TRI-COUNTY JAIL AHEAD OF SCHEDULE, OPENS AUGUST

ULLIN, Ill. -- Many of the walls are up, the roof will be on the administration building this month and cell work is under way.

The Tri-County Detention and Justice Center is taking shape near the intersection of Interstate 57 and the Ullin Exchange,

The new prison facility, being built 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.

"We're looking at an August opening," said Gene Dixon, Pulaski County Sheriff. "Guards will start a month-long training session July 13." It was originally scheduled to open in September or October of this year, he said.

Construction started in early September of 1997.

The $7.5 million, 200-bed, privately-owned, regional prison, will employ 33 guards and a total of 55 to 60 persons.

Applications for guard positions are now available at sheriff's departments in Alexander, Pulaski and Union counties.

The 33 guard positions, expected to be filled in June, will be divided equally between residents of the three counties.

Dixon, who will be jail warden, conducted a tour of the construction site Thursday.

"This is a milestone for the tri-county area," said Dixon. "This is a 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 jail facilities still in operation. It was constructed more than 30 years ago, in 1964, and is need of some repairs.

Pulaski and Union counties do not have operational county jails and are now paying to send prisoners to other counties. Union County prisoners are being lodged at Jackson County facilities 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.

The Tri-County Criminal Justice Center is being financed, constructed and operated by Western Corrections Group.

Civic Jennies, a firm in Massachusetts, will operate the facility 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, the company said.