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Illinois County
Boone County, Illinois
Belvidere's Chrysler assembly plant and Boone County's manufacturing-agricultural balance - from the Belvidere Assembly Plant (a Stellantis - formerly Chrysler - vehicle manufacturing facility that has been one of Boone County's most significant employers since 1965, producing Dodge Darts, Plymouth Satellites, and most recently Jeep Cherokee and Compass models - the plant's periodic layoffs and recalls have made it a barometer of the American auto industry's health) to Boone County's productive northern Illinois agricultural landscape and its position as a Chicago exurban community absorbing residential growth.
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Office: Boone County Sheriff’s Office – 615 N. Main Street, Belvidere, IL 61008 | (815) 544-9322; Sheriff Scott Yunk, over three decades of law enforcement experience. Serving roughly 54,165 residents across 844 square miles. Hours: Mon-Fri 8:30 AM-5 PM. Housed in the Public Safety Building shared with the Belvidere Police Department. Boone County Adult Detention Facility, capacity 150, medium-security, direct-supervision model, Jail Superintendent Lt. Jodi Ewers.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-90 and US-20 serve Belvidere, the county seat, settled on the Kishwaukee River in far northern Illinois, part of the Rockford metropolitan area.
Notes: Before Anglo-American settlement, the area was long occupied by the Illinois Confederation, a loose grouping of up to 12 to 15 Native American tribes. Belvidere was renamed for Belvidere, Virginia, the former home of railroad lawyer and city financial founder Ebenezer Polk, after new residents struggled with the originally proposed name.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Boone County Courthouse – Belvidere, IL.
Notes: Belvidere is genuinely known as the “City of Murals,” with numerous public art installations throughout its North and South State Street Historic Districts (both National Register of Historic Places). Belvidere has real automotive manufacturing heritage: the Belvidere Assembly Plant produced Chrysler vehicles for decades, and the Boone County Museum of History displays the first chassis to come off that plant’s line – a 1965 Plymouth Fury II, donated early on by Chrysler – alongside a 1904 Eldredge Runabout built locally by the National Sewing Machine Company. The museum, established 1968, also acquired the historic 1906 Funderburg House mansion in 2020.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Boone County Veterans Assistance – confirm current contact via boonecountyil.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Belvidere Public Library District (Belvidere) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Boone County Museum of History, the Funderburg House Museum, Belvidere’s North and South State Street Historic Districts, and the annual Heritage Days festival are the county’s premier heritage and cultural attractions.
Notes: The genuine automotive manufacturing legacy tied to the Chrysler Belvidere Assembly Plant, preserved at the Boone County Museum of History, is among the standout local facts covered in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Boone County Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via boonecountyil.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via boonecountyil.gov; Boone County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Boone County Environmental Health – confirm current contact via boonecountyil.gov.
NOTES: Boone County is the fourth county completed in Illinois’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine automotive manufacturing legacy tied to the Chrysler Belvidere Assembly Plant 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 Boone County
Boone County is northern Illinois’s automotive manufacturing and agricultural county – a community whose Chrysler assembly plant and Chicago exurban growth create an unusual economic combination.
Belvidere (the county seat, population ~25,000) has been shaped by the Chrysler/Stellantis assembly plant since 1965. The plant – which produced over 5 million vehicles across six decades – has been one of northern Illinois’s most significant manufacturing employers, and its periodic production changes have directly affected the regional economy.
Boone County’s agricultural landscape of corn and soybeans reflects the productive glacial till soils of northern Illinois, while residential growth from the Chicago and Rockford metros has added suburban character to the county’s southern communities.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Boone County Assessor at 1212 Logan Avenue, Suite 300, Belvidere, IL 61008, phone 815-544-2986. IL residential assessed at 33.33% of market value. Appeal to Board of Review.
Courts & Legal
Boone County Circuit Court at 601 N. Main Street, Belvidere, IL 61008, phone 815-544-0371, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
1212 Logan Ave., Suite 103, Belvidere, IL 61008
(815) 544-2666
CIRCUIT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
601 N. Main St., Belvidere, IL 61008
(815) 544-0371
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
1212 Logan Ave., Suite 103, Belvidere, IL 61008
(815) 544-2666
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Boone County Circuit Clerk (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Boone 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
Boone County Circuit Clerk (Seventeenth Judicial Circuit) 601 North Main Street, Belvidere, IL 61008 (815) 544-0371
Boone County’s original 1854-1855 Italianate courthouse still stands in Belvidere, though county administrative offices moved to a separate building in 2009.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Illinois has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code and is not a community property state – it follows common law property principles. Illinois probate is governed by the Probate Act of 1975 (755 ILCS 5/). Two main paths:
Small Estate Affidavit – for estates where personal property (excluding real estate) is valued at $150,000 or less (raised from $100,000 effective August 15, 2025), with no unresolved debts or claims and no real estate involved. No formal court probate is required.
Formal Probate (Independent or Supervised Administration) – required when the estate doesn’t qualify for the small estate affidavit. Most Illinois probate cases proceed under Independent Administration, letting the estate representative act without prior court approval for most routine actions.
Step 2: filing for formal probate
File the decedent’s original will (if one exists) with the Boone County Circuit Clerk, where the decedent resided at death.
Petition the court to open the estate and appoint an executor (if there’s a will) or an administrator (if intestate).
The court issues Letters of Office (Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration) appointing the representative.
Publish notice to creditors and unknown heirs as required by Illinois law.
Under Independent Administration, the representative marshals assets, pays valid debts and taxes, and distributes the remaining estate without needing court approval for each step.
File a final accounting or closing documents to formally close the estate.
What it costs
Illinois imposes its own state estate tax on estates valued above $4 million, with rates up to 16%. There is no Illinois inheritance tax.
Filing fees vary by county – confirm current amounts with the Boone County Circuit Clerk.
Most uncontested probate proceedings in Illinois can be completed within about a year.
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
615 N. Main St., Belvidere, IL 61008
(815) 544-2147
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
1212 Logan Ave., Suite 103, Belvidere, IL 61008
(815) 544-2666
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
1212 Logan Ave., Suite 103, Belvidere, IL 61008
(815) 544-2666
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Boone County Health Dept
(815) 544-2951
IL DCFS — Belvidere
(815) 547-5606
IL Medicaid
(800) 843-6154
SwedishAmerican Hospital (Rockford)
swedishamerican.org
OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center (Rockford)
osfsaintanthony.org
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Boone County Health Department – confirm current contact via boonecountyil.gov.
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