1682                            Laws of Maryland                      [Ch. 647

of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1969 Replacement Volume and
Supplement), title "Public Works," to follow immediately after Sec-
tion 53 thereof, to be under the new subtitle "Check Cashing," and
to read as follows:

Check Cashing

The Board of Public Works may authorize or engage in ex-
perimental or trial programs for cashing checks issued under a pro-
gram of the Social Services Administration, for the general purposes
of ease and convenience in cashing these checks. The Board may
expend or authorize the expenditure of State monies for this pur-
pose, from contingent funds at the disposal of the Board or from
other available funds.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
July 1, 1972.

Approved May 26, 1972.

CHAPTER 647
(House Bill 923)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Section 24 of
Article 16 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1971 Supplement),
title "Chancery," subtitle "Divorce and Annulment," to include a
crime against the laws of the United States as a ground for Divorce
A Vinculo, and generally relating thereto.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Section 24 of Article 16 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1971
Supplement), title "Chancery," subtitle "Divorce and Annulment,"
be and it is hereby repealed and re-enacted, with amendments and to
read as follows:

24.

Upon a hearing of any bill for a divorce, the court may decree a
divorce a vinculo matrimonii for the following causes, to wit: First,
the impotence of either party at the time of the marriage; secondly,
for any cause which by the laws of this State, render a marriage
null and void ab initio; thirdly, for adultery; fourthly, when the court
shall be satisfied by competent testimony that the party complained
against has abandoned the party complaining, and that such abandon-
ment has continued uninterruptedly for at least eighteen months,
and is deliberate and final, and the separation of the parties beyond
any reasonable expectation of reconciliation; fifthly, when the hus-
band and wife shall have voluntarily lived separate and apart, with-
out any cohabitation, for eighteen consecutive months prior to the
filing of the bill of complaint, and such separation is beyond any
reasonable expectation of reconciliation; sixthly, when the party
complained against has been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor