328                             LAWS OF MARYLAND                      [CH. 124

the institution are inadequate to provide treatment for such illness, the
officer may recommend to the Department of Correction that the pris-
oner be temporarily removed to any place within the State where ade-
quate treatment may be obtained. If the Department of Correction ap-
proves such recommendation, it may direct the temporary removal of
such prisoner for a definite period of time, or from time to time,
to a place where adequate treatment for the illness of the prisoner
may be obtained, with such guards and under such supervision and
safeguards as may be necessary to prevent the escape of the prisoner
from custody, and subject to such rules and regulations with regard
to guards, supervision, and terms of temporary release as the De-
partment of Correction may prescribe, provided that any such order
shall direct the return of such prisoner to the institution in which
he was confined as soon as the state of his health will permit. Such
order of removal shall be the authority of the officer in charge of
the penal institution to remove the prisoner in accordance with its
terms, and the prisoner shall be regarded during the time of such
removal as remaining in custody of the penal institution to which
he has been sentenced for the purpose of determining the time
when he shall be released from such sentence, and in determining
such time he shall be entitled to diminution of the period of his
confinement as provided in Section 700 (a) and 700 (b) of this
article. If any prisoner temporarily removed in accordance with
the provisions of this section escapes, he shall be deemed guilty of
the crime of escape and subject to the penalties prescribed by Sec-
tion 139 of this article.

The expenses of the accommodation, maintenance, and medical
care of the prisoner whose temporary removal has been authorized,
in accordance with this section, shall be paid by the prisoner or his
relatives or friends, or from any funds that are available for the
hospital expenses of prisoners in the institution in which he is con-
fined, or, if not otherwise available, shall be a charge upon the county,
city, or town from which such inmate was committed, and collectible
by the officer in charge of such institution, in accordance with the
procedure prescribed by Section 44 of Article 59.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
June 1, 1964.

Approved April 7, 1964.

CHAPTER 124
(House Bill 362)

AN ACT to add new Section 40 to Article 53 of the Annotated Code
of Maryland (1957 Edition), title "Landlord and Tenant," subtitle
"Distress for Rent," to follow immediately after Section 39 thereof
and to be under the new subtitle "Public Policy," providing that
an "exculpatory clause" in an agreement between a landlord and
tenant shall be void as against public policy.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That new Section 40 be and it is hereby added to Article 53 of the