970                                 Laws of Maryland                        [Ch. 345

in the welfare of the mentally retarded person may file the petition
on his behalf. The Administration shall be the respondent in any
such case, unless the mentally retarded person is in a private facility
or a Veterans' Administration Hospital, in which case the private
facility or the Veterans' Administration Hospital shall be named as
the respondent.

(b)    The petition shall be in the form and contain data as may be
designated by the Maryland Rules.

(c)    The petitioner may request that his petition be heard by a
jury, and thereafter, such trial shall proceed as in a civil action at
law.

(d)    The issues to be determined are:

(1)    Is the person mentally retarded?

(2)    Is the condition of such a nature that for the protection or
adequate care of himself or others, the person needs in-residence care
or treatment?

If the jury or court sitting as a jury answers both questions affirma-
tively, the court shall remand the person to the custody of the facility
or Veterans' Administration Hospital from which he petitioned for
release. If either question is answered in the negative, the petitioner
shall be released from the facility or Veterans' Administration
Hospital.

(e)    Appeals may be taken from decisions on petitions as in any
other equity cases and may be taken by the petitioner or the re-
spondent,.

(f)    Records of all such proceedings shall be made a permanent
part of the record of each mentally retarded person.

(g)    Once a mentally retarded person has had a determination on
the merits of any one petition filed by OR FOR him pursuant to this
section, no subsequent petition prepared by or for him shall be heard
by a court of equity within one year of such prior determination,
unless, in addition to all other required data, the petition is accom-
panied by a valid affidavit showing improvement of the mentally re-
tarded person's condition subsequent to the trial. When filed, the
petition and affidavit shall be reviewed by the court, and if the court,
after review, determines that the matter should be re-opened, the
petition shall be heard as provided in this section.

15. Transfer Generally

(a) If the Director or his designee determines that:

(1)    any mentally retarded person can receive better care or
treatment;

(2)    the safety or welfare of other mentally retarded persons
would be better ensured; or

(3)    the mentally retarded person would more likely profit from
care or treatment at another facility if such person is transferred to
another facility, public or private, such transfer may be made. No
such transfer shall be made to a private facility unless such facility
agrees.