(a) A county with a population not large enough to justify building a new county jail or remodeling an existing county jail in order to comply with the standards in this subchapter is exempt from this subchapter if the commissioners court contracts with another county to incarcerate its prisoners.
(b) The county must contract with the nearest county whose county jail meets the standards in this subchapter.
(c) The county shall pay to the other county a daily per capita rate equal to the cost of maintaining its prisoners in the county jail or a daily rate on which the counties agree.