SPIRO T. AGNEW, Governor                      1201

638A. Release of person on own recognizance.

(a)    May be released before or after conviction; failure to appear.
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)    Liberal construction of section; purpose. 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)    Application of section. The provisions of this section shall
be applicable to any criminal case or offense except a case where
death OR LIFE IMPRISONMENT WITHOUT PAROLE 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] apply to all persons regardless of age.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
June 1, 1967.

Approved April 21, 1967.

CHAPTER 573
(House Bill 16)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Section 9 (a) of
Article 62 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1964 Replacement
Volume), title "Marriages," revising and clarifying the provisions
of the marriage law with respect to the minimum age for marriage
and the circumstances under which marriages of females under
eighteen and males under twenty-one are allowed.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Section 9 (a) of Article 62 of the Annotated Code of Maryland
(1964 Replacement Volume), title "Marriages," be and it is hereby
repealed and re-enacted, with amendments, to read as follows:

9.

(a) [It shall be unlawful within the State for any female below
the age of sixteen years or any male below the age of eighteen years
to marry, or for a parent or guardian to permit any such female or
male to marry or for any female between the ages of sixteen and
eighteen years, or for any male under the age of twenty-one years to
marry, unless the parent or guardian of such male or female, in per-
son or by signed affidavit, assent thereto, and, in the case of a female,