J. MILLARD TAWES, Governor                    2193

Letter from State Law Department on Senate Bill No. 407

April 24, 1963.

Honorable J. Millard Tawes
Governor of Maryland
State House
Annapolis, Maryland

Re: Senate Bill No. 407
Your Excellency:

I have reviewed the above noted act which is intended to establish
a new system of licensing slot machines in St. Mary's County.

Although the act is not on its face clearly unconstitutional, I feel
compelled to point out that it is so inartistically drawn that it pre-
sents a danger of nullifying, within St. Mary's County, the effect
of House Bill No. 475, which has under certain circumstances the
effect of prohibiting slot machines throughout the State. I call your
attention particularly to Section 4 of Senate Bill 407 which appears
on page 8 of the third reader copy thereof. That section provides
in part that it is the legislative intention that "nothing in this act
shall in any way be construed or applied to invalidate the ownership,
operation, or maintenance of slot machines in St. Mary's County in
controversion of or as made unlawful by any state-wide act .....
which prohibits the ownership, operation, or maintenance of slot
machines."

It is conceivable that the word "validate" was intended to be used
in that section instead of the word "invalidate." However, the use
of the word "invalidate" could be construed as carving out an excep-
tion to the State's general prohibitions and limitations on the owner-
ship, operation, or maintenance of slot machines. Furthermore, Sec-
tion 4 mentions only a state-wide act which "prohibits" the owner-
ship, operation, or maintenance of slot machines and does not men-
tion any of the limitations which have been placed upon the number
of slot machines which can be used during the period of gradual
elimination of such machines as provided by the state-wide act. Ac-
cordingly, there is a danger that Senate Bill No. 407 could be con-
strued as removing St. Mary's County from the gradual elimination
provisions of the state-wide act, especially since subsection (b) on
page 3 of Senate Bill No. 407 contains a different numerical limit.

Accordingly, it is my opinion that your signing Senate Bill No.
407 into law could seriously endanger the operation of House Bill
No. 475 within St. Mary's County.

Sincerely,

(s) Thomas B. Finan,

Attorney General.
TBF/k