974                              Laws of Maryland                      [Ch. 345

is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof, may be fined
an amount not to exceed $5,000, or imprisoned for a period not to
exceed one year or both.

(c) In addition to the penalties hereinabove specified, any person
admitted or retained against his will by any facility while its license
is suspended or revoked, or if it is not licensed, may recover civil
damages for such admission or retention from the facility and from
any person who knowingly participates in such admission or re-
tention.

Financing of Services for the Mentally Retarded
24. General Policy of Financing.

It is the intent of this subtitle to require all mentally retarded per-
sons financially able to do so to pay for services received by them.
Such obligations extend to not only the mentally retarded persons, but
also to those legally responsible for them. Where such mentally re-
tarded persons or their responsible relatives or guardians are unable
to pay for their care, it is the intent of this subtitle that the cost of
services for the mentally retarded be financed in the manner provided
by the Legislature.

25.    Determination of Cost of Care.

(a)    The Department shall fix a rate to be charged to all men-
tally retarded persons admitted to public facilities, not to exceed the
actual cost of care, per capita, of such persons. The cost per capita
shall be determined annually prior to the beginning of the fiscal
year, by the Department and the Secretary of the State Depart-
ment of Budget and Fiscal Planning.

(b)    In the case of mentally retarded persons who have been con-
tinuously hospitalized for a period in excess of thirty months, in
any one or more public facilities, the rate to be charged to the re-
sponsible relatives or guardians of the mentally retarded person,
where payment has been made for the first thirty months' hospitaliza-
tion, shall thereafter not exceed 25% of the per capita cost. Con-
tinuous hospitalization shall mean and include all hospitalization
where successive periods of inpatient care are not separated by ab-
sences in excess of one year.

26.    Time and Amount of Payments.

(a)    Payments shall be made by the mentally retarded person or
his responsible relative or guardian. Liability for such payment shall
be joint and several.

(b)    The Department shall specify the time and amount of pay-
ments. It may from time to time, modify its orders as to payments,
as circumstances may warrant. In setting the amounts of payments,
the Department shall consider the financial means of abilities of the
mentally retarded person and responsible relatives or guardian, and
may agree to accept less than the per capita cost of care.

(c)    The Department may, when appropriate, set the rate of pay-
ments retroactively, for a period of not more than six months. The
retroactivity may be set for a greater period if the retarded person,
his responsible relatives, personal representative or other person hav-