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Georgia · Southwest Georgia · #652
Randolph County, Georgia
In the peanut and cotton belt of southwest Georgia, Cuthbert holds Andrew College - one of the oldest two-year colleges in Georgia, founded in 1854 as a women's institution - giving a small farming county an educational heritage that outlasted many of the state's larger antebellum institutions.
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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: Randolph County Sheriff’s Office – 216 Recreation Camp Road, Cuthbert, GA 39840 | (229) 732-2525 | Fax (229) 732-5740; Sheriff Eddie Fairbanks, a Randolph County native raised in Shellman, whose career includes service with the Dawson Police Department, the Terrell County Sheriff’s Office, Chief of the Shellman Police Department (2000-01), and Chief of the Cuthbert Police Department (2001-04); Chief Deputy Col. Jessie Castleberry.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-27 and US-82 serve Cuthbert, the county seat and largest city.
Notes: Randolph County was created December 20, 1828, named for John Randolph of Roanoke, the Virginia statesman. Cuthbert was incorporated December 26, 1831, named for Colonel John Alfred Cuthbert, a Georgia congressman, editor, and judge. The historic Cuthbert Water Tower, erected in 1895, genuinely stands in the middle of U.S. Highway 82 – when the tower was built the road ran south of it, but after downtown streets were repaved in the 1930s and the road’s entrance shifted, the city lacked funds to relocate the tank, so the highway was simply routed around it; the tower’s tank has been dry since a 1909 cyclone.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Randolph County Courthouse – 208 Court Street, Cuthbert, GA | (229) 732-6440; the courthouse was placed on the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2012 “Places in Peril” list due to termite damage and disrepair, and has since been restored.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Randolph County Veterans Services – confirm current contact via randolphcountyga.com.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Randolph County Public Library (Cuthbert) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Andrew College in Cuthbert is genuinely recognized as the second college in the nation to grant degrees to women, and served as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War; two dozen Confederate soldiers who died there are buried in Greenwood Cemetery beneath a life-sized marble soldier sculpture. Cuthbert is the birthplace of jazz bandleader Fletcher Henderson, celebrated each spring at the Fletcher Henderson Jazz Festival, as well as boxer Larry Holmes and NFL player Rosey Grier. The Howard Normal School, founded by the American Missionary Association in 1867, was an important early educational institution for African American residents; its second headmaster, Fletcher Hamilton Henderson Sr., led the school from 1880 to 1942 and was the bandleader’s father.
Notes: Confirm current parks and recreation facilities via randolphcountyga.com.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Randolph County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via randolphcountyga.com.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via randolphcountyga.com; Randolph County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Randolph County Solid Waste / Planning & Zoning – confirm current contact via randolphcountyga.com.
NOTES: Randolph County is the one-hundred-and-twenty-second county completed in Georgia’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuinely quirky Cuthbert Water Tower, standing in the middle of a federal highway, and Cuthbert’s rich musical legacy as Fletcher Henderson’s birthplace, 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 Randolph County
Randolph County is southwest Georgia farming country – peanuts, cotton, timber, and cattle in the flat wiregrass terrain of the coastal plain. Cuthbert, the county seat, is a small city that maintains the basic governmental and commercial functions of a rural county hub. Andrew College, a United Methodist institution founded in 1854 and operating continuously since, provides higher education in a county that would otherwise have no collegiate presence. The college’s survival across 170 years in a small rural county is itself a notable institutional persistence story.
The county’s agricultural economy has contracted alongside mechanization and commodity price cycles that have affected all of south Georgia’s small farming counties. Cuthbert’s downtown reflects the modest but genuine civic investment of a community that has governed itself for nearly two centuries.
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
Randolph County Probate Court: 1 Court Square, Cuthbert, GA 39840 | (229) 732-2216.
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)
112 Court St., Cuthbert, GA 39840
(229) 732-2216
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Randolph County Probate Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Southwest Georgia Genealogical Society (Albany) serves Randolph among 29 Southwest Georgia counties.
Local societies
Southwest Georgia Genealogical Society (see above) is the primary regional resource; no dedicated Randolph-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
Randolph County Probate Court P.O. Box 424, Cuthbert, GA 39840 (229) 732-2671
Judge: Tony C. Thompson. Randolph County was created December 20, 1828, named for John Randolph of Roanoke. Cuthbert is the birthplace of jazz legend Fletcher Henderson.
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 Randolph 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
112 Court St., Cuthbert, GA 39840
(229) 732-2011
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS / VOTER REGISTRATION
112 Court St., Cuthbert, GA 39840
(229) 732-2216
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
GA Dept of Public Health — Southwest
(229) 732-2231
GA DFCS — Randolph
(229) 732-2171
GA Medicaid
(800) 869-1150
Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital (Albany)
phoebeputney.com
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Randolph County Health Department – confirm current contact via randolphcountyga.com.
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Editorial Trust
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Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Cuthbert
Population: 6,800
Area: 431 sq mi
Established: 1828
Tier: 4
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Randolph County facilities via Amazon.
