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Office: Baker County Sheriff’s Office – P.O. Box 441, Newton, GA 39870 | (229) 734-3003; Sheriff Dana Meade (per Georgia Sheriffs’ Association directory).
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Baker County has a well-documented history of Flint River flooding, with the county’s original 1906 courthouse damaged by floods in 1925, 1929, and again in 1994 (nearly to the second floor); the courthouse was also damaged during Hurricane Michael in October 2018.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: SR-91 serves Newton, the county’s only incorporated town and seat.
Notes: Baker County was formed from Early County on December 12, 1825, named for Colonel John Baker, a Revolutionary War veteran. The original county seat, Byron (near Albany), was moved to Newton in 1831 after residents objected to its proximity to the Lee County border; Newton itself is named for Revolutionary War Sergeant John Newton and was incorporated in 1872. One of the final battles of the Creek Indian War took place in Baker County in July 1836, when county militias defeated Creek forces at Chickasawhatchee Creek Swamp.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Baker County Courthouse – 167 Baker Place, Newton, GA | (229) 734-3000. The current government offices occupy a remodeled 1930s-era schoolhouse (converted in 2000); the original 1906 courthouse, designed by J.W. Golucke and listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980, now houses the county library and historical society.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Baker County Veterans Services – confirm current contact via bakercountyga.com.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Baker County Public Library (Newton), housed in the historic 1906 courthouse building.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center, a 29,000-acre outdoor research facility specializing in longleaf pine and water resource conservation, largely comprises the grounds of the historic Ichauway Plantation – the former home of Coca-Cola CEO Robert Woodruff, who established it as a quail-hunting preserve in the 1920s and hosted notable guests there including baseball legend Ty Cobb and President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Southwest Georgia’s quail-hunting tradition remains active on public land at Elmodel Wildlife Management Area and on private preserves, with seasons typically running November through February.
Notes: The old Baker County Courthouse also hosts the annual Quail Covey Festival and was used as a filming location for the 2008 film “The Lena Baker Story.”
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Baker County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via bakercountyga.com.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via bakercountyga.com; Baker County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Baker County Solid Waste / Planning & Zoning – confirm current contact via bakercountyga.com.
NOTES: Baker County is the fourth county completed in Georgia’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine history of Robert Woodruff’s Ichauway Plantation – hosting figures like Ty Cobb and President Eisenhower – and his philanthropic funding of the county’s early healthcare are among the standout local facts covered in this project. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Baker County County
Baker County is one of Georgia’s least populous counties – a Flint River and southwest Georgia agricultural county where Newton serves fewer than 3,200 residents in the peanut, cotton, and pecan farming landscape of the rural southwest Georgia interior.
Newton (the county seat, population ~700) is Baker County’s governmental hub, a small southwest Georgia agricultural community on GA-37 whose farming economy and courthouse anchor its identity in one of Georgia’s most rural counties.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Baker County Tax Assessor at 167 Baker Place, Newton, GA 39870, phone 229-734-3012. GA assessed at 40% of fair market value.
Courts & Legal
Baker County Probate Court at 167 Baker Place, Newton, GA 39870, phone 229-734-3004, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF SUPERIOR COURT (Records, Marriage Licenses)
40 Court St., Newton, GA 39870
(229) 734-3004
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Probate Court of Baker County (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Baker County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
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
Probate Court of Baker County P.O. Box 548, Newton, GA 39870 (229) 734-3007 Baker County is one of Georgia’s smallest counties by population.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Georgia is NOT a Uniform Probate Code state and doesn’t use a simple dollar-threshold “small estate affidavit” like many states. Instead it offers several distinct shortcuts, each suited to a different situation:
Banking Affidavit – for intestate estates with less than $15,000 in bank deposits and no other assets requiring administration. No court filing needed at all.
No Administration Necessary (Standard Form 9) – available when all heirs agree on how to divide the property and there are no debts (or all creditors consent). Can transfer real estate without full administration, but requires unanimous heir agreement – any disagreement forces the estate into formal probate.
Year’s Support (Standard Form 10, O.C.G.A. Chapter 53-3) – a distinctively Georgia protection: the surviving spouse and minor children can petition for property sufficient to maintain their standard of living for 12 months from the date of death. This takes priority over virtually all creditor claims and even most specific bequests in the will. Must be filed within 24 months of death. No bond, no inventory filing, no creditor claims period required – the fastest and simplest path when it applies.
Formal Administration – Petition to Probate Will (Common Form or Solemn Form) or Petition for Letters of Administration, when none of the above shortcuts fit.
COMMON FORM VS. SOLEMN FORM (a distinctively Georgia choice)
Common Form: the executor files the will with supporting evidence and the court admits it without notifying all heirs – faster and cheaper, but leaves a 4-year window during which interested parties can challenge the will.
Solemn Form (Standard Form 5): requires notice to all heirs; once granted, it’s final and binding much sooner, closing off future challenges.
If formal administration is needed
File the appropriate petition with the Baker County Probate Court – Petition to Probate Will (Common or Solemn Form) if there’s a will, or Petition for Letters of Administration if not.
The court issues a citation, published in the county’s legal organ once a week for four weeks (O.C.G.A. § 53-5-2), giving interested parties a chance to object.
After the publication period, attend the hearing for appointment as personal representative.
Once appointed, the court issues Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (without one).
Send certified copies of the death certificate and Letters to all banks, brokerages, insurers, and retirement custodians; request date-of-death valuations and begin marshaling assets.
Obtain an EIN via IRS Form SS-4 and open an estate checking account.
Prepare an inventory of assets with date-of-death fair market values; the court may require this under O.C.G.A. § 53-7-30.
Pay debts and expenses in Georgia’s priority order (see below), then distribute remaining assets per the will or intestacy law.
What it costs
No Georgia state estate tax or inheritance tax.
Court filing fees typically range $100–$300 depending on the county.
Certified copies of Letters typically cost around $10 each.
Indigent petitioners may file an Affidavit of Indigency to request a fee waiver.
E-filing is available and encouraged statewide through platforms like PeachCourt or Odyssey eFileGA.
DEBT PRIORITY ORDER IF THE ESTATE CAN’T PAY EVERYTHING (O.C.G.A. §§ 53-3-1, 53-7-40)
Year’s Support for surviving spouse and minor children under 18.
Funeral expenses.
Costs of probate administration.
Expenses of the decedent’s last illness.
Taxes.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
40 Court St., Newton, GA 39870
(229) 734-3007
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS / VOTER REGISTRATION
40 Court St., Newton, GA 39870
(229) 734-5291
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
GA Dept of Public Health — Southwest
(229) 734-5441
GA DFCS — Baker
(229) 734-3020
GA Medicaid
(800) 869-1150
Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital (nearest)
phoebeputney.com (Albany)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Baker County Health Department – confirm current contact via bakercountyga.com. Robert Woodruff, the Coca-Cola Company executive who owned nearby Ichauway Plantation, funded the county’s first dedicated health, mental, and primary care facility in the 1930s, when malaria outbreaks left residents without a local medical provider, and later paid for the facility’s expansion.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Newton
Population: 3,100
Area: 344 sq mi
Established: 1825
Public Records
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