§ 7352 — Hearing on petition; order for recognizance of

(a) If, upon the hearing of a petition filed under § 7351 of this title and reasonable notice in writing of the time and place thereof to the party at whose suit the petitioner is imprisoned, or the party’s attorney or agent, if there be such party, attorney or agent within the county, it shall appear that there is ground to apprehend that the petitioner or the petitioner’s family, in consequence of the petitioner’s imprisonment, will be chargeable to the county, the court shall order that the person at whose suit the petitioner is imprisoned, shall with sufficient surety enter into a recognizance to the State in the penal sum of $250, with condition to be void if the recognizor, the recognizor’s heirs, executors, or administrators, shall keep the county harmless and indemnified of and from all damages and charges in consequence of the imprisonment of the petitioner, either for the maintenance, or through the sickness, of the petitioner or the petitioner’s family. The order with the petition shall be filed in the office of the prothonotary in the county wherein the petitioner is imprisoned.

(b) If notice of such hearing cannot be given, by reason of the fact that the party, at whose suit the petitioner is imprisoned, resides out of the county, and has no attorney or agent therein, the same proceedings shall be had as if notice had been duly served.

Legislative History

Code 1852, §§ 2718, 2719; Code 1915, § 4639; Code 1935, § 5097; 10 Del. C. 1953, § 7352; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1