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Delaware · Dover · Capital County · #339 Most Populous County in the US
Kent County, Delaware
Dover - Delaware's capital, Dover Air Force Base (home of the Air Mobility Command and the military's primary dignified transfer facility), Dover Motor Speedway ("The Monster Mile"), and the fertile farmland of Delaware's agricultural heartland. Property tax, courts, public records, probate, and senior services for Kent County residents.
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Shelter Info: Kent County Civic Center (Dover); school facilities; Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) – (302) 659-3362 | dema.delaware.gov
FEMA Region: Region 3
Notes: Central Delaware county; Dover is the county seat and Delaware’s state capital; hurricane/tropical storm risk (the Delaware coast and inland areas are affected by tropical systems – Hurricane Irene 2011; Hurricane Sandy 2012; ongoing significant risk); nor’easters; coastal flooding (Delaware Bay shoreline); inland flooding (St. Jones River, Murderkill River); Dover Air Force Base (a major Air Force logistics hub – also the home of Port Mortuary, where the remains of military personnel killed overseas are received; a solemn and significant function); extreme heat events (summers are hot and humid)
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
County Roads: Kent County Public Works – (302) 744-2300
State Roads: Delaware Division of Transportation (DelDOT) – (302) 760-2080 | deldot.gov (Delaware has a unique transportation system where the state – not counties – maintains virtually all roads, including those in municipalities)
Transit: DART First State – (302) 739-3278 | dartfirststate.com (the statewide Delaware transit system serving Kent County with routes centered on Dover); Greyhound (Dover)
Airport: Dover Air Force Base (military, no civilian use); Philadelphia International Airport (PHL – 80 miles north via US-13 and I-95) is the primary commercial airport for most Delaware residents
Notes: US-13 (north-south through Dover – the primary Delaware north-south route, parallel to US-1; the historic King’s Highway); US-1 (north-south highway – limited access; connects Dover to Wilmington north and the beaches south); SR-1 (Delaware’s toll highway – the primary fast route north-south); Delaware’s unique road system (the state Department of Transportation maintains virtually all roads, even within municipalities – there are no county road departments in the traditional sense); Dover is the state capital and the county’s dominant city
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Kent County Lien Office/Planning – (302) 744-2300; Kent County Department of Planning Services – (302) 744-2451
Services: County permits for unincorporated areas; Dover (city – separate, active), Smyrna, Milford (portions), Harrington, Camden, Frederica, Magnolia, Woodside, Wyoming separate
Notes: Delaware has a unique approach where county government is stronger in planning and permitting than in some other Mid-Atlantic states; Kent County is predominantly agricultural and suburban; Dover’s proximity to Wilmington’s economic core drives some residential commuter development; Smyrna is growing significantly as a Wilmington commuter community; Dover Downs (horse racing and casino) generates some development; Amazon has a significant distribution center in Kent County
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Kent County Veterans Services – (302) 744-2310
VA Medical: Wilmington VA Medical Center – (302) 994-2511 (accessible via US-1/SR-1 – about 50 miles north); Dover VA CBOC – (302) 677-5088 (important local outpatient access)
Military: Dover Air Force Base (active duty; some veterans services coordination)
Notes: Dover CBOC provides important local VA outpatient access; Wilmington VAMC is the primary hospital; Dover AFB creates a large active duty and veteran community in Kent County; Delaware has strong state-level veteran benefits programs
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Kent County Public Libraries – libraries.delaware.gov (Delaware’s public libraries are operated as a statewide system through the Delaware Division of Libraries; all Delaware public libraries are free and open to all Delaware residents regardless of which county they live in)
Branches: Dover Public Library – (302) 736-7030; Smyrna Public Library – (302) 653-4579; Harrington Public Library; Milford Public Library; Camden-Wyoming Public Library
Services: Books, e-books, public computers, Wi-Fi, genealogy (Delaware Public Archives – outstanding state archives located in Dover), children’s programs; Delaware history collections; state government research materials
Notes: Delaware’s unified statewide library system is one of the country’s more progressive public library models – all Delaware libraries share a single card system; the Delaware Public Archives (adjacent to the State Library in Dover) holds extraordinary historical records including colonial-era documents; the collection of Delaware state government records is significant for genealogical and historical research; the Legislative Hall (Delaware State Capitol) is adjacent to the archives and library complex in Dover
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
State Parks: Delaware Seashore State Park (accessible from the coast – Sussex County, but drawing Kent County residents); Killens Pond State Park (Felton – freshwater recreation; camping; waterslide; fishing; family park; one of the more popular central Delaware parks); Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge (Smyrna – one of the East Coast’s premier shorebird and waterfowl refuges; over 15,000 acres of tidal salt marsh, freshwater ponds, and uplands along Delaware Bay; tens of thousands of migratory birds stop here during fall migration; snow geese, Canada geese, tundra swans, dabbling ducks, shorebirds in extraordinary concentrations; bald eagle viewing; one of the finest NWR birding sites on the Atlantic Flyway)
City/Regional: Legislative Mall (Dover – the beautiful state capitol green; Delaware Legislative Hall; Old State House; Delaware State Visitor Center; First State National Historical Park); Delaware Agricultural Museum (Dover – the finest agricultural heritage museum in the mid-Atlantic; the Delmarva Peninsula’s farming heritage beautifully documented); Dover International Speedway (Dover – “The Monster Mile”; NASCAR Cup Series races; one of the most distinctive tracks in NASCAR with its one-mile concrete oval and the Monster statue); Delaware State University (Dover – HBCU; outstanding)
Notes: Bombay Hook NWR is a genuinely world-class birding site – the fall migration concentration of snow geese, tundra swans, and dabbling ducks creates one of the most spectacular waterfowl spectacles on the East Coast; Dover International Speedway’s NASCAR races draw enormous crowds and create the county’s largest economic events; Delaware State University is a significant HBCU with strong programs; Dover’s role as the state capital (with Legislative Hall and the historic Legislative Mall) makes it an important civic heritage site
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Kent County GIS – co.kent.de.us; Delaware FirstMap (state GIS portal – maps.delaware.gov – one of the East’s better state GIS portals); Delaware geological survey; NOAA Delaware Bay coastal mapping; Bombay Hook NWR maps
Notes: Delaware FirstMap is the primary GIS resource for the state; Kent County GIS supplements for local data; Delaware Bay tidal marsh mapping; SR-1 corridor development mapping; Bombay Hook watershed and tidal mapping
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Shelter: Kent County SPCA – (302) 697-3347 | kentcountyspca.org (major regional animal welfare organization)
Notes: Kent County SPCA is an excellent regional organization; Bombay Hook NWR’s wildlife management (waterfowl, shorebirds, bald eagles) through USFWS; white-tailed deer management in agricultural and suburban areas; coyotes are established throughout Kent County; Canada goose management in urban parks and golf courses; poultry flock management (Delmarva poultry industry)
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Solid Waste: Delaware Solid Waste Authority (DSWA) – (302) 739-5361 | dswa.com (Delaware has a statewide solid waste management authority that manages transfer stations, landfills, and recycling – one of the nation’s more progressive statewide solid waste systems)
Recycling: DSWA operates statewide recycling program; curbside and drop-off recycling; Delaware has higher recycling rates than many Mid-Atlantic states
Environmental: Delaware DNREC (Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control) – (302) 739-9000 | dnrec.delaware.gov (Delaware’s comprehensive environmental agency; air, water, waste, coastal, wildlife – all managed through DNREC); EPA Region 3
Key Issues: Delaware Bay water quality (the bay is an internationally significant wetland ecosystem – Bombay Hook and Prime Hook NWRs protect critical bay shoreline; the bay supports the horseshoe crab spawning (in May, thousands of horseshoe crabs come ashore to spawn; simultaneously, hundreds of thousands of migratory shorebirds – especially red knots – stop to eat the eggs; this is one of the most significant wildlife spectacles in North America)); agricultural nonpoint source pollution (the Delmarva Peninsula’s intensive poultry and grain farming generates nutrient and pathogen runoff that affects the Delaware Bay and its tributaries; phosphorus and nitrogen management is a significant agricultural environmental management challenge); sea level rise (Delaware is one of the most vulnerable states to sea level rise – flat coastal topography and significant subsidence; Delaware Bay shoreline communities are at increasing risk)
Notes: Delaware’s statewide approach to solid waste (DSWA) and environmental management (DNREC) reflects the state’s small size and efficient governance – it would make little sense to have 3 different county environmental agencies for a state smaller than many US counties; the horseshoe crab and red knot connection at Delaware Bay is genuinely one of the most extraordinary wildlife phenomena in North America – the simultaneous arrival of millions of spawning horseshoe crabs and hundreds of thousands of shorebirds creates a spectacle of ecological interdependence; the red knot (a federally threatened shorebird) depends critically on the Delaware Bay horseshoe crab egg feast to fuel its northward migration to Arctic breeding grounds; the horseshoe crab population management (balancing biomedical harvesting – horseshoe crab blood is used to test pharmaceuticals for bacterial contamination – with ecological sustainability) is one of the most complex wildlife management challenges on the East Coast
About Kent County
Kent County is Delaware’s central county and home to the state capital, Dover. Legislative Hall is Delaware’s state capitol building. Dover Air Force Base is a major military installation and home to the Air Mobility Command Museum. Dover Motor Speedway — “The Monster Mile” — hosts two NASCAR Cup Series races annually. Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge is one of the premier shorebird and waterfowl habitats on the Atlantic Flyway. Delaware’s Court of Chancery, headquartered in Dover and Wilmington, is the nation’s leading corporate law court — the reason more than half of all U.S. publicly traded companies are incorporated in Delaware.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Assessment: (302) 744-2401 | 555 Bay Rd., Dover, DE 19901
Hours: Mon–Fri 8 AM–4:30 PM
Note: Property taxes collected by Delaware Division of Revenue for state; county assessment for local purposes
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Kent County Register of Wills (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above); historical Kent County court records back to 1680 have been separately published (“Court Records of Kent County, Delaware, 1680-1705”).
Kent County deed books run from Book A (1680) through Z-18 (1950).
A genuine Delaware quirk worth knowing: the colony (later state) was historically subdivided below the county level into “hundreds” – an old English land division, smaller than a county and larger than a tithing, once used for tax assessment, and for judicial/legislative districts. Hundreds still appear in older Delaware genealogical and property records and can be a useful search term for pre-20th-century research.
Local societies
Downstate Delaware Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 1787, Dover, DE 19903 – meets at the Delaware Public Archives in Dover; scheduled speakers cover genealogy techniques and record-tracing.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Register of Wills, Kent County 555 Bay Road, Room 113, Dover, DE 19901 (302) 744-2330 Hours: Monday–Friday 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Delaware’s Register of Wills is a branch of the Delaware Court of Chancery – each of the state’s three counties has its own Register of Wills office, and there is no separate statewide probate court. Kent County is home to Dover, the state capital, and to the Delaware Public Archives.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Delaware has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code; its probate procedures are set out in Title 12 of the Delaware Code.
Small Estate Affidavit – a recent, significant change: for anyone who died on or after June 10, 2026, the threshold is $50,000 or less in personal property with no solely-owned real estate. For deaths before June 10, 2026, the older $30,000 threshold still applies. (Delaware Governor Matt Meyer signed House Bill 333 on June 10, 2026, raising the threshold from $30,000 – unchanged since 2005 – to $50,000, effective immediately and non-retroactively.) This route avoids formal probate administration entirely.
Full Probate Administration – required when the estate exceeds the applicable small-estate threshold, or when the decedent owned Delaware real estate solely in their own name (or as a tenant in common).
If using the small estate affidavit
Confirm the decedent’s date of death to determine which threshold applies ($30,000 for deaths before June 10, 2026; $50,000 on or after).
Confirm the estate’s personal property (excluding jointly-held assets, beneficiary-designated accounts, and other non-probate property) falls at or under the applicable threshold, and that the decedent owned no solely-held Delaware real estate.
Complete the Small Estate Affidavit request form, available from the Register of Wills.
Submit it to the Kent County Register of Wills.
Once certified, the affidavit gives the named inheritor legal authority to collect and transfer the decedent’s assets directly – any person or institution holding the property is required to release it upon presentation of the certified affidavit.
If full probate administration is required
File a Petition for Authority to Act as Personal Representative (Form 1) with the Register of Wills to admit the will (if any) and request appointment.
The Register of Wills issues Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (without one).
The personal representative inventories the estate, notifies creditors, pays valid debts and taxes, and files an accounting.
Once approved, the estate is closed and remaining assets are distributed to heirs and beneficiaries.
What it costs
Probate fees are generally calculated based on the value of the estate, set by the Register of Wills fee schedule.
No Delaware state estate tax or inheritance tax – the state repealed its estate tax (which had applied as a “pick-up tax” tied to the old federal credit).
A surviving spouse is entitled to an elective share of one-third of the decedent’s augmented estate, protecting against disinheritance.
If a Delaware resident also owned real property in another state, that state requires a separate ancillary probate proceeding – Delaware’s Register of Wills has no authority over out-of-state real estate.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Register of Wills / Orphans Ct
38 The Green, Dover, DE 19901
(302) 744-2310
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
DE Dept of Elections — Kent
45 The Green, Dover, DE 19901
(302) 739-4498
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
DE Health & Social Services
(302) 744-4700
Division of Public Health
(302) 744-4700
DE Medicaid / DMAP
(302) 255-9500
DE SNAP/Cash Assistance
(302) 424-6000
Kent County Health Unit
546 S. Bay Rd., Dover, DE 19901
(302) 744-4700
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Kent County Health Department (limited local function – most public health is Delaware state-managed); Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) – (302) 744-4700 | dhss.delaware.gov/dph
Services: Immunizations, WIC, STI/HIV testing, environmental health, restaurant inspections, vital records (through Delaware OVS); behavioral health; agricultural worker health
Hospital: Bayhealth Kent General Hospital (Dover – Bayhealth Health System; (302) 674-4700; the primary regional hospital for central Delaware; Level II trauma); Milford Memorial Hospital (Bayhealth)
Notes: Bayhealth Kent General is the primary hospital for central Delaware; Delaware’s health system is relatively centralized at the state level; behavioral health is significant; opioid crisis has severely affected Kent County; agricultural worker health (the Delmarva Peninsula is a major poultry production area – poultry processing workers face occupational health challenges); Delaware has significant health disparities between affluent areas and lower-income communities in Dover
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Dover
Population: 185,000
Area: 594 mi²
Established: 1683
Tier: 2
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Kent County facilities via Amazon.
