580                             LAWS OF MARYLAND                     [CH. 407

CHAPTER 406
(House Bill 611)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Section 24 of
Article 16 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1964 Supplement),
title "Chancery," subtitle "Divorce and Annulment," providing that
imprisonment for the requisite period is a ground for divorce a
vinculo, whether for conviction of a felony or misdemeanor.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Section 24 of Article 16 of the Annotated Code of Maryland
(1964 Supplement), title "Chancery," subtitle "Divorce and Annul-
ment," be and it is hereby repealed and re-enacted, with amendments,
to read as follows:

24.

Upon hearing of any bill for a divorce, the court may decree a
divorce a vinculo matrimonii for the following causes, to wit: First,
the impotence of either party at the time of the marriage; secondly,
for any cause which by the laws of this State, render a marriage
null and void ab initio; thirdly, for adultery; fourthly, when the
court shall be satisfied by competent testimony that the party com-
plained against has abandoned the party complaining, and that such
abandonment has continued uninterruptedly for at least eighteen
months, and is deliberate and final, and the separation of the parties
beyond any reasonable expectation of reconciliation; fifthly, when
the husband and wife shall have voluntarily lived separate and apart,
without any cohabitation, for eighteen consecutive months prior to
the filing of the bill of complaint, and such separation is beyond any
reasonable expectation of reconciliation; sixthly, when the party
complained against has been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor
under the laws of this State or of any other state of the United
States and has been sentenced to serve at least three years in any
penitentiary or penal institution eighteen months of which sentence
has been served.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
June 1, 1965.

Approved April 8, 1965.

CHAPTER 407
(House Bill 621)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Section 51A of
the Code of Public Local Laws of Charles County (1964 Supple-
ment, being Article 9 of the Code of Public Local Laws of Mary-
land), title "Charles County," subtitle "County Commissioners,"
subheading "Assistance to Legislative Delegation," as added, last
amended by Chapter 855 of the Acts of 1961; to change the com-
pensation for secretarial assistance to the Charles County Delega-
tion to the General Assembly during each session.