With budget cuts looming, University of Illinois Extension announced Friday that it is cutting 46 county director positions and closing 12 offices.

The number of people that actually lose their jobs could be fewer than 46 because some positions are vacant and others will be transferred to open positions, according to local reports. Extension spokesman Gary Beaumont told the Associated Press additional non-managerial jobs will be cut later. He did not give a number, but said they would be completed by July 2011.

The announcement said Extension centers in Carbondale, Effingham, Matteson, Macomb and Mount Vernon would close by June 30, the end of the state fiscal year. Other education centers, including Springfield, would be closed “at the earliest possible opportunity contingent upon lease terms.”

According to the U of I Extension Web site, it has a 90-year history of “connecting the citizens of Illinois to their land-grant university by providing educational programming around the state.” It had a budget of $65 million in fiscal year 2009.