be subject to removal by the said Court
for incompetency, neglect of duty, mis-
demeanor in office, or such other cause
or causes as may be prescribed by law.
PART Ul.-CIRCUlT COURTS.
Sec. 24. The State shall be divided
into thirteen Judicial Circuits, in manner
following: The Counties of St. Mary's
and Charles shall constitute the First
Circuit; the Counties of Anne Arundel
and Calvert, the Second; the Counties
of Prince George's and Montgomery, the
Third; the County of Frederick, the
Fourth; the County of Washington, the
Fifth; the County of Allegany, the
Sixth; the Counties of Carroll and
Howard, the Seventh; the County of
Baltimore, the Eighth; the Counties of
Harford and Cecil, the Ninth; the
Counties of Kent and Queen Anne's,
the Tenth; the Counties of Talbot and
Caroline, the Eleventh; the Counties of
Dorchester, Somerset and Worcester, the
Twelfth; and the city of Baltimore, the
Thirteenth. •-,
Sec. 25. One Court shall be held in
each county of the State; the said Courts
shall be called Circuit Courts for the
county in which they may be held, and
shall have and exercise all the power,
authority and jurisdiction, original and
appellate, which the present Circuit
Courts of this State now have and
exercise, or which may hereafter be
prescribed by law.
Sec. 26. For each Circuit (the Thir-
teenth excepted) there shall .be one
Judge, who shall be styled Circuit Judge,
who, during his term of office, shall
reside in one of the counties composing
the Circuit for which he may be elected;
the said Judges shall hold a term of their
Courts in each of the counties composing
their respective Circuits at such times as
now are or may hereafter be fixed by law,
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such terms to be never less than two in
each year in each county; special terms
may be held by said Judges in their
discretion, whenever the business of their
several counties renders such terms
necessary.
Sec. 27. The present Judges of the
Circuit Courts shall continue to act as
Judges of the respective Circuit Courts
within the Judicial Circuits in which
they respectively reside, until the expi-
ration of the term for which they were
respectively elected, and until their
successors are elected and qualified, viz:
the present Judges of the First, Second,
Third, Fourth, Sixth and Eighth Judi-
cial Circuits, as organized at the time
of the adoption of this Constitution,
shall continue to act as Judges respec-
tively of the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth,
Ninth and Twelfth Judicial Circuits, as
organized under this Constitution; and
an election for Judges of the Third,
Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Tenth and
Eleventh Judicial Circuits shall be held
on the Tuesday next after the first Mon-
day in the month of November, in the
year eighteen hundred and sixty-four.
Sec. 28. The salary of each Judge of
the Circuit Court shall be twenty-five
hundred dollars per annum, payable
quarterly, and shall not be increased or
diminished during his continuance in
office.
Sec. 29. There shall be a Clerk of the
Circuit Court for each county, who shall
be elected by a plurality vote of the qual-
ified voters of said county; he shall hold
his office for the term of six years from
the time of his election, and until a new
election is held and his successor duly
qualified; he shall be re-eligible at the
end of his term, and shall at any time
be subject to removal for willful neglect
of duty, or other misdemeanor in office,
467
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