372                             LAWS OF MARYLAND                      CH. 319]

placement Volume and 1967 Supplement), title "County Commis-
sioners," subtitle "General Provisions," to authorize the County
Commissioners of Caroline County AND CALVERT COUNTIES
to adopt a building code, and to correct an error therein.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Section 3(s)(2) of Article 25 of the Annotated Code of Mary-
land, (1966 Replacement Volume and 1967 Supplement), title
"County Commissioners," subtitle "General Provisions," be and it is
hereby repealed and re-enacted, with amendments, to read as fol-
lows:

3.

(s) (2) The county commissioners of Harford, Frederick, Caro-
line, CALVERT and Kent counties may adopt, and from time to time
may amend, supplement or abrogate, a building code and a housing
code, or either of such codes. The building code, if adopted, shall pro-
vide and prescribe regulations for the issuance of building permits to
be required prior to the construction or improvement of any buildings;
and any such code shall prescribe standards of construction, main-
tenance, and repair, covering structural safety, fire prevention re-
quirements, lights and ventilation, and proper means of ingress and
egress. The housing code, if adopted, shall provide and prescribe
regulations and standards for human habitation, covering sanita-
tion, density of occupancy, open-space requirements, rodent infesta-
tion, and human standards of occupancy.

A building code and a housing code, if either is adopted, and all
regulations thereunder, shall be designed to assure and protect the
public health, safety, comfort, and moral and economic welfare.
They may include provisions for enforcement, including the appoint-
ment and maintenance of inspectors and including penalties for a
violation of either a code [of] or the regulations thereunder.

Any such code may incorporate by reference a portion or all, if
applicable, of either a building code or a housing code, as the case
may be, issued or proposed and made available for general circula-
tion by any governmental agency or by any trade or professional
association; but any subsequent amendment to or change in what-
ever is adopted by reference shall not be effective in Harford, Fred-
erick, Caroline and Kent counties until and unless it is specifically
incorporated therein by action of the board of county commissioners.

All buildings on a farm and on any premises devoted solely to
agricultural pursuits are exempt from the provisions and the ap-
plication of both building and housing [code] codes.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
July 1, 1968.

Approved April 10, 1968.

CHAPTER 319
(House Bill 864)

AN ACT to add new Section 645T to Article 27 of the Annotated
Code of Maryland (1967 Replacement Volume), title "Crimes and