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Illinois County
Lawrence County, Illinois
Illinois's first commercial oil well and the Wabash River border - from Lawrenceville's distinction as the site of Illinois's first commercial oil well (drilled near Bridgeport in 1906, the discovery launched the Illinois Basin oil industry that would eventually produce hundreds of millions of barrels of petroleum and shape the economies of southeastern Illinois counties for a century) to the Wabash River's Lawrence County border and the Lincoln Trail Homestead State Memorial commemorating the Lincoln family's Illinois entry point.
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Office: Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office – 1306 Lexington Avenue, Lawrenceville, IL 62439 | (618) 943-5766 | Email: [email protected]; Sheriff Russell Adams. Jail capacity 20 beds.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-50/150 and SR-1 serve Lawrenceville, the county seat and largest city, in Illinois’s easternmost county along the Indiana border.
Notes: Lawrence County was formed in 1821 from Crawford and Edwards Counties, named for Captain James Lawrence, commander of the frigate USS Chesapeake, who was mortally wounded in action during the War of 1812. Lawrence’s famous dying order to his crew – “Don’t give up the ship” – became one of the most celebrated mottos in U.S. Navy history.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Lawrence County Courthouse – 1100 State Street, Lawrenceville, IL (built 1888-1889, Renaissance Revival, architects the McDonald Brothers of Louisville, Kentucky, built by Benjamin F. Trester Jr.; the third courthouse, all three built on the same Lawrenceville public square site; National Register of Historic Places since 2010). The courthouse features a six-story clock tower with a Seth Thomas Clock Company clock and bell, topped by an octagonal copper cupola, and a Tuscan-columned stone entrance portico.
Notes: All three of Lawrence County’s historic courthouses have stood on the exact same public square site in Lawrenceville, a genuine continuity of place across nearly two centuries of county government.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Lawrence County Veterans Assistance – confirm current contact via lawrencecounty.illinois.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Lawrenceville Public Library District (Lawrenceville) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Lawrence County Courthouse (National Register of Historic Places, with its distinctive clock tower) and downtown Lawrenceville’s public square are the county’s premier heritage attractions.
Notes: The genuine connection between Lawrence County’s name and Captain James Lawrence’s famous “Don’t give up the ship” motto is among the standout local historical facts covered in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Lawrence County Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via lawrencecounty.illinois.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via lawrencecounty.illinois.gov; Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Lawrence County Environmental Health – confirm current contact via lawrencecounty.illinois.gov.
NOTES: Lawrence County is the fifty-first county completed in Illinois’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine connection between Lawrence County’s name and Captain James Lawrence’s famous “Don’t give up the ship” motto is among the standout local historical 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 Lawrence County
Lawrence County is southeastern Illinois’s first oil county – the Wabash River border community where the Illinois petroleum industry began in 1906.
Bridgeport (population ~2,000) is where Illinois’s first commercial oil well was drilled in 1906, launching the Illinois Basin oil industry. The discovery transformed the economy of southeastern Illinois and made the Illinois Basin one of the most productive oil regions in the eastern United States for decades.
Lawrenceville (the county seat, population ~4,500) on the Wabash River serves as the county’s commercial hub – the river forms the Illinois-Indiana boundary and the Lincoln Trail Homestead State Memorial near Lawrenceville marks where the Lincoln family crossed from Indiana into Illinois in 1830.
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Lawrence County Assessor at 1100 State Street, Lawrenceville, IL 62439, phone 618-943-2346. IL residential assessed at 33.33% of market value. Appeal to Board of Review.
Courts & Legal
Lawrence County Circuit Court at 1100 State Street, Lawrenceville, IL 62439, phone 618-943-2346, 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)
1100 State St., Lawrenceville, IL 62439
(618) 943-2815
CIRCUIT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
1100 State St., Lawrenceville, IL 62439
(618) 943-5318
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
1100 State St., Lawrenceville, IL 62439
(618) 943-2815
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Lawrence County Circuit Clerk (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Lawrence 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
Lawrence County Circuit Clerk 1100 State Street, Lawrenceville, IL 62439 (618) 943-2815 Lawrence County is on the Wabash River, on the Indiana border in southeastern 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 Lawrence 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 Lawrence 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
1100 State St., Lawrenceville, IL 62439
(618) 943-2321
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
1100 State St., Lawrenceville, IL 62439
(618) 943-2815
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
1100 State St., Lawrenceville, IL 62439
(618) 943-2815
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Lawrence County Health Dept
(618) 943-5191
IL DCFS — Lawrenceville
(618) 943-3308
IL Medicaid
(800) 843-6154
Lawrence County Memorial Hospital
lcmhosp.org (Lawrenceville)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Lawrence County Health Department – confirm current contact via lawrencecounty.illinois.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Lawrenceville
Population: 16,000
Area: 373 sq mi
Established: 1821
Tier: 3
Public Records
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