974                               LAWS OF MARYLAND                        [CH. 571

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Sections 140, 141, and 142 of Article 41 of the Annotated Code
of Maryland (1957 Edition and 1965 Supplement), title "Governor-
Executive and Administrative Departments," subtitle "Department
of Legislative Reference," be and they are hereby repealed and re-
enacted, with amendments, to read as follows:

140.

[The] There shall be a State Department of Legislative Reference
(elsewhere in this subtitle sometimes referred to as the Department
of Legislative Reference or the Department), which [shall be] is
assigned to the Legislative Department.

141.

[The Director of the Department of Legislative Reference, in his
capacity as executive officer of that Department and in his capacity
as secretary and director of research of the Legislative Council,
shall be deemed an appointed official within the meaning of Section
11 of Article 73B of the Annotated Code of Maryland, and any
amendments thereto, and shall be treated as such for all purposes of
said Article 73B.]

(a)    The head of the State Department of Legislative Reference
shall be the State Board of Legislative Reference, with five members,
as follows: the President of the Senate of Maryland, the Speaker of
the House of Delegates of Maryland, the Chief Judge of the Court of
Appeals of Maryland, the President of the Johns Hopkins University,
and the Dean of the Law School of the University of Maryland. The
members of the Board shall serve without compensation.

(b)    The Board shall appoint a Director to conduct the affairs of
the Department. The Director shall hold office during good behavior
and shall be subject to removal by the Board, or by a majority of the
Board, for incompetence or neglect of duty; but before any Director
may be removed from office he shall be given a copy of the charges
made against him and an opportunity of being publicly heard in
person or by counsel in his own defense, upon not less than ten days'
notice.

142.

[In addition to the duties to be performed by the Department of
Legislative Reference, as created by Chapter No. 565 of the Acts of
1906 (Baltimore City Charter 1949, Sections 140-141) of the General
Assembly of Maryland, it shall be] It is the duty of the executive
officer of the Department of Legislative Reference to investigate and
report upon the laws of this and other states relating to any subject
upon which he may be requested so to report by the Governor of
Maryland, and any committee or member of the General Assembly, or
the head of any State department; to accumulate all data obtainable
in relation to the practical operation and effect of such laws; to
investigate and collect all available information relating to any
matter which is the subject of proposed legislation by the
General Assembly; to examine the acts and records of any state and
report the results thereof to the Governor, any committee of the
General Assembly, or the head of any State department requesting