(a) Whenever any person dies in this state and the decedent, his family, and his immediate kindred are indigent and unable to provide for his decent interment, the governing authority of the county wherein the death occurs shall make available from county funds a sum sufficient to provide a decent interment of the deceased indigent person or to reimburse such person as may have expended the cost thereof voluntarily, the exact amount thereof to be determined by the governing authority of the county.

(b) The Department of Corrections is authorized to reimburse the governing authority of the county where expenditures have been made in accordance with this Code section for the burial of any inmate under the authority, jurisdiction, or control of the Department of Corrections; but in no case shall the governing authority of the county be entitled to reimbursement where the decedent was in the custody of a county correctional institution or other county correctional facility.