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Office: Henderson County Sheriff’s Office – 113 N. 4th Street, Oquawka, IL 61469 | (309) 867-4291 / (309) 867-4292. Jail capacity 14 beds.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: SR-164/94 serve Oquawka, the county seat, part of the Burlington, Iowa-Illinois Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Notes: Henderson County was formed in April 1841 from a portion of Warren County. Sources differ on the namesake: the county is variously said to be named for the Henderson River (itself echoing Henderson, Kentucky, home to many pioneer settlers) or for Richard Henderson. Treaties with local Native Americans date to 1804, but cruelty by early squatters provoked conflict, and land in the western part of the county did not become available for sale until 1829. Oquawka was platted in 1836 and, by 1838, was prosperous enough to attempt (unsuccessfully) to become the county seat of Warren County before Henderson County’s own creation gave it that role permanently.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Henderson County Courthouse – 307 Warren Street, Oquawka, IL (built 1842, later expanded, still in continuous use as the county’s original and only courthouse).
Notes: The Henderson County Courthouse has genuinely withstood repeated attempts by other towns over nearly two centuries to strip Oquawka of its county-seat status – it remains in continuous use since 1842 despite the challenges. Early county land for government business was donated by commissioner Alexis Phelps, who along with others had reserved the land five years earlier when founding the town.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Henderson County Veterans Assistance – confirm current contact via county offices.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Oquawka Public Library (Oquawka) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Delabar State Park, the Henderson County Courthouse, and Oquawka’s lake and island areas (Island Lake, White House Lake, Benton Island, Mill Island) are the county’s premier heritage and recreational attractions.
Notes: The genuine, nearly two-century resilience of the Henderson County Courthouse against repeated county-seat challenges is among the standout local facts covered in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Henderson County Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via county offices.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via county offices; Henderson County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Henderson County Environmental Health – confirm current contact via county offices.
NOTES: Henderson County is the thirty-sixth county completed in Illinois’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, nearly two-century resilience of the Henderson County Courthouse against repeated county-seat challenges 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 Henderson County County
Henderson County is western Illinois’s Mississippi River and elephant-in-the-town-square county – the Great River Road’s scenic upper Mississippi corridor with its exceptional waterfowl habitat and Oquawka’s lightning-struck circus elephant buried in the town square define a small river county whose natural assets and quirky history give it a character well beyond its modest size.
Oquawka (the county seat, population ~1,400) is Henderson County’s governmental hub on the Mississippi River, a small western Illinois river community whose elephant grave, Great River Road access, and Mississippi waterfowl hunting anchor its community identity.
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Henderson County Supervisor of Assessments at 307 Warren Street, Oquawka, IL 61469, phone 309-867-3291. IL assessed at 33.33% of market value.
Courts & Legal
Henderson County Circuit Court at 307 Warren Street, Oquawka, IL 61469, phone 309-867-3121, 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)
307 Warren St., Oquawka, IL 61469
(309) 867-3121
CIRCUIT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
307 Warren St., Oquawka, IL 61469
(309) 867-3911
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
307 Warren St., Oquawka, IL 61469
(309) 867-3121
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Henderson County Circuit Clerk (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Henderson 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
Henderson County Circuit Clerk (9th Judicial Circuit) 307 Warren Street, Oquawka, IL 61469 (309) 867-3121 Henderson County is a small, rural county on the Mississippi River in west-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 Henderson 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 Henderson 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
307 Warren St., Oquawka, IL 61469
(309) 867-2231
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
307 Warren St., Oquawka, IL 61469
(309) 867-3121
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
307 Warren St., Oquawka, IL 61469
(309) 867-3121
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Henderson County Health Dept
(309) 867-2911
IL DCFS — Macomb
(309) 833-4235
IL Medicaid
(800) 843-6154
OSF Holy Family Medical Center (Monmouth)
osfsaintanthony.org
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Henderson County Health Department – confirm current contact via county offices.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Oquawka
Population: 6,500
Area: 379 sq mi
Established: 1841
Public Records
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