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Georgia · Southwest Georgia · #579
Colquitt County, Georgia
In the peanut and timber belt of southwest Georgia, Moultrie is the commercial hub for a cluster of small south Georgia counties - a working agricultural city that hosts Swine Time, one of the South's most genuine small-town festival traditions, every November.
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What do you need to do?
Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
Office: Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office – 200 Veterans Parkway N, Moultrie, GA 31788 | (229) 616-7430; Sheriff Rod Howell. The county correctional system emphasizes counseling, academic education, library access, chaplaincy, and recreation programming for inmates.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-319 and US-82 serve Moultrie, the county seat and largest city, core of the Moultrie Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Notes: Colquitt County was created February 25, 1856, named for Walter Terry Colquitt, a famous lawyer and Methodist preacher who served in the U.S. House (1839-40, 1842-43) and Senate (1843-48); his historical marker describes him as an advocate who “stood alone in Georgia.” Moultrie’s 50-acre town center was formally designated on December 13, 1879; by the early 1900s, the county had become a regional hub for the turpentine industry.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Colquitt County Courthouse – Courthouse Square, Moultrie, GA (built 1902, Classical Revival, architect A.J. Bryan & Co.; National Register of Historic Places since 1980), the county’s third courthouse. The separately NRHP-listed Colquitt County Jail (126 1st Avenue SE, built 1915, Late Gothic Revival, builder Southern Structural Steel Co., cost roughly $28,000) is described in its NRHP nomination as one of the county’s most impressive buildings and among its few examples of Gothic Revival architecture; it replaced an 1892 brick jail demolished in 1953. Both buildings, along with the 1909 Carnegie Library of Moultrie, anchor the 48-acre Moultrie Commercial Historic District (National Register of Historic Places since 1994, 61 contributing buildings).
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Colquitt County Veterans Services – confirm current contact via colquittcountyga.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Carnegie Library of Moultrie (built 1909, architect T.F. Lockwood; National Register of Historic Places since 1982) – confirm current contact via colquittcountyga.gov. The Ellen Payne Odom Genealogy Library – 204 5th Street SE, Moultrie, GA.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Moultrie Commercial Historic District, the Colquitt Towers (formerly the four-story Colonial Revival Colquitt Hotel), and the historic Carnegie Library are among the county’s premier heritage attractions.
Notes: Confirm current parks and recreation facilities via colquittcountyga.gov.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Colquitt County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via colquittcountyga.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via colquittcountyga.gov; Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Colquitt County Solid Waste / Planning & Zoning – confirm current contact via colquittcountyga.gov.
NOTES: Colquitt County is the thirty-fifth county completed in Georgia’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuinely impressive 1915 Gothic Revival Colquitt County Jail, one of the standout buildings in the historic Moultrie Commercial District, is among the 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 Colquitt County
Colquitt County is unambiguously agricultural – peanuts, tobacco, cotton, timber, and swine production define its economic character in ways that have changed less than most of rural Georgia over the past half century. Moultrie serves as the commercial, healthcare, and professional services hub for Colquitt and several surrounding counties, with Colquitt Regional Medical Center providing regional healthcare. The Swine Time festival, held annually in Climax (a Colquitt County community whose name generates consistent amusement) each November, is a genuine celebration of hog farming culture that has attracted visitors from across Georgia for decades.
The county’s poultry processing and packing industries supplement the traditional agricultural base, and the Hispanic and Latino workforce that staffed those facilities has become a significant part of Colquitt County’s demographic composition. Moultrie Technical College serves workforce development. The county’s landscape – flat coastal plain with longleaf pine remnants and palmetto – is genuinely south Georgia: big sky, red dirt, and the particular agricultural calm of a landscape organized around the growing season.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Georgia assesses property at 40% of fair market value. Property owners have 45 days from the notice of assessment to appeal to the Board of Assessors, then to the Board of Equalization. Georgia offers school tax exemptions for seniors 62 and older. Georgia has no estate or inheritance tax.
Courts & Legal
Courts & Legal
SENIOR SERVICES
Southwest Georgia Area Agency on Aging
P.O. Box 346, Camilla, GA 31730
Phone: (229) 522-3552
Senior transportation, Meals on Wheels, caregiver support, and long-term care counseling.
Senior Services
Southwest Georgia Area Agency on Aging
P.O. Box 346, Camilla, GA 31730
Phone: (229) 522-3552
Senior transportation, Meals on Wheels, caregiver support, and long-term care counseling.
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)
101 E. Central Ave., Moultrie, GA 31768
(229) 616-7420
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Probate Court of Colquitt County (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Southwest Georgia Genealogical Society (Albany) is a useful regional resource for Colquitt County research.
Local societies
No dedicated Colquitt 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 Colquitt County P.O. Box 886, Moultrie, GA 31776 (229) 616-7420
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 Colquitt 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
101 E. Central Ave., Moultrie, GA 31768
(229) 616-7430
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS / VOTER REGISTRATION
101 E. Central Ave., Moultrie, GA 31768
(229) 616-7440
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
GA Dept of Public Health — South
(229) 616-7450
GA DFCS — Colquitt
(229) 616-7460
GA Medicaid
(800) 869-1150
Colquitt Regional Medical Center
colquittregional.com (Moultrie)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Colquitt County Health Department – confirm current contact via colquittcountyga.gov.
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Editorial Trust
5 official sources cited
Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Moultrie
Population: 45,000
Area: 551 sq mi
Established: 1825
Tier: 4
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Colquitt County facilities via Amazon.
