2386

LAWS OF MARYLAND

Ch. 601

However, an individual who presently is committed to
the care and custody of the Administration under court
order, who has pending against him any criminal action or
proceeding or who presently is confined in a correctional
institution, may not be certified to the Administration
pursuant to this section.

(1) (2) Upon demand of an alleged drug addict or drug
abuser or anyone on his behalf or upon its own motion, the
court shall issue an order directing the hearing of the
application before the court, or if requested before a jury
at a time and place specified in the order. The order shall
be served upon the parties interested in the application and
upon such other person as the court, in its discretion, may
name. If the alleged drug addict or drug abuser or anyone
on his behalf elects a hearing before the court, he shall
not in addition be entitled to a jury trial. At the time
and place mentioned in the order or at any other time or
place as the court may designate, the court or jury shall
proceed to hear the testimony introduced for and against the
application, and the alleged drug addict or drug abuser may
be examined, if deemed advisable. The court may issue
subpoenas for attendance of witnesses at the hearing or
trial and the alleged drug addict or drug abuser shall have
the right to have subpoenas issued for such purpose. At the
hearing or trial the alleged drug addict or drug abuser
shall have the right to be represented by counsel, to
present witnesses on his behalf, and to cross-examine
witnesses. For the purposes of this subsection, in a
proceeding in which an alleged drug addict's spouse is the
petitioner, a communication made by the alleged drug addict
to the spouse is not confidential within the provision of
statute or other law relating to confidential communications
between husband and wife. If, from the facts ascertained
upon the hearing, the proofs produced, the petition, and the
report of the medical examination, the jury, or, if there be
no jury, the court, SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS OF SUBSECTION
(A) OF THIS SECTION, determines [by a preponderance of the
evidence] that the individual is a drug addict or drug
abuser, the court shall immediately issue an order
certifying the individual to the care and custody of the
Administration for the period provided in subsection (n) of
this section.

(n) (2) The period shall commence on the date the
order of certification is made and shall terminate upon the
first to occur of (i) the discharge of the drug addict or
drug abuser by the Administration as rehabilitated, or (ii)
the expiration of a period of 5 years from the date the
period commenced. However, the period of the initial
inpatient care received by a drug addict or drug abuser
immediately following an order of commitment under this
section may not exceed two years. If [on the first
anniversary of] AFTER 6 MONTHS FROM the order of commitment
the drug addict or drug abuser is still receiving initial
inpatient care, the Administration must apply for and