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Georgia · West Georgia · #622
Heard County, Georgia
On the Chattahoochee River where Georgia meets Alabama in the rolling Piedmont foothills, Heard County is one of Georgia's smallest and most quietly self-sufficient counties - a farming and timber community that has maintained its rural character without tourism, without university anchors, and without any particular need to explain itself.
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Office: Heard County Sheriff’s Office – 11820 GA-100, Franklin, GA 30217 | Office (706) 675-3329 | Dispatch (706) 675-3328. The office operates a jail with capacity for 70 inmates and occasionally houses individuals from other jurisdictions.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Franklin was struck by a tornado just before midnight on March 25, 2021, causing high-end EF2 damage to multiple downtown areas; the same storm system later strengthened to EF4 and struck nearby Newnan, indirectly causing one death there.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: SR-34 and GA-100 serve Franklin, the county seat and largest city, on Georgia’s western border with Alabama, part of the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell metropolitan area.
Notes: Heard County was created December 22, 1830, from 301 square miles of Carroll, Coweta, and Troup Counties, Georgia’s 77th county, named for Stephen Heard, an Englishman who emigrated to Wilkes County from Hanover County, Virginia, fought in the Revolutionary War and distinguished himself at the Battle of Kettle Creek, and served as Georgia’s de facto governor in 1781 while President of the Executive Council. Franklin, an established village by 1770 and named for Benjamin Franklin, became county seat in 1831; the land had been Creek territory until the 1825 Treaty of Indian Springs.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Heard County Courthouse – Court Square, Franklin, GA (current building constructed 1964, following an 1894 courthouse that itself replaced one lost to fire in 1893).
Notes: The historic Heard County Jail (Court Square and Shady Lane, Franklin, built 1912; National Register of Historic Places since 1981) served as the county jail and sheriff’s residence from 1912 to 1964 and now houses the Heard County Historical Center and Museum, operated by the Heard County Historical Society (organized 1979).
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Heard County Veterans Services – confirm current contact via heardcountyga.com.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Heard County Public Library (Franklin) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Heard County Historical Center and Museum, housed in the historic 1912 Old Jail, preserves local history and archives. The vintage 1938 Heard County gas station in Franklin, with its hand-painted Coca-Cola advertisement, is a notable local landmark.
Notes: Confirm current parks and recreation facilities via heardcountyga.com.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Heard County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via heardcountyga.com.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via heardcountyga.com; Heard County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Heard County Solid Waste / Planning & Zoning – confirm current contact via heardcountyga.com.
NOTES: Heard County is the seventy-sixth county completed in Georgia’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The vivid history of Stephen Heard, who served as Georgia’s de facto governor before the county’s founding, and the well-preserved 1912 Old Jail museum, 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 Heard County
Heard County is one of Georgia’s smallest counties by population – a fact it wears without apparent concern. The county’s economy is agricultural in the most traditional sense: cattle, timber, hay, and the small-scale farming operations that characterize the Chattahoochee River valley where Georgia meets Alabama. Franklin, the county seat, is a small city that provides governmental and basic commercial services to a population that has been relatively stable for decades. The Chattahoochee River provides fishing and river access along the county’s western border. Heard County’s character is the rural Georgia that persists beneath the Atlanta metro’s expansion – further from the metro than most commuters are willing to go, and content to remain so.
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.
Courts & Legal
Courts & Legal
Heard County Probate Court: 215 East Court Square, Franklin, GA 30217 | (706) 675-3553. The Probate Court handles estate administration and guardianship. Conservation Use land enrollment covers a significant portion of Heard County’s timber and agricultural land – estate plans must address the three-year qualifying-use continuation requirement for heirs.
Senior Services
West Georgia Area Agency on Aging
P.O. Box 1600, Carrollton, GA 30112
Phone: (770) 836-6678
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)
215 E. Court Square, Franklin, GA 30217
(706) 675-3301
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Probate Court of Heard County (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Heard 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 Heard County North River Street, Franklin, GA 30217 (706) 675-3353
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 Heard 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
215 E. Court Square, Franklin, GA 30217
(706) 675-2525
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS / VOTER REGISTRATION
215 E. Court Square, Franklin, GA 30217
(706) 675-3391
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
GA Dept of Public Health — West Central
(706) 675-6503
GA DFCS — Heard
(706) 675-0070
GA Medicaid
(800) 869-1150
Tanner Medical Center (Carrollton)
tanner.org
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Heard County Health Department – confirm current contact via heardcountyga.com.
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Editorial Trust
5 official sources cited
Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Franklin
Population: 11,500
Area: 296 sq mi
Established: 1830
Tier: 4
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Heard County facilities via Amazon.
