MARVIN MANDEL, Governor                            17

Part 2—The Register of Wills.
2-201. Generally.

Register means the Register of Wills of any County, except with
reference to an estate being administered in equity, in which case
Register means, when appropriate, the clerk of such court.

2-202. Full time position.

Each Register shall devote his full working time to the duties of
his office, and he shall not practice law during the term of his office.

2-203. Fees and gifts not authorized by law.

(a) Receipt by person in Register's office. Any Register, deputy,
clerk, or other employee who shall, with respect to the estate of a
decedent being, or to be, administered in the office in which he is
employed, ask for, take or receive from any person whatsoever any
fee (other than the fees prescribed in Article 36), commission,
gratuity, gift or reward for (1) giving his advice, (2) referring any
business, (3) performing any service, other than for actual expenses
of travel incurred in connection with the probate of a will, or (4)
acting as agent or representative, or in any other capacity for which
compensation is given directly or indirectly, for any surety corpora-
tion, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, pay
a fine of $1,000 for each such offense.

(b) Payment. Any person, firm, or corporation who shall pay,

offer to pay, or give any such fee, gratuity, gift or reward shall be

guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, pay a fine of

$1,000 for each such offense.

2-204. Bond.

At the time of assuming his office, each Register shall give bond
to the State of Maryland for the term of his office in such form and
for such penal sum as the State Comptroller, with the advice of the
Legislative Auditor, shall prescribe. The State Comptroller may, at
any time, require that the penal sum of any such bond be supple-
mented or increased. If the Register shall fail to give such bond
before he acts as Register, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction, pay a fine of $1,000.

2-205. Salary.

Each Register shall be entitled to receive annually a salary of not
less than $6,000 ($12,000 in Baltimore City) and not more than
$17,000, to be determined, in each instance, by the Board of Public
Works. In determining the annual salary of each Register, the
Board of Public Works shall be guided in the exercise of its
discretion by the population of his County determined by the last
official United States Census, by the dollar volume of total fees and
taxes collected and of excess fees turned over to the State for each
of the preceding five years by the office of the Register for which the
salary is being fixed, and by other pertinent data which have
relation to the reasonableness of the salary in relation to the work
done and volume handled by the office; it being the intent of this
Section that each Register shall receive a fair and adequate com-