500                               Laws of Maryland                      [Ch. 212

guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be subject to
the penalties provided in Section 139 of this Article.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
July 1, 1971.

Approved April 29, 1971

CHAPTER 212
(House Bill 466)

AN ACT to add new Section 591 to Article 27 of the Annotated
Code of Maryland (1967 Replacement volume and 1970 Cumulative
Supplement), title "Crimes and Punishments," subtitle "Venue,
Procedure and Sentence," subheading "Procedure," to follow
immediately after Section 590 thereof, requiring a pro trial con-

ference to be convened by a judge of any court where a criminal

matter is pending; acquiring the attendance of a representative

of the State's Attorney's office and counsel for the accused at

such conference; providing for the establishment at the conference
of dates and time limits for pretrial motions, hearings and the
trial of the criminal matter THAT A JUDGE OR OTHER
OFFICIAL OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OR THE CRIMINAL
COURT OF BALTIMORE CITY WHERE A CRIMINAL MAT-
TER IS PENDING ESTABLISH A TRIAL DATE FOR THE
TRIAL OF A CRIMINAL MATTER WITHIN SIX MONTHS
AFTER THE ARRAIGNMENT OF AN ACCUSED OR WITHIN
SIX MONTHS AFTER THE APPOINTMENT OR APPEAR-
ANCE OF COUNSEL; providing that the Judges of the Court
of Appeals are authorized to promulgate additional rules to im-
plement this Section; and relating generally to the scheduling of
criminal causes.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That new Section 591 be and it is hereby added to Article 27 of the
Annotated Code of Maryland (1967 Replacement Volume and 1970
Cumulative Supplement), title "Crimes and Punishments," subtitle
"Venue, Procedure and Sentence," subheading "Procedure," to follow
immediately after Section 590 thereof, and to read as follows:

591.

(a) Within two weeks after the arraignment of a person accused
of a criminal offense, or within two weeks after the filing of an
appearance of counsel or the appointment of counsel for an accused in
any criminal matter, whichever shall occur first, a pre-trial confer-

ence shall be convened by a judge of the court in which the matter

is pending. The conference shall be attended by a judge of the court,

a representative of the State's Attorney's office and counsel for the

accused, which conference may be held in court or in chambers. At
the conference, the judge shall: establish dates or time limits for the

filing of all pretrial motions by both the State and the accused; set

dates or time limits for responses to all motions; schedule, where
necessary, dates for hearings on any motions; and set a date for the
trial of the matter. The dates or time limits to be established for all