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Violating
This Section.

any reduction in fares, to which the public generally are not entitled, or any free carriage for freight or property, or any present, gift or gratuity of any kind. If any Commissioner, General Counsel to the Commission, the Secretary thereof, or any person employed or appointed to office or in the service of the Commission shall violate Removal for any provision of this Act, the Governor shall remove him from the office held by him. No Commissioner and no employee or official engaged in the service of or in any manner connected with the said Commission shall hold any office or position, or be engaged in any business or avocation, the duties of which are incompatible with the duties of his office or employment as Commissioner, or in the service of or in connection with the work of the Incompatible said Commission.

RECORDS AND INFORMATION OF COMMISSION TO BE

Duties.

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Public.

Report.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That all proceedings of the Commission, and all documents and records Records in its possession, shall be public records, and the Commission shall make an annual report to the Governor and Annual to the General Assembly, on or before the second Monday of January in each year, which shall contain copies of all orders passed and issued by it, and any information in the possession of the Commission which it shall deem of value to the Legislature and the people of the State.

All facts and information in the possession of the Commission shall be public, and all reports, records, files, books, accounts, papers and memoranda of every nature

Records, Etc..

Open to In

spection.

whatsoever in their possession shall be open to inspection by the public at all reasonable times; provided, however, that whenever the Commission shall determine it shall be necessary in the interests of the public to withhold from the public any facts or information in its possession, such facts may be withheld for such period after the acquisition thereof not exceeding ninety days, as the CommisBut Facts May sion may determine. No facts or information shall be for 90 Days. withheld by the Commission from the public for a longer period than ninety days, nor be so withheld for any reason whatsoever other than in the interest of the public.

Be Witheld

Copies as Evidence.

Fees for
Copies.

Copies of all official documents and orders filed or deposited according to law in the office of the Commission, certified by the Commission or by the Secretary of the Commission, to be true copies of the originals, under the official seal of the Commission, shall be evidence in like manner as the originals.

The Commission shall charge and collect the following fees: For copies of papers and records not required to be certified or otherwise authenticated by the Commission, ten cents for each folio, for certified copies of official documents and orders filed in its office, fifteen cents for each folio, and one dollar for every certificate under seal affixed thereto; for certifying a copy of any report made by any corporation to the Commission, two dollars; for each certified copy of the annual report of the Commission, one dollar and fifty cents; for certified copies of all evidence and proceedings taken before the Commission, twenty cents for each folio. No fee shall be charged or collected for copies of papers, records or official documents furnished to public officers for use in their official capacity, or for the annual reports of the Commission in

State.

the ordinary course of distribution. All fees charged and Fees Paid to collected by the Commission shall belong to the State of Maryland and shall be paid monthly, accompanied by a detailed statement thereof, into the Treasury of the State, and become part of the general funds of the State; provided, however, that one-fourth of all such fees charged Except to and collected, as aforesaid, shall be paid to the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore.

Where five copies are struck off by one operation of the typewriter, they are to be charged for as five copies and not treated as one copy. Opinions General Counsel, 3 Pub. Serv. Comm. Reps. 457.

ATTENDANCE OF WITNESSES TESTIFYING.

Ibid. Sec. 421.

Baltimore
City.

Witnesses.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That all subpoenas Subpoenas for shall be signed and issued by the Commissioners or by the Secretary of the Commission, and may be served by

nesses.

any person of full age. The fees of witnesses required Fees of Witto attend before the Commission or a Commissioner shall, where the hearing is in Baltimore City, be the same as allowed by the courts of Baltimore City for the attendance. of witnesses in cases before them, and where the hearing is in any of the counties, shall be the same as allowed by the Circuit Court of the county in which the hearing takes place, for attendance of witnesses before it, and the disbursements made in the payment of such fees shall be duly audited in accordance with a due and satisfactory method of auditing and bookkeeping, and shall be included in and paid in the same manner as is provided for the payment of other expenses of the Commission. It

shall be the duty of every public officer, without exacting or receiving charge or fee of any kind, to furnish to the Commission, upon its application, a certified copy of any Public Officers document, or part thereof, on file in his office, and no public officer shall be entitled to receive from the Com mission any fee for entering, filing, docketing or recording any document required or authorized by law to be filed in his office.

to Furnish
Copies of
Documents
Free.

Witness Refusing to Attend, Answer, &c.

If a person subpoenaed to attend before the Commission or Commissioner fail to obey the command of such subpoena, without reasonable cause, or if a person in attendance before the Commission or a Commissioner shall, without a reasonable cause, refuse to be sworn or to be examined, or answer a question, or to produce a book or paper when ordered to do so by the Commission or a Commissioner, or to subscribe or swear to his deposition after it has been correctly produced in writing, he shall Misdemeanor. be guilty of a misdemeanor and may be prosecuted therefor in any court of competent criminal jurisdiction.

Courts May Compel Answer, &c.

If a person in attendance before the Commission or a Commissioner refuse, without reasonable cause, to be examined, or to answer a legal and pertinent question, or to produce a book or paper when ordered to do so by the Commission or Commissioner, the Commission or Commissioner may apply to any Judge of the Supreme Bench of Baltimore City or of the Circuit Court for any county, upon proof by affidavit of the fact, for a rule or order returnable in not less than two nor more than five days, directing such person to show cause before the Judge who made the order, or any other Judge aforesaid, why he should not be committed to jail; upon the return of such order, the Judge before whom the matter shall come

on for a hearing shall examine under oath such person, and such person shall be given an opportunity to be heard; and if the Judge shall determine that such person has refused, without reasonable cause or legal excuse, to be examined or to answer a legal or pertinent question, or to produce a book or paper which he was ordered to bring or produce, he may forthwith commit the offender to jail, there to remain until he submits to do the act which he was so required to do, or is discharged accord- Commitment ing to law.

PRACTICE BEFORE THE COMMISSION.

to Jail.

Ibid. Sec. 422.

Hearings.

by Technical Rules of Evidence.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That all hearings Rules for before the Commission or Commissioner shall be governed by rules to be adopted and prescribed by the Commission. And in all investigations, inquiries or hearings the Commission, or a Commissioner, shall not be bound Not Bound by the technical rules of evidence. No person shall be excused from testifying or from producing any books or papers in any investigation or inquiry by or upon any No Witness to hearing before the Commission or any Commissioner, when ordered to do so by the Commission, upon the ground that the testimony or evidence, books or documents required of him may tend to incriminate him or subject him to penalty or forfeiture; but no person shall be prosecuted, punished or subjected to any penalty or forfeiture for or on account of any act, transaction, matter or thing concerning which he shall, under oath, have, But no Proseby order of the Commission or a Commissioner, testified less for or produced documentary evidence; provided, however,

be Excused on Ground That Evidence May Tend to Incriminate.

cution, Un

Perjury.

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