A county or municipality, by resolution of its governing body, may elect to cover prisoners in the custody of the county or municipality with workers' compensation benefits in accordance with the provisions of Sections 42-1-480 and 42-1-490. As used in this section, prisoners in the custody of the county include prisoners in the custody of the county sheriff. The appropriate officials shall make arrangements and necessary adjustments in their contributions or premiums to the State Accident Fund or other insurers as the fund or insurers determine necessary to provide compensation for county or municipal prisoners in appropriate cases. The provisions of this section permit workers' compensation coverage only to county or municipal prisoners performing work assigned by officials of the county or municipality or engaged in a vocational training program and, further, apply to these prisoners regardless of the length of the sentence to be served.
For the purposes of this section, when a county or municipality elects to cover its prisoners with workers' compensation benefits, the coverage also includes:
(a) those prisoners who have been sentenced to the Department of Corrections and who are assigned to a county or municipality; and
(b) those prisoners who have been sentenced to the Department of Corrections and who are being used for public service work or related activities while being supervised by the county or municipality.