2. The said commissioners shall hold their office as other civil Id. s. 2. 1852, c. 106, s. 1. officers of this State appointed in pursuance of the thirteenth sec- Tenure. tion of article second of the Constitution.

1837, c. 97, s. 3;

Oath of office.

3. Every commissioner so appointed shall take and subscribe an Id. s. 3. oath before a justice of the peace in the city or county in which he 1852, c. 106, s. 3. shall reside, well and faithfully to execute and perform all the duties of such commissioner, under and by virtue of the laws of this State, and shall also procure an official seal, a distinct impression of which, Official seal. taken upon wax, or some other substance capable of receiving and retaining a clear impression, together with his signature, in his own proper handwriting, thereto attached, shall, with the oath of office aforesaid, be transmitted to and filed in the office of the secretary of state.

1837, c. 97, s. 2.

4. Every commissioner so appointed and qualified shall have Id. s. 4. authority to administer an oath to any person desirous to make such Authority to oath before him, and such oath shall be as good and effectual as if oaths. made before a justice of the peace in this State.

administer

Id. s. 5.
1837, c. 97, s. 1.
Effect of ac-
knowledgment

5. Any acknowledgment made or proof taken before any such commissioner in the manner directed by the laws of this State, and certified to under his seal, and indorsed on or annexed to the deed or proof taken or instrument of writing, shall have the same effect as if the same sioner. had been made or taken before a judge of a court of record of another State.

before commis

1852, c. 106, ss.

Secretary of

6. The secretary of state, immediately upon the receipt of the Id. s. 6. evidence of qualification of any such commissioner, shall make a 4,5" short entry of the same upon the record of appointments or civil state to certify to qualification. list, and a certificate of the governor, under the great seal of the State, to the appointment and qualification of any such commissioner as appearing from the said record of appointments or civil list, shall be sufficient evidence of the appointment and qualification of such commissioner.

1856, c. 151, s. 1. appoint com

country.

7. The governor may also, by and with the advice and consent Id. s. 7. of the Senate, appoint one or more commissioners in any foreign Governor may country, who shall continue in office during the pleasure of the gov- missioners in ernor, and shall have authority to take the acknowledgment and any foreign proof of the execution of any deed or other conveyance or lease of any lands lying in this State, or any contract, letters of attorney or any other writing, under seal or not, to be used and recorded in this State.

1856, c. 151, s. 2.

8. Every commissioner appointed under the last preceding sec- Id. s. 8. tion, before performing any duty or exercising any power in virtue oath. of his appointment, shall take and subscribe an oath before a judge or clerk of one of the courts of record of the kingdom or country in which such commissioner shall reside, well and faithfully to execute and perform all the duties of such commissioner under and by virtue of the laws of this State; which oath, with a description of

his seal of office, together with his signature thereto, shall be filed Official seal, etc. in the executive office of this State.

1872, c. 350. Commissioners

to pay a tax.

9. All commissioners appointed under this article shall pay into the treasury of the State the sum of ten dollars; and no commission shall issue to said commissioners until the comptroller shall report to the governor that the said sum of ten dollars has been paid into the treasury as herein before provided.

County

6 Md. 468; 20

TITLE XIV.

Counties and County Commissioners.

CONSTITUTION-ARTICLE VII-SEC. 1.
CONSTITUTION-ARTICLE XIII.

ARTICLE 22. COUNTIES AND COUNTY COMMISSIONERS.

CONSTITUTION-ARTICLE VII-SEC. 1.

Election of county commissioners; number; compensation; duties.

County commissioners shall be elected on general ticket of each county, by commissioners. the qualified voters of the several counties of this State, on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November, eighteen hundred and sixtyseven, and on the same day in every second year thereafter. Their number in each county, their compensation, powers and duties, shall be such as are now, or may be hereafter prescribed by law.

Md. 459; 1853, c. 1865, c. 85; 1866,

173, 220, 239, 372;

c. 134; 1874, c. 411.

County seats and lines.

1 Md. 139; 15 Md. 549. Consent of voters.

No new county without 10,000 white inhabitants and 400 square miles.

CONSTITUTION-ARTICLE XIII.

1. County seats and lines; consent of voters; 1 4. Senators and delegates of Wicomico, Somer

no new county without 10,000 white in- |
habitants and 400 square miles.

2. Wicomico county; boundaries; governor's
proclamation; Salisbury the county seat.
3. Division of debts and obligations; taxes.

set, Worcester.

5. Wicomico in First Judicial Circuit.

6. General Assembly to carry this act into effect.

SECTION 1. The General Assembly may provide, by law, for organizing new counties, locating and removing county seats, and changing county lines; but no new county shall be organized without the consent of the majority of the legal voters residing within the limits proposed to be formed into said new county; and whenever a new county shall be proposed to be formed out of portions of two or more counties, the consent of a majority of the legal voters of such part of each of said counties, respectively, shall be required; nor shall the lines of any county be changed without the consent of a majority of the legal voters, residing within the district, which, under said proposed change, would form a part of a county different from that to which it belonged prior to said change; and no new county shall contain less than four hundred square miles, nor less than ten thousand white inhabitants; nor shall any change be made in the limits of any county, whereby the population of said county would be reduced

to less than ten thousand white inhabitants, or its territory reduced to less than

four hundred squares miles.

county.

SEC. 2. At the election to be held for the adoption, or rejection of this Con- Wicomico stitution, in each election district, in those parts of Worcester and Somerset 35 Md. 201, 385. counties, comprised within the following limits, viz. : Beginning at the point Boundaries. where Mason and Dixon's line crosses the channel of Pocomoke river, thence following said line to the channel of the Nanticoke river, thence with the channel of said river to Tangier sound, or the intersection of Nanticoke and Wicomico rivers, thence up the channel of the Wicomico river to the mouth of Wicomice creek, thence with the channel of said creek and Passerdyke creek to Dashield's or Disharoon's mills, thence with the mill-pond of said mills and branch following the middle prong of said branch, to Meadow bridge, on the road dividing the counties of Somerset and Worcester, near the south west corner of the farm of William P. Morris, thence due east to the Pocomoke river, thence with the channel of said river to the beginning, the judges of election, in each of said districts, shall receive the ballots of each elector, voting at said election, who has resided for six months preceding said election within said limits, for or against a new county; and the return judges of said election districts shall certify the result of such voting, in the manner now prescribed by law, to the governor, who shall by proclamation make known the same; and Governor's proclamation. if a majority of the legal votes, cast within that part of Worcester county, contained within said lines, and also a majority of the legal votes cast within that part of Somerset county, contained within said lines, shall be in favor of a new county, the said parts of Worcester and Somerset counties shall become and constitute a new county, to be called Wicomico county; and Salisbury shall be Salisbury the the county seat. And the inhabitants thereof shall thenceforth have and enjoy all such rights and privileges as are held and enjoyed by the inhabitants of the other counties of this State.

county seat.

debts and

SEC. 3. When said new county shall have been so created, the inhabitants Division of thereof shall cease to have any claim to, or interest in the county buildings, obligations. and other public property of every description, belonging to said counties of Somerset and Worcester, respectively, and shall be liable for their proportionate shares of the then existing debts and obligations of the said counties, according to the last assessment in said counties, to be ascertained and apportioned by the Circuit Court of Somerset county, as to the debts and obligations of said county, and by the Circuit Court of Worcester county, as to the debts and obligations of Worcester county, on the petition of the county commissioners of the said counties, respectively; and the property in each part of the said counties, included in said new county, shall be bound only for the share of the debts and obligations of the county from which it shall be separated; and the inhabitants of said new county shall also pay the county taxes, levied upon them at Taxes. the time of the creation of such new county, as if such new county had not been created; and on the application of twelve citizens of the proposed county of Wicomico, the surveyor of Worcester county shall run and locate the line from Meadow bridge to the Pocomoke river, previous to the adoption or rejection of this Constitution, and at the expense of said petitioners.

Worcester.

SEC. 4. At the first general election, held under this Constitution, the quali- Senators and fied voters of said new county shall be entitled to elect a senator, and two dele- delegates of Wicomico, gates to the General Assembly, and all such county, or other officers as this Somerset, and Constitution may authorize, or require to be elected by other counties of the State; a notice of such election shall be given by the sheriffs of Worcester and Somerset counties in the manner now prescribed by law; and in case said new county shall be established, as aforesaid, then the counties of Somerset and Worcester shall be entitled to elect but two delegates each to the General Assembly.

Wicomico in

First Judicial
Circuit.

General Assem

bly to carry this art. into effect.

SEC. 5. The county of Wicomico, if formed according to the provisions of this Constitution, shall be embraced in the First Judicial Circuit; and the times for holding the courts therein shall be fixed and determined by the General Assembly.

SEC. 6. The General Assembly shall pass all such laws as may be necessary more fully to carry into effect the provisions of this article.

PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO CALVERT, PRINCE GEORGE'S, SOMERSET, TALBOT,