Penitentiary inmate-release program; establishment.

The superintendent [warden] of the penitentiary of New Mexico may institute an inmate-release program and allow penitentiary inmates to attend school or to be employed in private business while under sentence of confinement in the penitentiary if: A. employment of a prisoner does not result in the displacement of employed workers or impair existing contracts for services and is not in a skill, craft or trade in which a surplus of available gainful labor exists in the locality; B. rates of pay and other conditions of employment are not less than those paid or provided for work of a similar nature in the locality in which the work is performed; C. prisoners authorized to work at paid employment under the inmate-release program are required to pay appropriate and reasonable costs incident to the program and to their confinement as prescribed by the superintendent; and D. prisoners participating in the inmate-release program are volunteers who meet standards prescribed by law.