaid may be, to notify to and serve the said writ on the per-
son to whom the same may be directed, and to cause the said per-
son immediately to be and appear before the court, chancellor or
judge, together with the person so confined or detained, for the
purpose of complying with the command contained in the said writ,
and it shall be the duty of the sheriff, to whom the said writ may
be delivered, immediately upon the receipt thereof, to execute the
same, and to carry the person to whom the said writ may be direc-
ted, together with the person so confined or detained, before the
court, chancellor or judge, as the case may be, who shall proceed
to inquire into the subject matter, and there shall be the same pro-
ceedings had thereon as is directed by the act to which this is a
supplement, and by the act, entitled, An act declaratory of the
law on returns to writs of habeas corpus, and for the better protec-
tion of the liberty of the citizens, passed at December session one
thousand eight hundred and thirteen.
2. And be it enacted, That if the sheriff*, to whom any such writ
of habeas corpus may be delivered, shall neglect or refuse immedi-
ately to proceed to execute the same, and when executed to make
return thereof to the court, chancellor or judge, as the case may
be, and take with him the person to whom the said writ may be
directed, together with the person so confined or detained, or one of
them, he shall upon conviction thereof, forfeit the sum of five
hundred dollars, to be paid to the person in whose behalf such writ
of habeas corpus shall have issued, and if the .said person, or some
one on his or her behalf, shall not prosecute for the same within
six months after such neglect or refusal, then one half of the said
forfeiture shall go to the state, and the other half to the person
who may prosecute for the same.
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