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Georgia · South Georgia · #644
Turner County, Georgia
In the peanut belt of south Georgia, Ashburn is home to the Georgia Peanut Commission - the industry's statewide advocacy and research organization - in a county whose sandy loam soils and long growing season have made peanut production the defining agricultural activity for well over a century.
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Office: Turner County Sheriff’s Office – Ashburn, GA | (229) 567-2401.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-319 and US-82 serve Ashburn, the county seat and largest city.
Notes: Turner County was created August 18, 1905, from parts of Irwin, Wilcox, Worth, and Dooly Counties, Georgia’s 145th county, named for Captain Henry Gray Turner, a Confederate veteran captured by Union troops at Gettysburg, who later served in the state legislature, U.S. Congress (1881-97), and as a Georgia Supreme Court justice. Ashburn began as the town of Marion, founded in 1888 and renamed upon incorporation in 1890 for W.W. Ashburn, a bank president and pioneer landowner whose sawmill and real estate development fueled the town’s growth ahead of the arriving railroad. Around 1855, the Battle of Sandy Sink was fought roughly two miles east of Cool Springs against Native American forces led by Billy Bowlegs during the Seminole Wars era.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Turner County Courthouse – 219 East College Avenue, Ashburn, GA | (229) 567-2011 (built 1907-08, Classical Revival with Neo-Georgian and Colonial Revival influences, architects Alexander Blair III and Peter E. Dennis; National Register of Historic Places since 1980).
Notes: The historic Turner County Jail, nicknamed “Turner Castle” (243 College Street, Ashburn, built 1906-07, Romanesque, architects Wagoner & Dobson; National Register of Historic Places since 1982), has been genuinely repurposed as the Crime and Punishment Museum, home to “The Last Meal Cafe.”
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Turner County Veterans Services – confirm current contact via turnercountygeorgia.com.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Victoria Evans Memorial Library – 605 North Street, Ashburn, GA | (912) 567-4027.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Ashburn’s Big Peanut monument, erected in 1975 and designated an official Georgia state monument in 1998, celebrates the city’s status as home to the world’s largest peanut-processing plant; the original statue was destroyed by Hurricane Michael in 2018 and later replaced with a smaller version. Ashburn hosts the annual Fire Ant Festival each March. The Ashburn Commercial Historic District, including the courthouse and the repurposed jail, and the Ashburn Heights and Shingler Heights historic neighborhoods, are notable heritage sites. The Wesleyan Methodist Campground and Tabernacle is another local landmark.
Notes: Confirm current parks and recreation facilities via turnercountygeorgia.com.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Turner County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via turnercountygeorgia.com.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via turnercountygeorgia.com; Turner County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Turner County Solid Waste / Planning & Zoning – confirm current contact via turnercountygeorgia.com.
NOTES: Turner County is the one-hundred-and-forty-fourth county completed in Georgia’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. Ashburn’s genuinely quirky Big Peanut monument and its historic jail’s transformation into the Crime and Punishment 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 Turner County
Turner County’s peanut identity is both agricultural and institutional. The Georgia Peanut Commission, which represents peanut farmers statewide in research, marketing, and advocacy, is headquartered in Ashburn – a fitting location in the heart of Georgia’s peanut producing region. The county’s sandy loam coastal plain soils are well-suited to peanut production, and the crop has anchored the county’s agricultural economy for generations. A giant peanut water tower on I-75 identifies Ashburn to passing motorists with admirable directness.
I-75 through Ashburn provides commercial development opportunity – the interstate’s north-south corridor makes Turner County a logistics consideration for agricultural product movement. But the county remains fundamentally agricultural, and Ashburn’s modest downtown serves the farming community without pretension.
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
Turner County Probate Court: 219 East College Avenue, Ashburn, GA 31714 | (229) 567-2011. 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)
219 E. College Ave., Ashburn, GA 31714
(229) 567-2011
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Turner County Probate Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Southwest Georgia Genealogical Society (Albany) officially serves Turner among its 29-county region.
Local societies
Southwest Georgia Genealogical Society (see above) is the primary regional resource; no dedicated Turner-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
Turner County Probate Court 219 E. College Avenue, #4, Ashburn, GA 31714 Judge: Hon. Penny E. Thomas.
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 Turner 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
219 E. College Ave., Ashburn, GA 31714
(229) 567-4354
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS / VOTER REGISTRATION
219 E. College Ave., Ashburn, GA 31714
(229) 567-2525
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) 567-3409
GA DFCS — Turner
(229) 567-3427
GA Medicaid
(800) 869-1150
Tift Regional Medical Center (Tifton)
tiftregional.com
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Turner County Health Department – confirm current contact via turnercountygeorgia.com.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Ashburn
Population: 8,000
Area: 285 sq mi
Established: 1905
Tier: 4
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Turner County facilities via Amazon.
