(a) In a county in which the commissioners court has approved payment by the county for meals for jurors who are serving on a jury in a civil case, a district judge may keep the jurors together for deliberation to expedite the final disposition of a civil case in the district court instead of dismissing the jurors for meals.
(b) The district judge may draw a warrant on the jury fund or other appropriate fund of the county in which the civil case is tried to cover the cost of buying and transporting the meals to the jury room. The judge may spend a reasonable amount per meal for a juror serving on a jury in a civil case.