Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings Section 7-302

      (a)      Except as provided in subsections (b) through (e) of this section, the clerks of the District Court shall:

            (1)      Collect costs, fines, forfeitures, or penalties imposed by the court; and

            (2)      Remit them to the State under a system agreed upon by the Chief Judge of the District Court and the Comptroller.

      (b)      If a parking or impounding fine, penalty, or forfeiture, or a fine, penalty, or forfeiture relating to violation of housing, building, fire, health, or sanitation codes, or a Mass Transit Fare Payment Statute, or a fine or penalty relating to failure to pay the prescribed toll at a highway or vehicular crossing is collected by the District Court pursuant to a local ordinance, law, or regulation of a political subdivision or municipality, or pursuant to a regulation of an agency of State government authorized to regulate parking of motor vehicles, or pursuant to a statute pertaining to the payment of mass transit fares, or pursuant to a statute pertaining to the failure to pay tolls, it shall be remitted to the respective local government, or to the State agency.

      (c)      Every agency of State government, political subdivision or municipality which has enacted or which shall enact an ordinance, law, or regulation controlling the parking of motor vehicles, or providing for the impounding of motor vehicles, or pertaining to the failure to pay tolls shall provide that fines, penalties or forfeitures for the violation of said ordinances, laws, or regulations shall be paid directly to the State agency, political subdivision or municipality, and not to the District Court, in uncontested cases.

      (d)      Every ordinance, law, or regulation controlling the parking of motor vehicles or providing for impounding such vehicles or pertaining to the failure to pay tolls shall provide that the person receiving a citation may elect to stand trial for said offense by notifying the State agency, political subdivision or municipality of his intention of standing trial, which notice shall be given at least five (5) days prior to the date of payment as set forth in the citation. Upon receipt of the notice of such intention to stand trial, the political subdivision or municipality shall forward to the District Court in said political subdivision or municipality, and the State agency shall forward to the District Court having venue, a copy of the citation and a copy of the notice from the person who received the citation indicating his intention to stand trial. Upon receipt thereof, the District Court shall schedule the case for trial and notify the defendant of the trial date under procedures to be adopted by the Chief Judge of the District Court. All parking or impounding fines, penalties or forfeitures or failure to pay toll penalties collected through the District Court pursuant to a parking or impounding or toll collection ordinance, law, or regulation enacted by a State agency, political subdivision or municipality shall be remitted to the respective local government or State agency.

      (e)      (1)      A citation issued pursuant to § 21-202.1 of the Transportation Article shall provide that the person receiving the citation may elect to stand trial by notifying the issuing agency of the person's intention to stand trial at least 5 days prior to the date of payment as set forth in the citation. On receipt of the notice to stand trial, the agency shall forward to the District Court having venue a copy of the citation and a copy of the notice from the person who received the citation indicating the person's intention to stand trial. On receipt thereof, the District Court shall schedule the case for trial and notify the defendant of the trial date under procedures adopted by the Chief Judge of the District Court.

            (2)      A citation issued as the result of a traffic control signal monitoring system controlled by a political subdivision shall provide that, in an uncontested case, the penalty shall be paid directly to that political subdivision. A citation issued as the result of a traffic control signal monitoring system controlled by a State agency shall provide that the penalty shall be paid directly to the District Court.

            (3)      Civil penalties resulting from citations issued using traffic control signal monitoring systems that are collected by the District Court shall be collected in accordance with subsection (a) of this section and distributed in accordance with § 12-118 of the Transportation Article.