Some inmates are back in the Beaufort County Detention Center.

The jail reopened at noon Friday, after Superior Court Judge Wayland Sermons issued an order clearing the way for the jail to again house inmates. The returning of inmates to the jail is expected to take several days to complete, according to a news release from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, which oversees the jail.

At the time Sermons’ order was issued, 102 inmates were housed at other jails and correctional facilities in eastern North Carolina.

The jail has a maximum capacity of 85 beds, according to the release. Some inmates will still have to be housed at other facilities, representing an ongoing cost to the county, according to the release.

The county has set this past Tuesday as the target date to reopen the jail but work on the jail had not been completed in time for that to happen. The jail was evacuated in early as the result of electrical issues at the jail, which is in the basement of the Beaufort County Courthouse. Christina Smith, the county’s public-works director, presented an update on the jail work during the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners meeting this past Monday.

Smith went through a list of project accomplishments reached in recent days. They included the following:

• The state-required emergency generator to supply power to the jail in case of a power outage at the courthouse has been installed and inspected. Any day now, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services is expected to approve its use.

• Because of the cost to repair the existing switchgear, a decision was made to replace it with new breaker panels. That work was completed Friday.

• The commercial dryer (which malfunctioned and triggered the evacuation and repairs) is being readied for return to service.

• Painting of the jail’s interior is completed.

• Plumbing repairs have been made. All fixtures are operating properly, with the exception of one shower, which was expected to be fixed by this past Tuesday.

To date, repairs to and equipment upgrades at the jail have cost the county nearly $600,000. Of that amount, nearly $360,000 for housing Beaufort County inmates in other jails and correctional facilities. Maintenance costs, so far, come to nearly $145,000. Overtime costs associated with jailers and other Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office personnel used to transport inmates to and from those other jails and correctional facilities and guard those inmates at those facilities came to nearly $64,000 during the past three months.