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Office: Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office – 100 S. Jackson Street, McLeansboro, IL 62859 | (618) 643-2511 | Email: [email protected]. Sheriff elected 2018. County population approximately 9,000 across 432 square miles; no county-operated jail (per Illinois Sheriffs’ Association).
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Hamilton County was devastated on March 18, 1925 by the Tri-State Tornado, the deadliest tornado in recorded U.S. history, which tore across the county destroying dozens of structures. ⚠️ Given this documented history, weather-emergency preparedness content for this county should be handled with care.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: SR-14/142 serve McLeansboro, the county seat and largest city, in the southern Illinois region known locally as “Little Egypt.”
Notes: Hamilton County was formed from White County in 1821, named for Alexander Hamilton, Revolutionary War hero and first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. Land was first registered in the county in 1815. Officials selected land donated by William McLean for the county seat, which was named in his honor.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Hamilton County Courthouse – 100 S. Jackson Street, McLeansboro, IL (built 1938, Art Deco brick, constructed by the Public Works Administration; the county’s third courthouse). Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-4 PM.
Notes: Hamilton County’s courthouse history includes a genuinely remarkable near-half-century gap: an early log cabin courthouse (completed 1821) was replaced by a brick building in 1840, which was destroyed by fire in 1894. For nearly 50 years afterward, the county functioned without a proper courthouse – county business was conducted mostly from rented buildings, with a combined records office and jail on the public square – until the Public Works Administration finally built the current Art Deco courthouse in 1938 during the Great Depression.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Hamilton County Veterans Assistance – confirm current contact via hamiltoncountyil.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
McCoy Memorial Library – 118 South Washington Street, McLeansboro, IL | (618) 643-2125. Dahlgren Public Library – Third and Dale Streets, Dahlgren, IL | (618) 736-2652. The Hamilton County Historical Society, Museum and Genealogy Library shares the McCoy Memorial Library building.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Hamilton County Courthouse (Art Deco, 1938), the Hamilton County Historical Society and Museum, and downtown McLeansboro are the county’s premier heritage attractions.
Notes: The genuine, unusual near-50-year period during which Hamilton County had no functioning courthouse is among the standout local facts covered in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Hamilton County Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via hamiltoncountyil.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via hamiltoncountyil.gov; Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Hamilton County Environmental Health – confirm current contact via hamiltoncountyil.gov.
NOTES: Hamilton County is the thirty-third county completed in Illinois’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, unusual near-50-year period during which Hamilton County had no functioning courthouse is among the standout local facts covered in this project. This entry references the historic 1925 Tri-State Tornado with appropriate care given the loss of life involved. 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 Hamilton County County
Hamilton County is southern Illinois’s oil heritage and Rend Lake gateway county – the petroleum extraction that shaped the county’s 20th-century economy and the large recreational reservoir just to the west define a small rural county where McLeansboro serves the surrounding agricultural and former oil-producing communities.
McLeansboro (the county seat, population ~2,700) is Hamilton County’s governmental hub, a small southern Illinois community on IL-14 whose oil heritage, Rend Lake proximity, and agricultural service role anchor its community identity in the rural southern Illinois interior.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Hamilton County Supervisor of Assessments at 100 S. Jackson Street, McLeansboro, IL 62859, phone 618-643-3313. IL assessed at 33.33% of market value.
Courts & Legal
Hamilton County Circuit Court at 100 S. Jackson Street, McLeansboro, IL 62859, phone 618-643-2721, 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)
100 S. Jackson St., McLeansboro, IL 62859
(618) 643-2721
CIRCUIT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
100 S. Jackson St., McLeansboro, IL 62859
(618) 643-3224
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
100 S. Jackson St., McLeansboro, IL 62859
(618) 643-2721
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Hamilton County Circuit Clerk (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Hamilton County Clerk & Recorder, 100 S. Jackson Street, Room 2, McLeansboro, IL 62859, (618) 643-2721 – separate office holding birth, marriage, and death certificates, deeds, and other recorded instruments.
Local societies
No dedicated Hamilton 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
Hamilton County Circuit Clerk (Second Judicial Circuit) 100 South Jackson Street, McLeansboro, IL 62859 (618) 643-3224
Hamilton County was founded in 1821, named for Alexander Hamilton, and sits in the region of southern Illinois locally known as “Little Egypt.” The current 1938 Art Deco courthouse is the third to serve the county – the county operated without a courthouse for over 40 years after an 1894 fire destroyed its predecessor.
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 Hamilton 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.
NOTE: Hamilton County probate clerks can assist with general procedural questions but cannot provide legal advice on individual situations – that requires an attorney.
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 Hamilton 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
100 S. Jackson St., McLeansboro, IL 62859
(618) 643-2513
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
100 S. Jackson St., McLeansboro, IL 62859
(618) 643-2721
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
100 S. Jackson St., McLeansboro, IL 62859
(618) 643-2721
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Hamilton County Health Dept
(618) 643-3979
IL DCFS — Benton
(618) 438-5321
IL Medicaid
(800) 843-6154
Hamilton Memorial Hospital
hamiltonmemorial.org (McLeansboro)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Hamilton County Health Department – confirm current contact via hamiltoncountyil.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: McLeansboro
Population: 8,200
Area: 435 sq mi
Established: 1821
Public Records
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