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Georgia · East Georgia · #675
Screven County, Georgia
On the Savannah River plain in east Georgia where the coastal plain transitions toward the South Carolina border, Screven County's Sylvania is a small county seat in the tobacco and timber belt - a community that serves its agricultural region with the straightforward reliability of a south Georgia county that knows what it grows.
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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: Screven County Sheriff’s Office – 202 Rocky Ford Road, Sylvania, GA 30467 | (912) 564-2013; Sheriff Norman Royal.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. To place funds on an inmate’s account, mail a money order to the Sheriff’s Office made out to SCSO with the inmate’s name noted; money orders may also be dropped off in the office lobby. Burn permits for areas outside Sylvania city limits require contacting Georgia Forestry at (912) 564-7726.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-301 and SR-21 serve Sylvania, the county seat and largest city, nicknamed “The Welcome Station City” and carrying the motto “The Azalea & Dogwood City” for its notable dogwood, pine, and oak flora.
Notes: Screven County was created December 14, 1793, named for General James Screven, who died fighting in Georgia during the Revolutionary War (early accounts sometimes spelled his name “Scriven,” reflected on some 19th-century Georgia maps). The first county seat and courthouse were located at the home of Benjamin Lanier, at what is now Rocky Ford; the seat moved to Sylvania in 1847 by act of the state legislature. The current courthouse, built in 1964, is the fourth to serve the county.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Screven County Courthouse – Sylvania, GA (built 1964, the county’s fourth courthouse).
Notes: The Georgia Welcome Center (8463 U.S. 301/Burton’s Ferry Highway, Sylvania, built 1961, dedicated January 1962, architect Edwin C. Eckles; National Register of Historic Places since 2011) is genuinely the first welcome center ever built in Georgia, predating the Interstate Highway System’s arrival along the Georgia coast, and is reportedly the oldest roadside welcome center still in active use in the United States.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Screven County Veterans Services – confirm current contact via screvencountyboc.com.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Screven County Public Library (Sylvania) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The historic Georgia Welcome Center is a genuinely distinctive landmark for the state. Other National Register of Historic Places sites in the county include the Seaborn Goodall House (built 1815, now owned by the Daughters of the American Revolution), the Harris-Murrow-Trowell House in Oliver (built circa 1888), and the Samuel Shepard Lines House (built 1857, Plantation Plain style, destroyed by fire in 1986).
Notes: Confirm current parks and recreation facilities via screvencountyboc.com.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Screven County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via screvencountyboc.com.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via screvencountyboc.com; Screven County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Screven County Solid Waste / Planning & Zoning – confirm current contact via screvencountyboc.com.
NOTES: Screven County is the one-hundred-and-twenty-sixth county completed in Georgia’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine distinction of hosting Georgia’s very first welcome center, still in active use today, is 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 Screven County
Screven County occupies the Savannah River plain east of Augusta – a coastal plain landscape of tobacco, cotton, timber, and cattle that transitions toward the South Carolina border and the Savannah River swamp. Sylvania, the county seat, provides basic county governmental and commercial services for a farming community that has navigated the contraction of tobacco agriculture – once the county’s primary cash crop – toward more diversified agricultural activities. The county’s proximity to the Silver Bluff Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary across the river in South Carolina adds an ecological resource that birders access from the Georgia side. Conservation Use land enrollment covers substantial portions of the county’s timber land.
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
Screven County Probate Court: 216 Mims Road, Sylvania, GA 30467 | (912) 564-2013. 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)
216 Mims Rd., Sylvania, GA 30467
(912) 564-2133
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Probate Court of Screven County (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Screven 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 Screven County 216 Mims Road, Sylvania, GA 30467 (912) 564-2783
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 Screven 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
216 Mims Rd., Sylvania, GA 30467
(912) 564-7635
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS / VOTER REGISTRATION
216 Mims Rd., Sylvania, GA 30467
(912) 564-2013
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
GA Dept of Public Health — East Central
(912) 564-7535
GA DFCS — Screven
(912) 564-7538
GA Medicaid
(800) 869-1150
Optim Medical Center (Sylvania)
optimhealth.com/sylvania
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Screven County Health Department – confirm current contact via screvencountyboc.com.
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Editorial Trust
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Sylvania
Population: 14,000
Area: 650 sq mi
Established: 1793
Tier: 4
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Screven County facilities via Amazon.
