SPIRO T. AGNEW, Governor                         727

to the particular purpose for which such land is required and the
statutory authority of the agency, corporation or governmental
body to acquire land for that purpose by eminent domain.

(d) Effect of objection; notice. Any person filing an objection
shall thereafter be deemed a party to the proceeding and shall be
entitled to notice of hearings, of the taking of depositions and of the
filing of any documents in the proceeding subsequent to the time
that such objection is filed. Any owner of adjoining land may, with-
out filing an objection, become a party to the proceeding for the
purpose of receiving notices, by filing a written request for such
notices.

23. Hearings.

(a)    When conducted. The Commissioner may conduct hearings
at any time and for any purpose relevant to the determinations to
be made by him under Section 21 (b). Such hearing must be held
prior to the refusal to issue a patent, prior to the valuation of vacant
land at other than the value fixed by the Supervisor of Assessments,
or prior to the issuance of a patent after an objection has been filed.

(b)    How conducted; appeal. Any hearing conducted pursuant
to this subtitle shall be held in accordance with the provisions for
hearings in contested cases provided by the Administrative Pro-
cedure Act (Article 41, Sections 251-256) as amended or supple-
mented from time to time. Appeals from final decisions of the
Commissioner and further appeal to the Court of Appeals shall be as
provided therein. As part of the decision following any hearing, the
Commissioner may charge any party thereto with any portion of the
costs of such hearing.

(c)    Hearings on objections of public bodies. A hearing based
upon an objection filed pursuant to Section 22 (c) shall be held
promptly after such objection is filed. A determination by the Com-
missioner that the person filing the objection would be authorized
to acquire the vacant land referred to therein by eminent domain
shall terminate the proceeding as to such vacant land and a final
order to that effect shall be entered by the Commissioner. Such
order shall contain a direction to the person filing the objection to
reimburse the applicant for all reasonable expenses incurred by him
in connection with the survey of such vacant land and for the taking
of depositions between the time of filing the application and the date
such objection was filed. In cases of dispute as to such amount, the
applicant may recover such expenses in a court of law.

(d)    Time for other hearings, Except as stated in subsection
(c), all hearings conducted because of objections filed in the pro-
ceeding shall be held after the filing of the certificate of the surveyor
and any depositions which may be required by this subtitle. The
Commissioner may, in his discretion, postpone any such hearing
until the expiration of the period during which objections may be
filed; and any objections filed in the proceeding may at any time be
consolidated for hearing or heard separately as the Commissioner
determines. Any decision or order overruling objections to issuance
of a patent following a hearing held prior to the expiration of the
period during which objections may be filed shall be considered to
represent preliminary findings until the expiration of such period
and the issuance of a final decision or order by the Commissioner.