(a) Food and the services for preparing food, serving food, and other services incident to the feeding of prisoners in the county jail shall be paid for by the state as follows:
(1) Two dollars twenty-five cents ($2.25) per day for each prisoner.
(2) Beginning October 1, 2024, two dollars fifty cents ($2.50) per day for each prisoner.
(3) Beginning October 1, 2025, two dollars seventy-five cents ($2.75) per day for each prisoner.
(4) Beginning October 1, 2026, three dollars ($3) per day for each prisoner.
(b)(1) Payments made by the state pursuant to this section to the office of the sheriff shall be deposited in a separate account designated the Prisoner Feeding Fund established in Section 14-6-47.
(2) The sheriff shall maintain records of all payments received and all expenditures made from the Prisoner Feeding Fund, which shall be subject to regular audit by the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts.
(3) Expenditures for the feeding of prisoners shall be exempt from the competitive bid law.
(c) The sheriff or county commission may use funds from any available source, including, but not limited to, other monies received by the sheriff or county commission for the feeding of federal or municipal prisoners, to accomplish the purposes of this chapter.