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Office: Wheeler County Sheriff’s Office – 21 West Forest Avenue, Alamo, GA 30411 | (912) 568-7107, providing patrol, criminal investigations, court duties, and detention services, including for incorporated communities that contract for coverage.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Wheeler County Jail is located on Forest Avenue, Alamo; the county is also home to Wheeler Correctional Facility, a state facility operated by CoreCivic under contract.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-221 and SR-46 serve Alamo, the county seat and largest city, in Wheeler County’s “three rivers” region, framed by the Little Ocmulgee River to the west, the Oconee River to the east, and the Ocmulgee River to the south.
Notes: Wheeler County was created via constitutional amendment proposed August 14, 1912, and ratified November 5, 1912, from Montgomery County, Georgia’s 148th county, named for General Joseph Wheeler, a Confederate cavalry commander who later served as a Major General in the Spanish-American War – famously called “a regular gamecock” by Teddy Roosevelt for his conduct at Santiago. The area’s earliest inhabitants were the Lower Muscogee (Creek) Nation; most early white settlers arrived from North Carolina shortly after the Revolutionary War. Alamo, incorporated in 1909, grew around a railroad depot established in 1890 and takes its name from the Alamo mission in Texas – a name suggested by Christina McCrae Brightto, daughter of prominent local landowner and future state senator Judge John McCrae, after “McCrae” itself had originally been proposed for the town.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Wheeler County Courthouse – 119 Pearl Street, Alamo, GA (built 1917, Neoclassical, architect Frank P. Milburn; National Register of Historic Places since 1980), a brick building with a columned facade on all four sides, restored in 1961. It is the county’s second courthouse – the original 1914 building, designed by Ed Hosford as his final Georgia courthouse commission, burned down in 1916.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Wheeler County Veterans Services – confirm current contact via wheelercounty.org.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Wheeler County Public Library (Alamo) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The historic 1917 Wheeler County Courthouse anchors downtown Alamo. Glenwood, incorporated in 1908, is the county’s other municipality. The surrounding “three rivers” landscape offers fishing and outdoor recreation along the Little Ocmulgee, Oconee, and Ocmulgee Rivers.
Notes: Confirm current parks and recreation facilities via wheelercounty.org.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Wheeler County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via wheelercounty.org.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via wheelercounty.org; Wheeler County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Wheeler County Solid Waste / Planning & Zoning – confirm current contact via wheelercounty.org.
NOTES: Wheeler County is the one-hundred-and-fifty-fifth county completed in Georgia’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. Alamo’s genuine namesake connection to the Texas mission and General Wheeler’s colorful Teddy Roosevelt nickname 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 Wheeler County County
Wheeler County is southeast Georgia’s Ocmulgee River and coastal plain timber county – the river’s bottomland cypress and tupelo and the surrounding pine flatwoods define a small coastal plain community where Alamo serves the county’s rural population in the agricultural and timber landscape between Dublin and Vidalia.
Alamo (the county seat, population ~2,200) is Wheeler County’s governmental hub, a small southeast Georgia coastal plain community on US 280 whose timber economy, Ocmulgee River access, and courthouse anchor its identity.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Wheeler County Tax Assessor at 16 Key Street, Alamo, GA 30411, phone 912-568-7924. GA assessed at 40% of fair market value.
Courts & Legal
Wheeler County Probate Court at 16 Key Street, Alamo, GA 30411, phone 912-568-7137, handles probate.
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)
16 West Pearl St., Alamo, GA 30411
(912) 568-7137
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Wheeler County Probate Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Wheeler 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
Wheeler County Probate Court 16 Pearl Avenue, #103, Alamo, GA 30411 Judge: Hon. Roy O. Braswell, Jr.
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 Wheeler 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
16 West Pearl St., Alamo, GA 30411
(912) 568-7141
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS / VOTER REGISTRATION
16 West Pearl St., Alamo, GA 30411
(912) 568-7137
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
GA Dept of Public Health — Southeast
(912) 568-7170
GA DFCS — Wheeler
(912) 568-7170
GA Medicaid
(800) 869-1150
Meadows Regional Medical Center (Vidalia)
meadowsregional.com
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Wheeler County Health Department – confirm current contact via wheelercounty.org.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Alamo
Population: 7,800
Area: 299 sq mi
Established: 1912
Public Records
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Search public records for Wheeler County County residents.
