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Georgia · Northeast Georgia · #602
Elbert County Government Offices
Sitting atop one of the largest granite deposits in the world, Elberton calls itself the Granite Capital of the World and backs it up - more than 40 active granite quarries and finishing plants produce cemetery monuments and architectural stone shipped globally from a county where the bedrock literally defines the economy.
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Office: Elbert County Sheriff’s Office – 26 W. Church Street, Elberton, GA 30635; Sheriff Jamie Callaway, who took office January 1, 2025, after making history in the 2024 election as Elbert County’s first Republican sheriff, defeating Democratic candidate Darren Scarborough by 606 votes. The office operates a medium-security detention facility with a 117-bed capacity, averaging about 260 bookings monthly and receiving arrestees from across the region. Services include fingerprinting, background checks, patrol, traffic control, and criminal investigations.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: SR-17 and SR-72 serve Elberton, the county seat and largest city, in the Piedmont region bordering South Carolina.
Notes: Elbert County was created from Wilkes County by Act of December 10, 1790, named for General Samuel Elbert, a Revolutionary War soldier and Georgia governor (1785-1786) who fought at the battles of Savannah (1778) and Brier Creek (1779). The county was first settled in 1784 by General George Mathews and a group of settlers from Virginia and the Carolinas. The original settlement of Petersburg, once the third-largest town in Georgia, now lies submerged beneath the Clark Hill Reservoir. Nancy Hart, a celebrated Revolutionary War patriot known for her exploits against Loyalist forces, lived in Elbert County. The first session of Elbert County Superior Court was held January 20, 1791, at the home of Thomas A. Carter on Beaverdam Creek, presided over by George Walton, one of Georgia’s signers of the Declaration of Independence; the Carter plantation house still stands today.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Elbert County Courthouse – Courthouse Square, Elberton, GA (built 1893-94, Romanesque Revival, architect Reuben H. Hunt; National Register of Historic Places since 1980).
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Elbert County Veterans Services – confirm current contact via elbertga.us.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Elbert County Public Library (Elberton) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Elberton is genuinely known worldwide as the “Granite Capital of the World,” with a granite industry and monument-carving heritage that dominates the local economy and cultural identity.
Notes: Confirm current parks and recreation facilities via elbertga.us.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Elbert County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via elbertga.us.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via elbertga.us; Elbert County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Elbert County Solid Waste / Planning & Zoning – confirm current contact via elbertga.us.
NOTES: Elbert County is the forty-fourth county completed in Georgia’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. Elberton’s genuine global reputation as the “Granite Capital of the World,” alongside the county’s Revolutionary War heritage tied to Nancy Hart, 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 Elbert County
Elbert County’s granite industry is genuinely one of the most concentrated natural resource economies in small-town America. The Elberton Granite Association represents dozens of producers and manufacturers who together supply a significant share of the cemetery monuments, mausoleums, and architectural granite used in the United States and exported internationally. The industry provides skilled manufacturing employment that has sustained the county’s economy through agricultural decline and textile plant closures that devastated comparable northeast Georgia counties.
The Georgia Guidestones – a granite monument erected in Elbert County in 1980 bearing inscriptions in multiple languages that attracted conspiracy theory attention for decades – were destroyed by an explosion in July 2022 in what authorities called an intentional act, and the remaining structure was demolished for safety reasons. The monument’s history, from its anonymous commissioning to its destruction, is one of the more unusual episodes in American granite history. The Elbert County Courthouse, built of local granite, and the Granite Museum in Elberton document the industry’s history and techniques.
Heritage | Elberton is the “Granite Capital of the World” — the area produces more granite monuments and memorials than any other place on earth; the Georgia Guidestones stood in Elbert County (2,500-lb granite tablets inscribed with messages in 8 languages — sometimes called “America’s Stonehenge”; erected 1980; demolished 2022 after vandalism); the Granite Museum; the county has deep agricultural and textile heritage Outdoors | Richard B. Russell Lake (Corps of Engineers — outstanding bass and crappie fishing; excellent camping); Tugaloo State Park; Lake Hartwell; Broad River Notable | Elbert County’s granite industry is internationally significant — monuments and memorials from Elberton appear in cemeteries across America; the granite industry is the county’s dominant employer; Elberton has a charming historic downtown Library | Elbert County Public Library — (706) 283-5375 | elbertcountylibrary.org
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. Georgia offers school tax exemptions for seniors 62 and older. Georgia has no estate or inheritance tax.
TAX ASSESSOR
Phone: (706) 283-2009
Address: 45 Forest Ave., Elberton, GA 30635
Hours: Mon–Fri 8 AM–5 PM
Website: elbertcountyga.gov/assessor
TAX COMMISSIONER
Phone: (706) 283-2018
Address: 45 Forest Ave., Elberton, GA 30635
Hours: Mon–Fri 8 AM–5 PM
Website: elbertcountyga.gov/taxcommissioner
Courts & Legal
CLERK OF SUPERIOR COURT (Records, Marriage Licenses)
Phone: (706) 283-2000
Address: 45 Forest Ave., Elberton, GA 30635
Hours: Mon–Fri 8 AM–5 PM
Website: elbertcountyga.gov/clerk
SUPERIOR COURT
Phone: (706) 283-2000
Address: 45 Forest Ave., Elberton, GA 30635
Hours: Mon–Fri 8 AM–5 PM
Website: gasupreme.us | Northern Judicial Circuit
Senior Services
Northeast Georgia Area Agency on Aging
305 Research Drive NE, Athens, GA 30605
Phone: (706) 369-5650
Senior transportation, Meals on Wheels, and long-term care counseling for Elbert County residents.
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)
45 Forest Ave., Elberton, GA 30635
(706) 283-2000
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Probate Court of Elbert County (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Published local histories include “The Official History of Elbert County, 1790-1935” (McIntosh) and “Remember When…A Nostalgic View of the Cultural Heritage of Elberton, Georgia” (Bond, 2019).
Local societies
No dedicated Elbert 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 Elbert County Elbert County Courthouse, Elberton, GA 30635 (706) 283-2016
Elberton is known as the “Granite Capital of the World.” Elbert County was established December 10, 1790, and named for Samuel Elbert.
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 Elbert 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
45 Forest Ave., Elberton, GA 30635
(706) 283-2000
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS / VOTER REGISTRATION
45 Forest Ave., Elberton, GA 30635
(706) 283-2000
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
GA Dept of Public Health — Northeast
(706) 283-3623
GA DFCS — Elbert
(706) 283-3660
GA Medicaid
(800) 869-1150
Elbert Memorial Hospital
elbertmemorial.com (Elberton)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Elbert County Health Department – confirm current contact via elbertga.us.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Elberton
Population: 20,000
Area: 372 sq mi
Established: 1790
Tier: 4
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Elbert County facilities via Amazon.
