5270                                              VETOES

Senate Bill 428, which was passed by the General
Assembly and signed by me on June 1, 1982, accomplishes the
same purpose. Therefore, it is not necessary for me to sign
House Bill 653.

Sincerely,
Harry Hughes
Governor

House Bill No. 740

AN ACT concerning

District Court - Civil Jurisdiction -
Jurisdictional Amount - Attorney's Fees

FOR the purpose of clarifying that attorney's fees are not
part of the amount in controversy or of damages for
certain purposes; making stylistic changes; providing
for the prospective effect of these provisions; and
generally relating to the jurisdiction of the District
Court.

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments,

Article - Courts and Judicial Proceedings

Section 4-401, 4-402(d)(l) and (e)(1), 4-405, and

12-401(d)
Annotated Code of Maryland
(1980 Replacement Volume and 1981 Supplement)

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That section(s) of the Annotated Code of Maryland
read(s) as follows:

Article - Courts and Judicial Proceedings
4-401.

Except as provided in § 4-402 of this subtitle, and
subject to the venue provisions of Title 6 of this article,
the District Court has exclusive original civil jurisdiction
in:

(1) An action in contract or tort, if the debt
or damages claimed do not exceed $10,000, EXCLUSIVE OF
ATTORNEY'S FEES IF ATTORNEY'S FEES ARE RECOVERABLE BY LAW OR
CONTRACT;