ULLIN, Ill. -- The Tri-County Criminal Justice Center could be open within a month.

The new private prison, located near the intersection of Interstate 57 and the Ullin Exit, is nearly ready, and is awaiting connection to a new water system before opening.

The jail -- financed by Western Corrections Inc., a private prison company headquartered in Albuquerque, N.M. -- will house inmates from Union, Pulaski and Alexander Counties when it opens later this year.

Guards for the jail are already engaged in training sessions.

Water for the prison won't be available for at least a month.

Southwater Inc. started pumping water in the Tamms, Olive Branch, McClure and East Cape Girardeau areas in July of this year, and is in the process of adding the Ullin area to its list of water customers.

"We should be ready to provide water to the Ullin area within four to six weeks," said Chris Boyd, of Southwater Inc.

"Contractors are mowing the right of way, pipes have been stacked throughout the route area, and we're about ready to go," said Boyd. "We should get water into the area within a month. The flushing-out process could take a week or two, and customers should have fresh water within six weeks at most."

That includes the new jail. The prison was originally scheduled to open in September or October of this year, said Gene Dixon, Pulaski County Sheriff.

Construction started in early September of 1997, and was ahead of schedule through May. Officials said that with water, the jail could have opened in late August or early September.

The $7.5 million, 200-bed, privately-owned, regional jail will employ 33 guards and a total of 55 to 60 persons. The guard positions will be divided equally between residents of the three counties.

Dixon will be jail warden.

"This is a milestone for the tri-county area," Dixon said earlier this year. "This is the first private prison in the state of Illinois, and a lot of people are watching."

Pulaski, Alexander, and Union counties have signed agreements to use the prison.

Alexander County is the only one of the three counties with a jail still in operation. But, the Alexander jail was constructed more than 30 years ago, in 1964, and is need of some repairs.

Pulaski and Union counties pay to send prisoners to other counties. Union County prisoners are lodged at Jackson County jail in Murphysboro, and Pulaski County places prisoners in Massac County jail at Metropolis.

Pulaski County's jail closed in December 1987 and Union County's jail closed in October 1994.

Civic Jennies, a firm in Massachusetts, will operate the jail for Western Corrections.

Western Corrections Inc. will recoup its investment through an estimated $50-a-day fee for each inmate sent there by Alexander, Pulaski and Union counties.

Other state and federal prisoners also may be jailed there, officials say.