SOMERVILLE – Somerset County will start sending its jail inmates to the Morris County Correctional Facility on June 1.

With no discussion at their meeting on Tuesday, the Somerset County commissioners approved a five-year contract with Morris County that ends on May 31, 2029.

Under the terms of the shared services agreement, Somerset County will be paying Morris $115 a day per inmate. That represents about a 10% to 15% reduction in the cost of housing an inmate at the Somerset County Jail.

There will be no job losses, according to the county. In the past year, the number of corrections officers has been reduced by about 40 due to retirements and attrition.

“The agreement with Morris County to provide jail services will deliver ongoing taxpayer savings while ensuring the needs of our detainees and the courts are met,” Commissioner Director Shanel Y. Robinson said in a statement “I want to thank Sheriff Darrin Russo, my fellow Commissioners, and neighboring county officials for helping to reach this positive outcome for all involved.”

To meet the needs of the courts and local law enforcement agencies, the Somerset County Jail will continue to operate on a limited basis with the short-term housing of detainees scheduled for court hearings.

Detainees serving sentences or being held for longer periods will be housed by Morris County at the facility on John Street in Morris Township.

The $32 million Morris County facility opened in May 2000. The six-story building includes eight housing pods totaling 277 cells with the capacity to house a total of 524 inmates.

The jail is located next to Interstate 287, less than a mile from the highway’s interchange with Lafayette Avenue in Morristown.

Somerset County is still studying the future of its jail at the corner of Grove and High streets in Somerville in the same block as the county administration building.

More: Somerset County Jail future in doubt. Here’s why

In spring 2023, the county commissioners and the sheriff began a study to determine the future of the Somerset County Jail.

New Jersey’s 2017 bail reform law, which prohibits courts from granting or denying bail based on who can pay, has significantly reduced the use of county jails throughout New Jersey because of the dramatically reduced number of defendants who remain incarcerated while awaiting trial because they could not make bail.

Jail populations dropped even more during the pandemic; the Somerset County Jail was operating at less than a quarter of capacity.

Over the last year the average number of Somerset County inmates held in the county facility has been 125 per day, which is about one-third of the capacity.

“We’ve worked hard over the past year to find a solution that supports the courts and our local police departments, protect public safety, and aids county staff impacted by the changes,” said Somerset County Sheriff Darrin Russo. “Because of reduced populations, county jails throughout the state are working together to consolidate populations, and we are pleased to partner with Morris County to achieve this successful outcome.”

In 2020, Hunterdon County decided to end its shared services agreement with Somerset County and decided to send its inmates to the Warren County Jail in Belvidere.

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Somerset County NJ sending its inmates to Morris Correctional Facility