Military police in towns and cities Page: 56

dier's release to military control. This report is incorpo-
rated in the delinquency report forwarded to the offender's
commanding officer. If the civil authorities refuse to return
the' soldier to military control, details of the incident will
immediately be reported by the provost marshal to his own
commanding officer and to the soldier's commanding officer.
b. Concerning the delivery of military personnel to the
civil authorities, AW 74 states as follows:
"'When any person subject to military law, except one
who is held by the military authorities to answer, or who
is awaiting trial or result of trial, or who is undergoing
sentence for a crime or offense punishable under these
articles, is accused of a crime or offense committed within
the geographical limits of the States of the Union and
,the District of Columbia, and punishable by the laws of
the land, the commanding officer is required, except in
.time, of war, upon application duly made, to use his ut-
most endeavor to deliver over such accused person to the
civil authorities, or to aid the officers of justice in appre-
hending and securing him, in order that he may be
brought to trial."
In time of war, military authorities have the paramount
claim to the custody of a member of the military service
charged with an offense under civil Federal or State law,
but that claim is not necessarily asserted when the ends of
justice indicate a different course. The surrender of a
member of the military service to the civil authorities is
governed by current War Department policy, contained in
instructions furnished to each officer exercising general
court-martial jurisdiction within the continental limits of
the United States. An application made by State civil au-
thorities for the surrender to them of a member of the mili-
tary service should be forwarded through channels to the
officer exercising immediate general court-martial jurisdic-

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