All taxable court costs incurred in the prosecution of a convict for any crime committed by such person while confined in the West Virginia Penitentiary, West Virginia Medium Security Prison, or the West Virginia State Prison for Women or in any other penal institution of the State of West Virginia, or in the custody of an officer thereof, or for the crime of escaping from any of such institutions, or such custody, or for any crime committed while at large after escaping from any such institution, or such custody, shall be paid out of the annual state appropriation for 'criminal charges,' after such are certified by the circuit court of the appropriate county and approved by the state commissioner of public institutions.
West Virginia Legal Code