After Hampton officials didn’t seem to have a plan to house dozens of inmates when Hampton Roads Regional Jail closes next year, one now says the city’s found a path forward.

Hampton Vice Mayor Jimmy Gray says the city is working out a deal to send Hampton’s prisoners to Western Tidewater Regional Jail in Suffolk.

The question of where Hampton’s inmates would land was raised last month, when the regional jail’s board voted to close it down in the face of a declining population.

Only about 200 of the regional jail’s 1,300 beds were occupied in October.

Operations will wind down and doors will shut on April 1, 2024.

Regional Jail Authority Board vice chair Peter Buryk said inmates left at HRRJ will return to their original jurisdictions. Those are Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, Hampton and Chesapeake.

But Hampton’s city jail has been closed for renovations since 2022. Many of its inmates went to the regional jail in Portsmouth, or other jails statewide. City officials said they had no timeline for when the city’s jail will reopen.

Hampton already has a separate agreement with Western Tidewater, as well as with other jails around the state. Gray said after the vote last month he would work to make sure inmates ended up as close to Hampton as possible.

The Hampton Sheriff's Office declined to comment on the plans.

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