In this subtitle, “costs” means any cost other than counsel fees necessary for prosecution of an appeal, application for leave to appeal, or filing a petition for writ of certiorari including but not limited to clerk’s fees, the cost of preparing a transcript of the testimony, the cost of preparing and transmitting the record, and the cost of the briefs, appendices, and printed record extract.

The State Court Administrator shall determine the amount of fees to be charged by the Clerk of the Supreme Court of Maryland and the Clerk of the Appellate Court of Maryland, with the approval of the Board of Public Works. The State Court Administrator, as part of the Administrator’s determination of the amount of fees to be charged by the Clerk of the Supreme Court of Maryland and the Clerk of the Appellate Court of Maryland, shall assess a surcharge that shall be: $11 per case; and Deposited into the Circuit Court Real Property Records Improvement Fund established under § 13–602 of this article.

Costs shall be allowed to or awarded against the State or one of its agencies or political subdivisions which is a party to an appeal from an executive, administrative, or judicial decision, in the same manner as costs are allowed to or awarded against a private litigant. The State, its agency, or the political subdivision shall pay the costs awarded against it. When notified by the Attorney General, the political subdivision in which a criminal case originated shall pay immediately the costs incurred by the State. If a defendant against whom costs are assessed in a criminal appeal fails to pay the costs to the political subdivision in which the case originated, the State’s Attorney for that political subdivision shall take the necessary steps to recover them.