EDWARDSVILLE - Some laid-off probation personnel in Madison and St. Clair counties will be returning to work, thanks to partial restoration of earlier state funding cuts.

Michael Buettner, probation and court services director in the 20th Judicial Circuit, which comprises St. Clair, Monroe, Perry, Randolph and Washington counties, said he would recall three probation officers and a detention officer and fill a vacant position with the restoration of $310,000 of cuts that totaled nearly $1 million. Buettner laid off seven probation officers in August and had delayed filling three vacant positions.

Madison County Board Chairman Alan Dunstan said restoration of $721,000 of the $1.6 million in earlier cuts would allow recall of an estimated 10 to 13 probation officers. Dunstan said the exact number and dates of return to work remained to be determined.

“We want to bring back as many as we can and as fast as we can,” he said. “It’s a move in the right direction and we’re very happy about it.”

State budget-cutting had forced layoffs statewide, including 30 in Madison County.

Gov. Pat Quinn tapped lump-sum appropriations authority to restore about 44 percent of the cuts statewide.