(1998)

Dear Judge Wilner:

On behalf of the Correctional Services Article Review Committee, you have requested our opinion whether Article 27, § 618 of the Maryland Code is obsolete, given subsequent enactments concerning transfer of custody of a prisoner. Our opinion is that the provision is obsolete only in part.

I

Article 27, § 618

Article 27, § 618, first enacted in 1809, seeks to protect prisoners against unauthorized changes in custody. The section is a particular application of the general principle stated in an even older statute, Article 87, § 45, which requires each sheriff to "safely keep all…