The warden, superintendent, prison keeper or other administrative head of a workhouse shall be authorized, with the approval of the local governing body of the county workhouse, to jointly contract with any other governmental agency, whether federal, state, county or municipal, with regard to accepting prisoners in custody of such other governmental agency or agencies for purposes of participation in the work release program under §§41-2-127 —41-2-132. Also, the sheriff may, with the approval of the county legislative body, contract with another unit of government with regard to accepting prisoners in the custody of that government for the purpose of participating in the work release program.