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Georgia · South-Central Georgia · #646
Dooly County, Georgia
In the wiregrass peanut belt of south-central Georgia, Dooly County's Vienna sits in the agricultural heartland of Georgia - peanut and cotton country where the Flint River bottoms and the upland sandy soils have defined farm life for two centuries, adjacent to the county where Jimmy Carter grew up.
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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: Dooly County Sheriff’s Office – 576 Pinehurst-Hawkinsville Road, Pinehurst, GA 31070 | Non-emergency (229) 645-0920. The office traces to 1821, with first sheriff John Allen. Divisions include Training (covering deputies, corrections officers, and volunteers on first aid/CPR, crisis intervention, ethics, and defensive tactics) and Patrol (criminal, traffic, natural disaster, civil, and medical calls).
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-41 and I-75 serve Vienna, the county seat and largest city, situated on the Flint River, 13 miles south of Unadilla and 9 miles north of Cordele.
Notes: Dooly County was created May 15, 1821, Georgia’s 48th county, one of the original “landlot” counties formed from land ceded by the Creek Nation. It is named for Colonel John Dooly, a Revolutionary War fighter who helped prosecute Tories in 1779 and was murdered by them the following year. Vienna, the county seat, went through several names: founded in 1826 as “Berrien,” renamed “Drayton” in 1833 (becoming county seat in 1836), and finally renamed Vienna in 1841 after the Austrian capital.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Dooly County Courthouse – GA-27, Vienna, GA | P.O. Box 348 | (912) 268-4228 (built 1890, Romanesque, architects W.H. Parkins and J.P. Heard; National Register of Historic Places since 1980), the county’s fourth courthouse.
Notes: The Vienna High and Industrial School (built 1959, architects Stevens and Wilkinson), a historic school for African American students, is separately listed on the National Register of Historic Places (2012).
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Dooly County Veterans Services – confirm current contact via doolycountyga.com.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Dooly County Public Library (Vienna) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: A museum in Vienna honors U.S. Senator Walter F. George, who served from 1922 to 1957 and chaired the Senate Finance and Foreign Relations Committees. Dooly County is also the birthplace of Georgia Governor George Busbee (served 1975-1983) and of Roger Kingdom, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 110-meter hurdles (1984 and 1988).
Notes: Confirm current parks and recreation facilities via doolycountyga.com.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Dooly County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via doolycountyga.com.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via doolycountyga.com; Dooly County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Dooly County Solid Waste / Planning & Zoning – confirm current contact via doolycountyga.com.
NOTES: Dooly County is the forty-seventh county completed in Georgia’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The county’s notable native sons – U.S. Senator Walter F. George, Governor George Busbee, and Olympic champion Roger Kingdom – 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 Dooly County
Dooly County is agricultural south-central Georgia in its characteristic form – peanuts and cotton dominating the sandy coastal plain soils, timber in the flatwoods, cattle in the improved pastures, and small farming communities anchored by the county seat at Vienna. The county sits adjacent to Sumter County, which includes Plains – the hometown of President Jimmy Carter – and shares the agricultural character and landscape of that corner of Georgia. Dooly County has no significant industrial employer or institutional anchor; it is a farming county that provides governmental and basic commercial services for its agricultural community.
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. Georgia has no estate or inheritance tax.
Courts & Legal
Courts & Legal
Dooly County Probate Court: 104 Cotton Street, Vienna, GA 31092 | (229) 268-4228. The Probate Court handles estate administration and guardianship.
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)
105 Cotton St., Vienna, GA 31092
(229) 268-4228
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Probate Court of Dooly County (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Central Georgia Genealogical Society (Warner Robins) serves Dooly among 27 contiguous central Georgia counties.
Local societies
Central Georgia Genealogical Society (see above) is the primary regional resource; no dedicated Dooly-County-only 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 Dooly County P.O. Box 322, Vienna, GA 31092 (229) 268-4217 Crisp County was created from Dooly County in 1905.
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 Dooly 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
105 Cotton St., Vienna, GA 31092
(229) 268-4141
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS / VOTER REGISTRATION
105 Cotton St., Vienna, GA 31092
(229) 268-4228
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 Central
(229) 268-4235
GA DFCS — Dooly
(229) 268-4275
GA Medicaid
(800) 869-1150
Crisp Regional Hospital (Cordele)
crispregional.org
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Dooly County Health Department – confirm current contact via doolycountyga.com.
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Editorial Trust
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Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Vienna
Population: 13,500
Area: 397 sq mi
Established: 1821
Tier: 4
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Dooly County facilities via Amazon.
