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Georgia · Southeast Georgia · #640
Jeff Davis County, Georgia
In the Georgia coastal plain where the Altamaha River basin drains south through longleaf pine country, Jeff Davis County's Hazlehurst is a timber and poultry county that does what rural south Georgia counties do - grows things, processes things, and takes care of its own.
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Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
Office: Jeff Davis County Sheriff’s Office – 222 Lumber City Highway, Hazlehurst, GA 31539 | (912) 375-6600 | Email: [email protected]; Sheriff Preston Bohannon, with Chief Deputy Keith Rea.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-341 and US-221 serve Hazlehurst, the county seat and largest city, situated in the “Three Rivers” region of southeast Georgia, roughly eight miles west of where the Ocmulgee and Oconee Rivers converge to form the Altamaha River.
Notes: Jeff Davis County was created August 18, 1905, Georgia’s 142nd county, formed from parts of Appling and Coffee Counties, named for Confederate President Jefferson Davis – reportedly because it was customary at the time to name new counties for deceased citizens rather than the living state legislator who had introduced the county’s creation bill. Hazlehurst, originally known as “Handtown” for the Hand family, its earliest settlers, developed after two railroad construction crews building the Macon and Brunswick Railroad – one heading south from Macon, one heading north from Brunswick – met roughly halfway at what became Hazlehurst in 1870; the town is named for Colonel George H. Hazlehurst, the civil engineer who surveyed the railroad route.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Jeff Davis County Courthouse – Courthouse Square, Hazlehurst, GA (built 1906-07, Neoclassical Revival, architect W. Chamberlain & Co., builder M.T. Lewman & Co., renovated 1975 and 1994-95; National Register of Historic Places since 1980), the county’s first and only courthouse, featuring a domed clock tower.
Notes: The historic Pace House (built 1900 by an original Hazlehurst alderman; National Register of Historic Places since 2003) was purchased in 1996 by the Hazlehurst-Jeff Davis County Historical Museum Society and now serves as a local history museum. The Hazlehurst Depot remains in active use by Norfolk Southern Railroad crews.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Jeff Davis County Veterans Services – confirm current contact via jeffdaviscountyga.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Jeff Davis County Public Library (Hazlehurst) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Hazlehurst-Jeff Davis County Historical Museum, housed in the historic 1900 Pace House, and the historic Hazlehurst Depot are among the county’s premier heritage attractions. Hazlehurst was historically designated “The Industrial City” of Georgia following a successful post-WWII industrial development campaign led by local businessman Claude Parker Cook.
Notes: Jeff Davis County is genuinely notable for hosting one of the largest sawmill operations in the Americas, reflecting the region’s deep timber industry roots.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Jeff Davis County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via jeffdaviscountyga.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via jeffdaviscountyga.gov; Jeff Davis County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Jeff Davis County Solid Waste / Planning & Zoning – confirm current contact via jeffdaviscountyga.gov.
NOTES: Jeff Davis County is the eighty-second county completed in Georgia’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, remarkable railroad-crew meeting story behind Hazlehurst’s founding and the county’s claim to one of the Americas’ largest sawmill operations 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 Jeff Davis County
Jeff Davis County – named at the height of the Lost Cause movement in 1905 for Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy – is a working rural Georgia county in the timber and poultry belt of the southeast coastal plain. Hazlehurst serves as the county seat and commercial hub, providing healthcare and retail services for the county’s rural population. The county’s economic base is managed pine timber, poultry processing, and the small-scale agricultural operations of the coastal plain. Conservation Use enrollment covers significant portions of the county’s timberland, providing preferential property tax assessment for qualifying forest operations.
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
Jeff Davis County Probate Court: 14 Jeff Davis Street, Hazlehurst, GA 31539 | (912) 375-6611.
Senior Services
Southeast Georgia Area Agency on Aging | (912) 285-6097
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)
14 Jeff Davis St., Hazlehurst, GA 31539
(912) 375-6622
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Jeff Davis Probate Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Jeff Davis 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
Jeff Davis Probate Court 14 Jeff Davis Street, Hazlehurst, GA 31539 (912) 375-6626
The 1906 Jeff Davis County Courthouse (Classical Revival, domed clock tower) is the county’s first courthouse and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
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 Jeff Davis 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
14 Jeff Davis St., Hazlehurst, GA 31539
(912) 375-6600
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS / VOTER REGISTRATION
14 Jeff Davis St., Hazlehurst, GA 31539
(912) 375-6611
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
GA Dept of Public Health — Southeast
(912) 375-6891
GA DFCS — Jeff Davis
(912) 375-6845
GA Medicaid
(800) 869-1150
Jeff Davis Hospital
jeffdavishospital.org (Hazlehurst)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Jeff Davis County Health Department – confirm current contact via jeffdaviscountyga.gov.
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Editorial Trust
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Hazlehurst
Population: 15,000
Area: 335 sq mi
Established: 1905
Tier: 4
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Jeff Davis County facilities via Amazon.
