24                                 LAWS OF MARYLAND                          [CH. 9

Hygiene to furnish to the county [treasurer] commissioners or
county council of each county, or the Department of Public Wel-
fare in Baltimore City, having patients in the State [hospitals for
the insane and in Rosewood State Training School] institutions under
the jurisdiction of the Department of Mental Hygiene a quarterly
statement giving the number of patients and the name of each patient
coming from and charged to such county, and the cost of mainte-
nance due from each county for such patient or patients. [The De-
partment of Mental Hygiene shall certify to the State Comptroller
on the first day of January, April, July and October of each year the
amount not previously certified to by it that is due the said hospitals
for the insane and Rosewood State Training School from the several
counties having patients chargeable thereto. The State Comptroller
shall thereupon notify the County Treasurer of each county so owing
of the amount thereof and charge the same to the said county, and]
The Board of County Commissioners or County Council of said
county shall levy a tax in said county for said amount and pay the
amount due the State [into the State Treasury] to the Department
of Mental Hygiene; and, should any county fail to levy a tax in said
county for said amount then due said State, and shall fail at the time
of levying other county taxes thereafter to levy the tax aforesaid to
amount sufficient to pay the indebtedness subsequently incurred,
it shall be the duty of the Attorney General to bring in the name of
the State an action against any county in the Circuit Court of said
county so failing aforesaid to enforce the levying of said tax for the
recovery of the amount due the State, as aforesaid. Upon the failure
of any county to levy such tax as aforesaid to an amount sufficient
to pay the amount [then] due the State, it shall be the duty of the
[State Comptroller] Department of Mental Hygiene to charge such
delinquent county with a penalty of interest at one per centum per
month upon the amount of indebtedness for each month until pay-
ment thereof and penalty thereon be paid. It shall be the duty of
the County Treasurer, upon the collection of the taxes herein required
to be levied, to pay [into the State Treasury] to the Department of
Mental Hygiene the amount due and owing from his county quar-
terly on the first day of January, April, July and Octobed of each year.
All money collected by the Department of Mental Hygiene from
Baltimore City or the counties under this section shall be accounted
for and paid into the State Treasury according to the procedures in
effect for such accounting [at the time and in the manner required
for the payment of State taxes collected]. Whenever the superintend-
ent of any State [hospital for the insane and Rosewood State Train-
ing School] institution under the jurisdiction of the Department of
Mental Hygiene has held and treated a patient as from one county,
and the County Commissioners or County Council of such county
make claim that such patient is not a proper charge against the said
county, and such County Commissioners or County Council shall
notify the [State Comptroller] Department of Mental Hygiene that
it is claimed by them that such patient is not a proper charge against
their county, and shall claim that the said patient is a proper
charge against some other county, it shall be the duty of the County
Commissioners or County Council of each of said counties to file
such proofs as they may have with the [State Comptroller] Depart-
ment of Mental Hygiene within thirty days from the time of such
notification and thereupon it shall be the duty of the [State Comp-
troller] Department of Mental Hygiene to investigate the question