MARVIN MANDEL, Governor                        829

goods or things, taken to the owner, or shall pay him the full value
thereof, and shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars or be
imprisoned in the penitentiary for not more than fifteen years, or
in the house of correction or jail for not more than ten years, or
be both fined and imprisoned in the discretion of the court. In Balti-
more City and Anne Arundel County where the amount of money
or the value of the thing taken does not exceed five hundred dollars
($500.00) the Municipal Court of Baltimore City and People's Court
of Anne Arundel County shall have jurisdiction to try persons
charged with violating this section, provided that persons so con-
victed in the Municipal Court or People's Court of Anne Arundel
County shall not be sentenced to the penitentiary by [that] those
courts.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
July 1, 1969.

Approved April 23, 1969.

CHAPTER 368
(House Bill 880)

AN ACT to add new Sections 200 through 205, inclusive, to Article
48 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1965 Replacement Vol-
ume), title "Inspections," to follow immediately after Section 199
thereof, and to be under the new subheading "Johnsongrass Con-
trol," to declare the existence of Johnsongrass to be a public and
common nuisance, to prohibit the contamination of uninfested land
with Johnsongrass, to require landowners to prevent seed set
on land infested with Johnsongrass; to institute programs for
its control and eradication; to permit the State Board of Agri-
culture to enter into agreements with any county, subdivision,
adjoining state, and agency of the federal government to effect
a program of control and eradication TO DECLARE OTHER
WEED SPECIES WHICH THREATEN OR ADVERSELY AF-
FECT AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION; to accept and expend
gifts and grants from any source for the purpose of control and
eradication; and to provide for the prosecution of violations, and
that violators shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and providing
penalties therefor.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That new Sections 200 through 205 inclusive, be and they are hereby
added to Article 48 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1965 Re-
placement Volume), title "Inspections," to follow immediately after
Section 199 thereof, and to be under the new subheading "Johnson-
grass Control," and to read as follows:

200.                        Johnsongrass Control

The existence of growth of a species of grass, Sorghum halepense,
commonly known as "Johnsongrass," is hereby declared to be a
public and common nuisance.