A total of 180 inmates from Middle River Regional Jail have been transferred to Virginia Department of Corrections custody this week, according to a press release from MRRJ staff.

The transfer began on Monday with 89 state-responsible inmates scheduled to be moved to DOC. The transfer of an additional 91 inmates was announced Tuesday.

MRRJ Superintendent Jeffrey Newton said in a press release that the Verona facility does not anticipate any additional large transfers to DOC in the future.

Once inmates have been transferred, Newton said in the release, he anticipates bringing 35 inmates housed at Pamunkey Regional Jail back to MRRJ.

MRRJ has been renting beds from Pamunkey Regional Jail since February at a cost of $50 per day per bed. For 35 beds, the total cost is $1,750 a day.

In a previous interview with the Daily News-Record, Rockingham County Administrator Stephen King said the county and city of Harrisonburg are responsible for paying 14.8% of the cost, which is based on their three-year bed usage.

The county and city’s share is $118.24 each per day.

As of Tuesday, the in-house inmate population at MRRJ was 585, with an additional 54 inmates on home electronic incarceration, according to the release.

During a MRRJ Authority board meeting on April 6, Newton said there were 306 state-responsible inmates at the jail as of March 29. Of the inmates waiting to be transferred to DOC at the time, 106 were Rockingham-Harrisonburg inmates and 197 were Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County inmates.

On March 29, DOC inmates made up 36.68% of the jail’s population.

In the last two weeks, MRRJ has reduced its inmate population by 216.