Two Northern Territory prison guards have resigned in disgrace after taking a prisoner they were in charge of to an outback pub.

An internal NT Department of Correctional Services (NTDCS) investigation began after a member of the public complained about seeing a prisoner at a pub in Nhulunbuy in Arnhem Land in April.

The ABC was told the prisoner, who was deemed of low risk and non-violent, was wearing his prison clothes in the pub and became drunk.

A complaint about the situation was made in May.

It was understood the two guards were in charge of the prisoner who was being housed at the Datjala prison work camp in the town.

Department spokesman David Harris confirmed two officers resigned after breaching the NTDCS Code of Conduct.

"Following an internal investigation, the officers were asked to show cause [as to] why their employment should not be terminated," he said.

"They then tendered their resignations."

He said the internal investigation did not find any evidence the prisoner had been drinking alcohol while at the pub.

Prisoners at the work camp participate in a mixture of volunteer work and paid employment via the NT Government's Sentenced to a Job program.

Last year, Correctional Services Minister John Elferink said the Datjala camp was a 50-bed facility that was costing the Government $2.24 million to run each year.

"The Datjala Work Camp will mostly accommodate offenders who have family and community ties to the East Arnhem Region, allowing them to retain their cultural values while serving out their sentence," he said at the time.

On Friday, a spokesman for Mr Elferink told the ABC the actions of the guards had been a "gross dereliction of duty" and had been dealt with appropriately.

The spokesman said the "brain freeze" by the guards should not detract from the Sentenced to a Job program that had been relatively successful since being introduced.