38                                     LAWS OF MARYLAND                           [CH. 36

Violation of Bail or Recognizance
12A.

(a)  Any person who has been admitted to bail or released on
recognizance in any criminal case in this State who forfeits the
bail or recognizance and willfully fails to surrender himself within
thirty days following the date of forfeiture shall be sentenced as
provided herein. If the bail or recognizance was given in connection
with a charge of felony or pending an appeal, certiorari, habeas
corpus, or post conviction proceeding after conviction of any offense,
the person shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned in the
penitentiary for not more than five years or both. If the bail or
recognizance was given in connection with a charge of committing
a misdemeanor, or for appearance as a witness, the person shall
be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned for not more than
one year, or both.

(b)  Nothing in this section shall interfere with or prevent the
exercise by any court of its power to punish for contempt.

638 A.

(a)   When from all the circumstances the court is of the opinion
that any accused person in a criminal case will appear as required
for trial either before or after his conviction, the person may be
released on his own recognizance. A failure to appear as required
by such recognizance shall be subject to the penalty provided in
Section 12A of this article.

(b)  This section shall be liberally construed to effectuate the
purpose of relying upon criminal sanctions instead of financial loss
to assure the appearance of an accused person in a criminal case
either before or after trial of the case.

(c)  The provisions of this section shall be applicable to any
criminal case or offense except a case where death is a possible
punishment before any judge of any circuit court in the counties
or any judge of the Criminal Courts of Baltimore City, any people's
court judge with criminal jurisdiction, any of the judges of the
Municipal Court of Baltimore City, or any trial magistrate. The
provisions of this section shall only be applicable to persons twenty-
one years of age and older.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That all laws or parts of laws,
public general or public local, inconsistent with the provisions of
this Act are hereby repealed to the extent of any such inconsistency.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That if any provision of this
Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held
invalid for any reason, such invalidity shall not affect the other
provisions or any other application of this Act which can be given
effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end,
all the provisions of this Act are hereby declared to be severable.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
June 1, 1965.

Approved February 18, 1965.