Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the governing body of any county may authorize the sheriff or the chief administrative officer, or the equivalent, in charge of a local detention facility to offer a voluntary program under which any person committed to such facility may perform labor on the public works or ways. The confinement of the person must be reduced by one day for every eight hours of labor on the public works or ways performed by the person. As used in this section, "labor on the public works or ways" means manual labor to improve or maintain public facilities, including, but not limited to, streets, parks, and schools.

The governing body of the county may prescribe reasonable regulations under which this labor is to be performed and may provide that these persons wear clothing of a distinctive character while performing this work.

Nothing contained in this section may be construed to require the sheriff or another official to assign labor to a person pursuant to this section if it appears from the record that the person has refused to perform labor as assigned satisfactorily or has not satisfactorily complied with the reasonable regulations governing this assignment. A person is eligible for supervised work under this section only if the sheriff or other responsible official concludes that the person is a fit subject.

If a court sentences a defendant to a period of confinement of fifteen days or more, the court may restrict or deny the defendant’s eligibility for the supervised work program.

The governing body of the county may prescribe a program administrative fee, not to exceed the pro rata cost of administration, to be paid by each person in the program, according to the person’s ability to pay.