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Roads: SR-33/130 serve Newton, the county seat and only city in Jasper County.
Notes: Jasper County was formed in 1831 (fully organized by 1834-1835) when the Illinois General Assembly divided the inconveniently large Crawford County into three counties. No suitable existing community lay within the new county’s boundaries, so a three-man commission was appointed to choose a location for a new seat, to be named Newton. Early settler Louis W. Jordan donated the chosen land, reportedly aware that doing so would raise the value of his remaining property; his own house served as an early government meeting place.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Jasper County Courthouse – 100 W. Jourdan Street, Newton, IL (built 1876, the county’s third courthouse). The first courthouse was a rude log building that also served as a church and schoolhouse and reportedly lasted into the 1880s even after the county sold it.
Notes: Jasper County holds a genuinely interesting namesake story tied to American Revolutionary War lore: it’s named for Sergeant William Jasper, a real South Carolina hero who, during the 1776 defense of Fort Moultrie, famously re-attached the American flag to a temporary staff and waved it at British forces after the original staff was shot away. Newton, the county seat, is separately named for Sergeant John Newton – though, per historical research, contemporary accounts of Newton’s famous heroic rescue are unreliable, stemming largely from the romanticized (and now-discredited) writings of Parson Mason Locke Weems; one period account even called Newton “a thief and a villain.” Jasper and Newton counties or towns appear paired together across several U.S. states, a pattern traced directly to Weems’s storytelling.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Jasper County Veterans Assistance – confirm current contact via jaspercountyillinois.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Newton Public Library – 100 South Van Buren Street, Newton, IL | (618) 783-8141. Jasper County Historical and Genealogical Society shares this address.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Jasper County Courthouse and downtown Newton are the county’s premier heritage attractions.
Notes: The genuine, historically layered story behind the Jasper-Newton naming pair – a real hero and a romanticized, likely-exaggerated one – is among the standout local facts covered in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Jasper County Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via jaspercountyillinois.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via jaspercountyillinois.gov; Jasper County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Jasper County Environmental Health – confirm current contact via jaspercountyillinois.gov.
NOTES: Jasper County is the fortieth county completed in Illinois’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, historically layered story behind the Jasper-Newton naming pair 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 Jasper County County
Jasper County is east-central Illinois’s Embarras River and oil heritage county – the river that locals pronounce “Ambraw” and the petroleum production that diversified the county’s agricultural economy define a quietly rural community where Newton serves the surrounding farming communities in the flat prairie landscape near the Indiana border.
Newton (the county seat, population ~2,800) is Jasper County’s governmental hub on US 50, a small east-central Illinois agricultural community whose Embarras River access, oil heritage, and agricultural service role anchor its identity between Effingham and the Wabash River.
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Jasper County Supervisor of Assessments at 100 W. Jourdan Street, Newton, IL 62448, phone 618-783-2722. IL assessed at 33.33% of market value.
Courts & Legal
Jasper County Circuit Court at 100 W. Jourdan Street, Newton, IL 62448, phone 618-783-2524, 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 W. Jourdan St., Newton, IL 62448
(618) 783-3124
CIRCUIT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
100 W. Jourdan St., Newton, IL 62448
(618) 783-2524
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
100 W. Jourdan St., Newton, IL 62448
(618) 783-3124
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Jasper County Circuit Clerk (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Jasper 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
Jasper County Circuit Clerk (Fourth Judicial Circuit) 100 West Jourdan Street, Newton, IL 62448 (618) 783-2524
The Fourth Judicial Circuit also includes Christian, Clay, Clinton, Effingham, Fayette, Marion, Montgomery, and Shelby Counties.
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 Jasper 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 Jasper 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 W. Jourdan St., Newton, IL 62448
(618) 783-3925
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
100 W. Jourdan St., Newton, IL 62448
(618) 783-3124
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
100 W. Jourdan St., Newton, IL 62448
(618) 783-3124
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Jasper County Health Dept
(618) 783-2524
IL DCFS — Olney
(618) 392-7530
IL Medicaid
(800) 843-6154
Richland Memorial Hospital (Olney)
richlandmemorial.org
Crawford Memorial Hospital (Robinson)
crawfordmh.net
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Jasper County Health Department – confirm current contact via jaspercountyillinois.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Newton
Population: 9,500
Area: 496 sq mi
Established: 1831
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Jasper County County residents.
