548                                LAWS OF MARYLAND                       [CH. 376

corporation, or any State, county, or municipal agency or any division,
board, or agency thereof.

(2)  "Board" means the State Board of Health and Mental Hygiene.

(3)   "Local Health Officer" means the Deputy State Health Officer
or the Commissioner of Health in Baltimore City.

(4) "Group Day Care Center" means a facility or AN agency OR
INSTITUTION offering or supplying group care to five or more chil-
dren who have not the same percentage PARENTAGE, for a portion
or all of a day and on a regular schedule more often than once a week.

(5)   "Child" or "children" mean an individual or individuals under
sixteen years of age.

(6)    "INSTITUTION" MEANS AN ESTABLISHMENT OF
PUBLIC OR PRIVATE CHARACTER OR ONE AFFECTING A
COMMUNITY.

709.

No person shall establish, conduct, maintain, or operate a group
day care center in this State without holding a license under this
subtitle.

710.

A person desiring a license to establish and operate a group day
care center or to continue the operation of an existing group day care
center shall file a notarized application with the local health officer,
setting forth the name of the applicant, the location of the center, the
name of the person to be in charge of the center, and such additional
information as the local health officer or the board may require.

711.

The local health officer shall issue a license to any person to estab-
lish, maintain, and operate a group day care center if he determines
that the person has complied with the provisions of this subtitle and
the regulations issued thereunder by the board. A license granted
hereunder is not assignable or transferable. All licenses expire auto-
matically one year after issue, unless sooner revoked or suspended,
and licenses are renewable for successive periods of one year each
upon compliance with the current requirements for original issue.

712.

(a) A license issued under this subtitle may be revoked or sus-
pended by the Commissioner of the State Department of Health, who
may delegate this power to the local health officer. The revocation or
suspension may be for such period as determined by the Commissioner
or the local health officer, and shall be based upon a finding that the
licensee has violated some provision of this subtitle or of the regu-
lations adopted and promulgated thereunder, including any act or
fact which would have been cause for refusing the original or renewal
issue of the license. Prior to the revocation or suspension the licensee
shall be given an opportunity for a public hearing before the State
Commissioner of Health or the local health officer, as the case may be,
with not less than ten days' notice of the hearing and an opportunity
to be represented by counsel.