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Georgia · South Georgia · #578
Tift County, Georgia
On the coastal plain at the heart of Georgia's agricultural belt, Tifton is the research capital of south Georgia agriculture - where Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and the University of Georgia's Tifton Campus have made the small city an outsized contributor to the science of how the South grows its food.
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Office: Tift County Sheriff’s Office – Tifton, GA | (229) 388-6020 (24 hours); Sheriff Gene Scarbrough, who reorganized the Court, Transport, and Civil Process Divisions under unified command in 2016. The office has served the community since 1905.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-75 and US-82 serve Tifton, the county seat and largest city, principal city of the Tifton Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Notes: Tift County was created August 17, 1905, named for Henry Harding Tift, who founded Tifton in 1872 after purchasing approximately 65,000 acres of virgin pine timberland in South Georgia’s Wiregrass Region. Tift built a sawmill and worker’s village, then expanded into turpentine production and barrel-making before transforming his cleared timberlands into diversified farmland growing cotton, corn, livestock, fruit, tobacco, pecans, and sweet potatoes – a genuinely notable entrepreneurial transformation of the local economy.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Tift County Courthouse – Tifton, GA (built 1912-13, Beaux Arts, architects W.A. Edwards and J.F. Jenkins & Co.; National Register of Historic Places since 1980).
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Tift County Veterans Services – confirm current contact via tiftcounty.org.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Tift County Public Library (Tifton) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The historic 1912-13 Beaux Arts courthouse anchors downtown Tifton, itself founded by county namesake Henry Tift as a company town for his lumber and agricultural enterprises.
Notes: Confirm current parks and recreation facilities via tiftcounty.org.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Tift County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via tiftcounty.org.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via tiftcounty.org; Tift County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Tift County Solid Waste / Planning & Zoning – confirm current contact via tiftcounty.org.
NOTES: Tift County is the one-hundred-and-thirty-ninth county completed in Georgia’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. Henry Tift’s genuine entrepreneurial transformation of virgin pine forest into a diversified agricultural economy 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 Tift County
Tifton’s position in American agricultural science is disproportionate to its size. The University of Georgia’s Tifton Campus – operating research farms, extension programs, and graduate education – has been producing applied agricultural research on peanuts, tobacco, cotton, vegetables, and turfgrass for more than a century, and the results have shaped farming practices across the southeastern United States. Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, part of the University System of Georgia, trains the agricultural and technical workforce for the region’s farming economy. The Georgia Museum of Agriculture, operated by ABAC, preserves the equipment and practices of south Georgia farming history in one of the best agricultural museums in the state.
Tifton’s agricultural economy – peanuts, cotton, blueberries, pecans, and vegetables – anchors the county’s economic base alongside healthcare (Tift Regional Medical Center, part of Wellstar). The city’s I-75 position has attracted distribution and logistics operations. Tift County’s character is genuinely agricultural in a way that increasingly few counties can claim – farming remains a primary economic activity, not merely a heritage industry.
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, then to the Board of Equalization. Georgia offers school tax exemptions for seniors 62 and older. Georgia has no estate or inheritance tax.
Courts & Legal
Courts & Legal
SENIOR SERVICES
Southwest Georgia Area Agency on Aging
P.O. Box 346, Camilla, GA 31730
Phone: (229) 522-3552
Senior transportation, Meals on Wheels, caregiver support, and long-term care counseling for Tift County residents.
Senior Services
Southwest Georgia Area Agency on Aging
P.O. Box 346, Camilla, GA 31730
Phone: (229) 522-3552
Senior transportation, Meals on Wheels, caregiver support, and long-term care counseling for Tift 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)
225 N. Tift Ave., Tifton, GA 31794
(229) 386-7850
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Tift County Probate Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Southwest Georgia Genealogical Society (Albany) officially serves Tift among its 29-county region.
Local societies
Southwest Georgia Genealogical Society (see above) is the primary regional resource; no dedicated Tift-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
Tift County Probate Court 225 Tift Avenue S, #117, Tifton, GA 31794 (mailing: P.O. Box 792, Tifton, GA 31793) (229) 386-7914
Judge: Hon. Suzanne Carter Johnson. Hours: Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Tifton is home to Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.
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 Tift 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
225 N. Tift Ave., Tifton, GA 31794
(229) 388-6020
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS / VOTER REGISTRATION
225 N. Tift Ave., Tifton, GA 31794
(229) 386-7810
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
GA Dept of Public Health — South Central
(229) 386-7680
GA DFCS — Tift
(229) 386-3100
GA Medicaid
(800) 869-1150
Tift Regional Medical Center
tiftregional.com (Tifton — major regional hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Tift County Health Department – confirm current contact via tiftcounty.org.
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Editorial Trust
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Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Tifton
Population: 40,000
Area: 268 sq mi
Established: 1905
Tier: 4
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Tift County facilities via Amazon.
