2156

LAWS OF MARYLAND

Ch. 524

relocation or abandonment of the cemetery, one application
shall be sufficient for such purpose.

24.

(a)  The copies of birth and death records transmitted
to the [local] health officers as provided by the [State
Board] SECRETARY of Health and Mental Hygiene shall be
preserved by them and shall be open to inspection for proper
purposes by city, town or county officials and by the [State
Board of Health and Mental Hygiene or its] SECRETARY, OR THE
SECRETARY'S accredited representatives, provided that such
examination shall be made in such a way that the contents of
the registers shall not be subjected to risk of damage or
alteration. Copies of death records shall be preserved for
a period of three years. Any death records older than three
years may be destroyed or otherwise disposed of by the
[local] health officer.

(b)  The [local] health officer shall promptly inquire
into the facts when any omissions or discrepancies in the
personal or medical facts in the vital records are called to
his attention; he shall truly ascertain such missing facts
of record and make a certified statement thereof to the
[State Board] SECRETARY of Health and Mental Hygiene. The
[local] health officer shall further inquire into and
investigate violations or suspected violations of this
subtitle and shall furnish to the [State Board of Health and
Mental Hygiene] SECRETARY full data and information
regarding the same.

(c)  When a birth, death or fetal death record is
corrected by the [State Board] SECRETARY of Health and
Mental Hygiene, a notice of such correction shall be sent to
the appropriate [local] health officer. He shall enter the
correction in red ink upon his record. In any question
arising from discrepancy between the record of the [State
Board of Health and Mental Hygiene] SECRETARY and the record
of the [local] health officer, the record of the [State
Board of Health and Mental Hygiene] SECRETARY shall be
considered correct.

31.

It shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Health to
recommend to the Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene for
adoption and to enforce such rules and regulations as may be
necessary to prevent the introduction of any infectious or
contagious disease into this State, or to prevent the spread
of any infectious or contagious disease whether or not such
disease shall exist within this State at the time of the
passage of this act, and any person or persons or
corporations refusing or neglecting to obey such rules and
regulations, upon promulgation thereof by the Secretary,
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction
thereof shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars
for every such offense. Whenever necessary, the Secretary