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Illinois County
Clark County, Illinois
Casey's World's Largest Things and Illinois's Wabash River border - from Casey's extraordinary collection of World's Largest Things (Casey resident Jim Bolin has constructed over a dozen Guinness World Record-breaking oversized objects in the small town of Casey - the world's largest wind chime, rocking chair, pitchfork, golf tee, knitting needles, and many more - creating a roadside attraction destination that draws visitors from across the country to see a town festooned with gigantic everyday objects) to Clark County's position on the Wabash River border with Indiana and the Lincoln Trail's passage through the county.
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Office: Clark County Sheriff’s Office – 207 N. 5th Street, Marshall, IL 62441 | (217) 826-6393. Sheriff elected 2018, 20 years in law enforcement (per Illinois Sheriffs’ Association). Jail capacity 50 beds.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-70 (Exit 147) and SR-1 serve Marshall, the county seat, situated along the historic National Road, the first major federally built improved highway, near the Indiana state line. Marshall sits on a rise 127 feet above Terre Haute, Indiana – reportedly the highest point of land between Terre Haute and Vandalia, per early government surveys locating the National Road.
Notes: Clark County was formed in 1819 from Crawford County, named for George Rogers Clark, a Revolutionary War officer. At its formation the county was vast, covering roughly a third of Illinois and extending north into present-day Wisconsin, before Pike County (1821) and Fayette County (1821) were carved from its territory.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Clark County Courthouse – 501 Archer Avenue, Marshall, IL (completed 1903, Italian Renaissance Revival, the fifth courthouse in the county’s third seat community; part of the Marshall Business Historic District, National Register of Historic Places since 2013).
Notes: Marshall, founded 1835 by Illinois politician William B. Archer and named for Chief Justice John Marshall, became county seat in 1838. Abraham Lincoln was a genuine, frequent visitor to Marshall and the county: his first documented county visit involved buying seed corn at nearby Walnut Prairie; he later returned to give a campaign speech for Whig gubernatorial candidate Joseph Duncan from the corner building on the town square, staying two weeks as a guest of Marshall’s first resident, John Bartlett – whose son Archer reportedly beat Lincoln in a game of quoits during the visit. Lincoln Trail State Park (1,023 acres, dedicated 1958), just south of Marshall, is named in his honor.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Clark County Veterans Assistance – confirm current contact via clarkcountyil.org.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Marshall Public Library (Marshall) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Lincoln Trail State Park (1,023 acres, named for Lincoln), the Marshall Business Historic District, and the Clark County Courthouse are the county’s premier heritage and recreational attractions.
Notes: The genuine, well-documented Abraham Lincoln visits to Marshall – including a personal anecdote involving a game of quoits – are among the standout local historical facts covered in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Clark County Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via clarkcountyil.org.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via clarkcountyil.org; Clark County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Clark County Environmental Health – confirm current contact via clarkcountyil.org.
NOTES: Clark County is the twelfth county completed in Illinois’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, well-documented Abraham Lincoln visits to Marshall are among the standout local historical 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 Clark County
Clark County is east-central Illinois’s World’s Largest Things county – a community whose Guinness record-breaking oversized sculptures have made tiny Casey one of the most visited roadside attraction destinations in Illinois.
Casey (population ~2,600) is where Jim Bolin has constructed over a dozen Guinness World Record-certified oversized objects beginning in 2011 – the world’s largest rocking chair (56 feet), wind chime (56 feet), knitting needles, pitchfork, golf tee, wooden shoes, and others are scattered throughout the town. The collection has earned national media coverage and draws tens of thousands of visitors annually to a town that otherwise would have little tourism.
Marshall (the county seat, population ~3,500) serves the county’s governmental needs and agricultural community on the Wabash River border.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Clark County Assessor at 501 Archer Avenue, Marshall, IL 62441, phone 217-826-6711. IL residential assessed at 33.33% of market value. Appeal to Board of Review.
Courts & Legal
Clark County Circuit Court at 501 Archer Avenue, Marshall, IL 62441, phone 217-826-8311, 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)
501 Archer Ave., Marshall, IL 62441
(217) 826-8311
CIRCUIT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
501 Archer Ave., Marshall, IL 62441
(217) 826-2510
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
501 Archer Ave., Marshall, IL 62441
(217) 826-8311
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Clark County Circuit Clerk (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Clark 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
Clark County Circuit Clerk 501 Archer Avenue, Marshall, IL 62441 (217) 826-8713 Clark County sits on the Indiana border in east-central Illinois.
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 Clark 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 Clark 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
501 Archer Ave., Marshall, IL 62441
(217) 826-5312
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
501 Archer Ave., Marshall, IL 62441
(217) 826-8311
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
501 Archer Ave., Marshall, IL 62441
(217) 826-8311
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Clark County Health Dept
(217) 826-6911
IL DCFS — Paris
(217) 466-6720
IL Medicaid
(800) 843-6154
Paris Community Hospital
pchealthcare.org (Paris, IL)
Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center (Mattoon)
sarahbush.org
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Clark County Health Department – confirm current contact via clarkcountyil.org.
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