Livingston County officials announced Tuesday the county jail will close.

The jail, which opened in 1978, will close due to high maintenance cost and additional staffing needs to safely run the facility.

The county cannot afford to finance a new jail facility from it’s reserves of the Law Enforcement Sales Tax or the General Revenue fund.  The funds also are not enough to cover maintenance cost of the current facility.

The County Commission , County Clerk and Sheriff have agreed they are not willing to ask for additional bond or tax issue’s to cover the repair cost and staff of the facility.

Their jail needs will be contracted to the Daviess-Dekalb County Regional Jail.

The five full time detention officers were notified their position are being eliminated in the process.

The county will periodically review the new process.