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Georgia · Southwest Georgia · #648
Webster County, Georgia
One of Georgia's smallest counties by population, Webster County's Preston provides the governmental functions that a farming community requires - property assessment, court services, and the basic infrastructure of county life - in one of the state's most quietly rural addresses.
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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: Webster County Sheriff’s Office – 175 Montgomery Street, Preston, GA 31824, with 19 sworn deputies, 3 civil clerks, a civil process server, 24 correctional officers, and a reserve unit.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Fingerprinting for firearms licenses and other purposes requires a prior appointment with the Sheriff’s Office.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-27 and SR-41 serve Preston, the county seat and largest community.
Notes: Webster County was created December 16, 1853, as Kinchafoonee County, from eastern Stewart County; a February 21, 1856 legislative act renamed it Webster in honor of Daniel Webster, the noted New England orator and statesman. Webster County is genuinely the third-least populous county in Georgia. The county’s economy centers on agriculture and forestry, with abundant deer, quail, turkey, and dove hunting and numerous farm ponds stocked with bream, bass, and catfish across a landscape that fades from rolling hills and pine and hardwood tracts in the north to farmland further south.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Webster County Courthouse – Courthouse Square, Preston, GA (built 1914-15, Neoclassical/Classical Revival, architect T.F. Lockwood Sr., builders Shields, Geise, Rawlings; National Register of Historic Places since 1980), a two-story red-brick building whose white cupola was added after the attack on Pearl Harbor – local civil defense volunteers stood watch there daily until the end of World War II.
Notes: The Webster County Jails (intersection of Montgomery and Goare Streets, Preston; National Register of Historic Places since 2000) comprise two structures: the original c.1856 hand-hewn log jail, which has been relocated several times and once housed prisoner Susan Eberhart – the second and last woman ever hanged in the state of Georgia, executed May 2, 1873 – and a c.1910 brick jail built by the Stewart Jail Works Co.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Webster County Veterans Services – confirm current contact via webstercountyga.org.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Webster County Public Library (Preston) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The historic Webster County Courthouse, with its WWII-era civil defense cupola, and the Old and New Webster County Jails are notable local heritage sites. Farm ponds throughout the county offer recreational fishing, and the surrounding woodlands support popular hunting for deer, quail, turkey, and dove.
Notes: Confirm current parks and recreation facilities via webstercountyga.org.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Webster County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via webstercountyga.org.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via webstercountyga.org; Webster County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Webster County Solid Waste / Planning & Zoning – confirm current contact via webstercountyga.org.
NOTES: Webster County is the one-hundred-and-fifty-fourth county completed in Georgia’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The courthouse’s genuine WWII civil defense watch tradition, along with the documented history of the historic Old Jail, are among the standout local facts covered in this project; a sensitive historical execution is noted factually and briefly. 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 Webster County
Webster County is among Georgia’s smallest counties by population – a small farming community in southwest Georgia’s wiregrass country whose economy is agricultural: peanuts, cotton, timber, and cattle in the flat coastal plain terrain between Albany and Americus. Preston, the county seat, maintains the minimal governmental infrastructure that Georgia law requires of its counties. The county has no significant institutional employer and its population has declined from earlier peaks, reflecting the agricultural employment contraction that has affected small rural counties across the Southeast.
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
Webster County Probate Court: 1 Courthouse Square, Preston, GA 31824 | (229) 828-3525. Conservation Use land enrollment is critical for landowners in this largely agricultural county.
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)
6330 GA-41, Preston, GA 31824
(229) 828-3525
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Webster County Probate Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Southwest Georgia Genealogical Society (Albany) officially serves Webster among its 29-county region.
Local societies
Southwest Georgia Genealogical Society (see above) is the primary regional resource; no dedicated Webster-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
Webster County Probate Court 6330 Hamilton Street, Room 101, Preston, GA 31824
Judge: Hon. J.H. Jimmy Bankston. Webster County was created in 1853 (originally named Kinchafoonee County, renamed for Daniel Webster in 1856) and is Georgia’s third-least populous county. The 1914 Webster County Courthouse (Classical Revival, National Register of Historic Places) sits in Preston.
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 Webster 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
6330 GA-41, Preston, GA 31824
(229) 828-3525
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS / VOTER REGISTRATION
6330 GA-41, Preston, GA 31824
(229) 828-3525
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
GA Dept of Public Health — West Central
(229) 828-3525
GA DFCS — Webster
(229) 828-3525
GA Medicaid
(800) 869-1150
Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital (Albany)
phoebeputney.com
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Webster County Health Department – confirm current contact via webstercountyga.org.
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Editorial Trust
5 official sources cited
Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Preston
Population: 2,600
Area: 210 sq mi
Established: 1853
Tier: 4
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Webster County facilities via Amazon.
