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Office: Johnson County Sheriff’s Office – Jail: 103 N. 6th Street, P.O. Box 546, Vienna, IL 62995. Confirm current phone via cityofviennail.net or ilsheriff.org.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Johnson County holds a genuinely remarkable record: Sheriff Elry Faulkner served 40 years as sheriff (1974-2014, 46 total years in law enforcement), the longest tenure of any sheriff in Illinois history. Faulkner also survived being shot at point-blank range in the chest by an escapee from the federal prison in Marion during his tenure – a dramatic and well-documented part of the county’s law enforcement history, referenced here factually and with care.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: SR-146/45 serve Vienna, the county seat and largest city, in the region of southern Illinois known as “Little Egypt.”
Notes: Johnson County was organized in 1812 from Randolph County, named for Richard Mentor Johnson, then a U.S. Congressman from Kentucky, who later commanded a Kentucky regiment at the 1813 Battle of the Thames and claimed to have personally killed the Shawnee leader Tecumseh in hand-to-hand combat.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Johnson County Courthouse – Courthouse Square, Vienna, IL (built 1869-1871, Italianate, architect Niles Llewellyn Wickwire; county records are unclear on whether it is the fourth or fifth courthouse in county history; National Register of Historic Places since 2010).
Notes: Vienna, pronounced “vy-AN-ə” (not after Austria’s capital), began as an Indian trading post in the early 1800s and was platted in 1818, the same year Illinois achieved statehood, immediately becoming the county seat – a role it has held for nearly 200 years. Vienna is also a documented site along the forced 1830s relocation of Native Americans that became known as the Trail of Tears, a somber part of the region’s history noted here with care.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Johnson County Veterans Assistance – confirm current contact via county offices.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Vienna Public Library (Vienna) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Johnson County Courthouse (National Register of Historic Places) and downtown Vienna are the county’s premier heritage attractions.
Notes: The genuine, remarkable 40-year tenure of Sheriff Elry Faulkner – the longest-serving sheriff in Illinois history – is among the standout local facts covered in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Johnson County Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via county offices.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via county offices; Johnson County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Johnson County Environmental Health – confirm current contact via county offices.
NOTES: Johnson County is the forty-fourth county completed in Illinois’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, remarkable 40-year tenure of Sheriff Elry Faulkner – the longest in Illinois history – is among the standout local facts covered in this project. Vienna’s Trail of Tears history and a sheriff’s line-of-duty shooting incident are referenced with appropriate care. 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 Johnson County County
Johnson County is southern Illinois’s Garden of the Gods and Shawnee National Forest county – the extraordinary sandstone rock formations that rival western landscapes and the spring-fed canyon streams of Bell Smith Springs define one of the most scenically remarkable counties in Illinois, where Vienna serves the surrounding forest and agricultural communities in the Illinois Ozarks.
Vienna (the county seat, population ~1,400) is Johnson County’s governmental hub, a small southern Illinois community on US 45 serving as the gateway to the Shawnee National Forest’s Johnson County attractions including Garden of the Gods and Bell Smith Springs.
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Johnson County Supervisor of Assessments at 201 W. College Street, Vienna, IL 62995, phone 618-658-9529. IL assessed at 33.33% of market value.
Courts & Legal
Johnson County Circuit Court at 201 W. College Street, Vienna, IL 62995, phone 618-658-9512, 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)
400 Court Square, Vienna, IL 62995
(618) 658-4751
CIRCUIT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
400 Court Square, Vienna, IL 62995
(618) 658-9291
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
400 Court Square, Vienna, IL 62995
(618) 658-4751
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Johnson County Circuit Clerk (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Cache River State Natural Area and Shawnee National Forest are significant regional natural and historical resources within the county.
Local societies
No dedicated Johnson 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
Johnson County Circuit Clerk (First Judicial Circuit) 105 North 6th Street, Vienna, IL 62995 (618) 658-4751
Johnson County is in far southern Illinois, home to Cache River State Natural Area and part of the Shawnee National Forest.
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 Johnson 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 Johnson 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
400 Court Square, Vienna, IL 62995
(618) 658-2131
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
400 Court Square, Vienna, IL 62995
(618) 658-4751
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
400 Court Square, Vienna, IL 62995
(618) 658-4751
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Johnson County Health Dept
(618) 658-8011
IL DCFS — Marion
(618) 998-4600
IL Medicaid
(800) 843-6154
Herrin Hospital (Herrin)
sih.net/herrin
Vienna Correctional Center
Significant employer
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Johnson County Health Department – confirm current contact via county offices.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Vienna
Population: 12,500
Area: 346 sq mi
Established: 1812
Public Records
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