Md. R. Civ. P. Cir. Ct. 2-601

As amended through November 13, 2024

Rule 2-601 - Entry of Judgment

(a) Separate Document--Prompt Entry.

(1) Each judgment shall be set forth on a separate document and should include a statement of an allowance of costs as determined in conformance with Rule 2-603.

Committee note: The failure of the separate document to include an allowance or assessment of costs does not preclude the document from constituting a final and appealable judgment. See Mattison v. Gelber, 202 Md. App. 44 (2011).

(2) Upon a verdict of a jury or a decision by the court allowing recovery only of costs or a specified amount of money or denying all relief, the clerk shall forthwith prepare, sign, and enter the judgment, unless the court orders otherwise.

(3) Upon a verdict of a jury or a decision by the court granting other relief, the court shall promptly review the form of the judgment presented and, if approved, sign it, and the clerk shall forthwith enter the judgment as approved and signed.

(4) A judgment is effective only when so set forth and when entered as provided in section (b) of this Rule.

(5) Unless the court orders otherwise, entry of the judgment shall not be delayed pending determination of the amount of costs.

Committee note: The judgment document need not include the amount of costs but only which party or parties are to be charged with them. If the prevailing party is to be allowed costs, it will suffice to state in the document that the judgment is in favor of that party "with costs.

(b) Applicability--Method of Entry--Availability to the Public.

(1)Applicability. Section (b) of this Rule applies to judgments entered on and after July 1, 2015.

(2)Entry. The clerk shall enter a judgment by making an entry of it on the docket of the electronic case management system used by that court along with such description of the judgment as the clerk deems appropriate.

(3) Availability to the Public.

Unless shielding is required by law or court order, the docket entry and the date of the entry shall be available to the public through the CaseSearch feature on the Judiciary website and in accordance with Rules 16-903 and 16-904.

(c) Recording and Indexing. Promptly after entry, the clerk shall (1) record and index the judgment, except a judgment denying all relief without costs, in the judgment records of the court and (2) note on the docket the date the clerk sent copies of the judgment in accordance with Rule 1-324.

(d) Date of Judgment On and after July 1, 2015, regardless of the date a judgment was signed, the date of the judgment is the date that the clerk enters the judgment on the electronic case management system docket in accordance with section (b) of this Rule. The date of a judgment entered prior to July 1, 2015 is computed in accordance with the Rules in effect when the judgment was entered.

Md. R. Civ. P. Cir. Ct. 2-601

This Rule is derived as follows:

Section (a) is new and is derived from the 1993 version of Fed. R. Civ. P. 58.

Section (b) is new.

Section (c) is new.

Section (d) is new.

Adopted April 6, 1984, eff. 7/1/1984. Amended April 7, 1986, eff. 7/1/1986; 4/8/1997, eff. 10/1/1997; 11/1/2001, eff. 1/1/2002; 11/12/2003, eff. 1/1/2004; 3/2/2015, eff. 7/1/2015; 12/7/2015, eff. 1/1/2016; 6/6/2016, eff. 7/1/2016; Nov. 19, 2019, eff. 1/1/2020; amended June 29, 2020, eff. 8/1/2020.

HISTORICAL NOTES

2001 Orders

The November 1, 2001, order, in section (a), in the second sentence, substituted "verdict for "general verdict; and, in the third sentence, substituted "verdict for "special verdict.

2003 Orders

The November 12, 2003, order amended the source note.

2015 Orders

The March 2, 2015, order added an applicability provision in subsection (b)(1); deleted language from and added language to subsection (b)(2) to modify how a judgment is entered; added subsection (b)(3), which provides that subject to a shielding exception, a docket entry is available to the public through a search feature on the Judiciary website and in accordance with certain Rules in Title 16; and added section (d), which provides how the date of judgment is determined before and after the date of the amendment to Rule 2-601.

The December 7, 2015, order, amended the Rule to require that a judgment document include a statement of an allowance of costs, added a Committee note after section (a), and made stylistic changes.

2016 Orders

The June 6, 2016, order revised internal references in the Rule.