§15A-4-20. Work program.

(a) The commissioner is authorized to establish at each institution a work program for qualified inmates. The commissioner shall establish guidelines and qualifications to allow inmates sentenced to a regional jail facility to be gainfully employed with local businesses and governmental entities as part of a job program. A qualified inmate does not include an inmate convicted of a sexual offense or a violent felony.

(b) An inmate who works in work programs established under this section may be required to make reimbursement to the division toward the cost of his or her incarceration to be credited to the agency billed for that incarceration, pursuant to the conditions set forth in §15A-4-19 of this code.

(c) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, the county commission, its members and agents, the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation or designee, its employees, agents, or assigns, the Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority Board, its members, agents, or assigns, the sheriff, and his or her deputies, shall be immune from all liability of any kind except for accident, injury, or death resulting directly from gross negligence or malfeasance.