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Illinois County
Jersey County, Illinois
Grafton's Great River Road and the Illinois River confluence - from Grafton's extraordinary position at the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers (the village of Grafton sits at the point where the Illinois River meets the Mississippi - a dramatic natural convergence visible from the limestone bluffs above town, making it one of Illinois's most scenically spectacular small communities) to Pere Marquette State Park (Illinois's largest state park, whose limestone bluffs rising 350 feet above the Illinois River provide some of the finest hiking and scenic views in the state) and Grafton's winery and resort economy.
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Office: Jersey County Sheriff’s Office – 114 N. Washington Street, Jerseyville, IL 62052 | (618) 498-6881; Sheriff Nick Manns. Jail capacity 44-58 beds (sources vary), a regional medium-security facility staffed by 73 personnel offering GED, computer education, financial/anger management, and substance abuse programming for inmates.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: SR-67/109/16 serve Jerseyville, the county seat and largest city, part of the Greater St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area. Jersey County lies just northeast of where the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers meet.
Notes: Jersey County was formed February 28, 1839, from Greene County, genuinely named for the state of New Jersey. The connection is direct: the small settlement around John Falkner’s home, originally known as Hickory Grove, was surveyed and platted in 1834 by three New Jersey transplants – John Lott, Edward M. Daly, and Brandon F. Kennedy (alongside Mason A. Roberts) – who spurred a proportionally large wave of New Jersey merchants and settlers to the area. A town meeting held at the “Little Red House” chose the name Jerseyville to honor the native state of many residents.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Jersey County Courthouse – 201 W. Pearl Street, Jerseyville, IL (built 1893-1894, Romanesque, 124 feet tall, architect Henry Elliot, built by F.W. Menke; the third courthouse since the county’s 1839 formation; National Register of Historic Places since 1986).
Notes: John Nelson English, an early Jersey County settler who arrived in 1824, served as the county’s first sheriff and later held a prominent position in the state general assembly. Jerseyville produced U.S. Congressman Thomas J. Selby, who served two terms as Jerseyville’s mayor, worked as county clerk (1869-1877), and represented the district in Congress from 1901 to 1903.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Jersey County Veterans Assistance – confirm current contact via jerseycounty-il.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Jerseyville Public Library (Jerseyville) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Jersey County Courthouse (National Register of Historic Places) and Jerseyville’s Downtown Historic District are the county’s premier heritage attractions.
Notes: The genuine, direct naming connection between Jersey County/Jerseyville and the state of New Jersey – driven by an actual wave of New Jersey settlers – is among the standout local facts covered in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Jersey County Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via jerseycounty-il.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via jerseycounty-il.gov; Jersey County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Jersey County Environmental Health – confirm current contact via jerseycounty-il.gov.
NOTES: Jersey County is the forty-second county completed in Illinois’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, direct naming connection between Jersey County and the state of New Jersey 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 Jersey County
Jersey County is southwestern Illinois’s river confluence and Great River Road county – a community where two of America’s great rivers meet beneath dramatic limestone bluffs in one of Illinois’s most scenically striking settings.
Grafton (population ~600) at the Illinois-Mississippi confluence has built a significant tourism economy around its dramatic scenery. Wineries on the bluffs, river-oriented restaurants, and Pere Marquette State Park draw visitors from the St. Louis metro throughout the year. The Great River Road National Scenic Byway passes through Grafton.
Pere Marquette State Park – Illinois’s largest at 8,000 acres – provides hiking, equestrian trails, and the massive Pere Marquette Lodge for visitors exploring the Illinois River bluffs.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Jersey County Assessor at 200 N. Lafayette Street, Jerseyville, IL 62052, phone 618-498-5571. IL residential assessed at 33.33% of market value. Appeal to Board of Review.
Courts & Legal
Jersey County Circuit Court at 200 N. Lafayette Street, Jerseyville, IL 62052, phone 618-498-5571, 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)
201 W. Pearl St., Jerseyville, IL 62052
(618) 498-5571
CIRCUIT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
201 W. Pearl St., Jerseyville, IL 62052
(618) 498-3231
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
201 W. Pearl St., Jerseyville, IL 62052
(618) 498-5571
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Jersey County Circuit Clerk (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Jersey 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
Jersey County Circuit Clerk 201 West Pearl Street, Jerseyville, IL 62052 (618) 498-5571
Jersey County was founded February 28, 1839, named for New Jersey (many early settlers came from there). The 1893-94 Jersey County Courthouse (Romanesque Revival, National Register of Historic Places) is the county’s third courthouse.
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 Jersey 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 Jersey 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
102 W. Exchange, Jerseyville, IL 62052
(618) 498-6881
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
201 W. Pearl St., Jerseyville, IL 62052
(618) 498-5571
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
201 W. Pearl St., Jerseyville, IL 62052
(618) 498-5571
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Jersey County Health Dept
(618) 498-9564
IL DCFS — Jerseyville
(618) 498-9564
IL Medicaid
(800) 843-6154
Jersey Community Hospital
jch.net (Jerseyville)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Jersey County Health Department – confirm current contact via jerseycounty-il.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Jerseyville
Population: 22,000
Area: 369 sq mi
Established: 1839
Tier: 3
Public Records
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Search public records for Jersey County residents.
