It shall be unlawful for any person, while a member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives, State or national, or any State or county official or judge of a court of record in this State to use any free pass, express or telegraph frank or complimentary ticket or to ride without paying the usual fare on any railroad in this State. Any person violating any provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be liable to a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars or imprisonment not to exceed six months.

But nothing herein contained shall apply to the Commissioner of Agriculture nor to the use of a pass to ride without paying the usual fare on any railroad by an officer or employee, active or retired, of such railroad who has earned his pass through seniority and service to the railroad.