declared to exist, and this act shall take effect and be in full force and effect from and after its passage and approval.

CHAPTER 62.

AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE FORWARDING OF A CHECK DIRECT TO PAYOR.

House Bill No. 180; Approved March 14, 1919.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of New Mexico:

SECTION 1. Any bank, banker, or trust company, hereinafter called bank, organized under the laws of, or doing business in, this state, receiving for collection or deposit, any check, note, or other negotiable instrument drawn upon, or payable at any other bank, located in another city or town, within or without this state, may forward such instrument for collection directly to the bank on which it is drawn, or at which it is made payable, and such method of forwarding direct to the payor, shall be deemed due diligence and the failure of such payor bank, because of its insolvency or other default, to account for the proceeds thereof, shall not render the forwarding bank liable therefor; provided, however, such forwarding bank shall have used due diligence in other respects in connection with the collection. of such instrument.

SEC. 2. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby repealed.

CHAPTER 63.

AN ACT PROHIBITING NEPOTISM IN CERTAIN CASES AND PRESCRIBING THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE VIOLATION OF THIS ACT. House Bill No. 209 (as amended); Approved March 14, 1919. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of New Mexico:

SECTION 1. No person holding a state, county or municipal office, having the power of appointing an assistant, deputy, subordinate official, or employee, shall appoint more than one relative within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity as such assistant, deputy, subordinate official or employee.

SEC. 2. No person appointed in violation of the preceding section shall be entitled to receive the emoluments of the office

to which he or she is appointed and any officer paying or ordering the payment to such person so unlawfully appointed of any sum of money, shall be liable on his official bond in the sum or sums so unlawfully paid.

CHAPTER 64.

AN ACT CREATING AND PROVIDING FOR AN ADDITIONAL DISTRICT ATTORNEY FOR THE FIFTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO, AND PROVIDING FOR THE APPOINTMENT AND ELECTION THEREOF AND SPECIFYING THE COUNTIES IN WHICH HE SHALL SERVE, AND FIXING THE SALARY OF THE ADDITIONAL DISTRICT ATTORNEY SO PROVIDED FOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

House Bill No. 218; Approved March 14, 1919.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of New Mexico:

SECTION 1. That the number of district attorneys in and for the Fifth Judicial District of the State of New Mexico is hereby increased to two.

SEC. 2. That the additional district attorney, for the office hereby created, shall be authorized to appoint an assistant as now provided by law for the appointment of assistant district attorneys and the salary of said district attorney shall be $2,500 per annum; and the salary of his assistant shall be not exceeding $1,000 per annum, said salaries to be paid in the same manner and in the same proportion, by the counties in said Fifth Judicial District of the State of New Mexico and by the State of New Mexico, as is now provided by law for the payment of the district attorney and his assistant for the Fifth Judicial District of the State of New Mexico.

SEC. 3. The office hereby created shall be filled as now provided for the filling of vacancies in the office of district attorney.

SEC. 4. The additional district attorney so elected shall qualify immediately after the election in the manner the same as now provided by law for the qualifying of district attorneys in the State of New Mexico. And the said additional district attorney so elected and qualified shall serve in the counties of Curry, Roosevelt, and De Beca, and shall hold office until the next general election in New Mexico when his successor has been elected and qualified.

SEC. 5. That the present district attorney of the Fifth Judicial District of the State of New Mexico shall serve in the

counties of Chaves, Eddy and Lea; and he and his assistant shall receive the same salary as is now received by them, and said salary shall be paid in the same manner as is now provided by law for the district attorney and his assistant for the Fifth Judicial District of the State of New Mexico.

SEC. 6. That it is necessary for the preservation of the public peace and safety of the inhabitants of the State of New Mexico that the provisions of this act shall become effective at the earliest possible time, and therefore an emergency is hereby declared to exist, and this act shall take effect and be in full force and effect from and after its passage and approval.

CHAPTER 65.

AN ACT AMENDING SECTION 1321 OF THE CODIFICATION OF THE LAWS OF 1915, RELATING TO THE BURIAL OF SOLDIERS.

House Bill No. 234 (as amended); Approved March 14, 1919. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of New Mexico:

SECTION 1. That section 1321 of the Codification of 1915 Laws of New Mexico be and the same is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

SEC. 2. It shall be the duty of the boards of county commissioners in the several counties of this state to cause to be decently interred the body of any discharged soldier, sailor, or marine, except such as have been dishonorably discharged, who served in the army or navy, or volunteer service of the United States, and who may hereafter die without having means sufficient to defray his funeral expenses.

Such burial shall not be made in any "Potters Field" or pauper burial ground, nor in any cemetery used exclusively for the burial of pauper dead, and the expenses of any such funeral shall be paid by the county out of the general fund; not more than seventy-five dollars ($75) shall be expended for any such burial.

CHAPAER 66.

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR BAIL IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS, REGULATING THE METHOD OF TAKING THE SAME, PRESCRIBING THE FORM THEREOF, PROVIDING FOR FORFEITURE AND THE PROCEEDINGS RELATING THERETO.

House Bill No. 237; Approved March 14, 1919.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of New Mexico:

SECTION 1. Recognizances in criminal proceedings may be taken in open court and entered on the order book.

SEC. 2. Any officer authorized to execute a warrant in a criminal action may take a recognizance and approve the bail; he may administer the oath and examine the bail as to its (his) sufficiency.

SEC. 3. The defendant may, in the place of giving bail, deposit with the clerk of the court to which the defendant is held to answer, the sum of money mentioned in the order, and upon delivering to the sheriff a certificate of deposit, he must be discharged from custody.

SEC. 4. If money has been deposited instead of bail, and the defendant at any time before the forfeiture thereof shall give sufficient special bail, or shall surrender himself in open court, or to the sheriff, or be in any manner legally discharged, the court shall order a return of the deposit to the defendant, or to the person who deposited it for him.

SEC. 5. When any person is committed for want of bail, and the amount of the bail is specified in the warrant of commitment, the sheriff may take the recognizance and approve the bail.

SEC. 6. Every recognizance taken by any peace officer must be delivered by him forthwith to the clerk of the court to which the defendant is recognized; the clerk must thereupon record the recognizance, and from the time of filing shall have the same effect as if taken in open court.

SEC. 7. A court or officer required to take or accept any bail or recognizance, or to approve the sureties offered on any bond or recognizance in any case of a criminal nature, may require any person as surety thereon to make affidavit as to his qualifications, or to be examined orally under oath touching the same, and such court or officer may take such or administer such oath.

SEC. 8. One surety on each such recognizance must be a resident freeholder of the county in which the prosecution is pending, and the surety or sureties must be worth at least dou

ble the sum to be secured, and must have property in this state liable to execution equal to the sum to be secured, and when two or more sureties are offered to the same recognizance they must have, in the aggregate the qualifications prescribed in this section: Provided, that whenever, by the laws of this state a surety company is authorized to become surety on recognizance bonds, such surety company may be accepted as sufficient surety on any such bond.

SEC. 9. Recognizance for the appearance of prisoners shall in all cases be substantially in the following form:

"We, A. B. and C. D., jointly and severally acknowledge ourselves bound to the State of New Mexico in the sum of ....Dollars, if the said A. B. shall not appear at the next term of court in the county where said cause is to be tried, and from day to day and from term to term thereof, and abide the order of the court until said cause is determined, and not depart without leave. If said A. B. shall appear at said court as above provided and abide the order and judgment thereof, then this recognizance shall be void, otherwise to remain in full force and effect.

Withness our hands and seals this....

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SEC. 10. In case a recognizance is taken in any criminal cause and thereafter a change of venue is granted to any other county in this state, said defendant shall be bound to appear at the court to which said change of venue is taken according to the terms of said recognizance, and be as fully bound thereby as if no change of venue had been granted, and in such case there shall be no necessity of giving a new bond after such change of venue has been granted.

SEC. 11. In case a change of venue is granted in any criminal case the clerk of the court shall immediately transmit a certified copy of the recognizance to the clerk of the court where the cause has been sent on change of venue, or if the recognizance has been taken in open court and entered on the order book, the clerk shall transmit a certified copy of the recognizance so taken in open court to the clerk of the court to which said cause has been sent on change of venue, and upon receipt of the same the clerk of the court to which said cause has been sent on change of venue shall immediately record said recognizance in the record kept for such purpose, and said record shall