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Illinois County
Livingston County, Illinois
Route 66's Livingston County corridor and Dwight's landmark bank - from Pontiac's Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum (one of the most comprehensive Route 66 museums in Illinois, celebrating the Mother Road's passage through Livingston County with murals, artifacts, and the Route 66 Association of Illinois Hall of Fame) to Dwight's First National Bank building (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1905 - a Prairie Style gem that is one of the few Wright-designed bank buildings surviving in Illinois, tucked into a small Route 66 community) and the Illinois and Michigan Canal's Livingston County segment.
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Office: Livingston County Sheriff’s Office – 844 W. Lincoln Street, Pontiac, IL 61764 | (815) 844-2774 | Fax (815) 844-5124 | Email: [email protected]; Sheriff Michael Murphy. Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-4:30 PM. Jail capacity 179-188 beds. Full-service office with Patrol, Investigations, Civil Process, Court Security, and a 911 Communication Center. Dwight, Fairbury, and Pontiac maintain their own police departments; several smaller municipalities and townships contract with the Sheriff’s Office for patrol.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Livingston County ranks 4th-largest of Illinois’s 102 counties by land area, at 1,043-1,046 square miles.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-55 (Route 116, MM 197) serves Pontiac, the county seat, principal city of the Pontiac Micropolitan Statistical Area, combined with Bloomington-Normal into the Bloomington-Pontiac Combined Statistical Area. Historic U.S. Route 66 also passes through Pontiac.
Notes: Livingston County was established in 1837, named for Edward Livingston, a statesman and jurist. Valentine Darnell and his wife Rachel became the county’s first white settlers on October 27, 1830.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Livingston County Courthouse (historic) – 110 North Main Street, Pontiac, IL (built 1874-1875, Second Empire, architect J.C. Cochrane; National Register of Historic Places since 1986; served as the county’s judicial seat from 1875 into the 21st century, now houses the county board and administrative offices). Livingston County Law and Justice Center (current judicial facility) – 110 N. Main Street, Pontiac, IL (built 2009-2011), separate from the historic courthouse.
Notes: Pontiac holds genuine Route 66 heritage significance: the former Illinois State Police District 6 headquarters (built 1941, Art Moderne, located along old U.S. Route 66; National Register of Historic Places since 2007) served the district from 1941 to 2003, after which ownership passed to Livingston County by legislative act.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Livingston County Veterans Assistance – confirm current contact via livingstoncounty-il.org.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Pontiac Public Library (Pontiac) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The historic Livingston County Courthouse (National Register of Historic Places), the former Illinois State Police District 6 headquarters on Route 66, and Route 66-themed attractions in downtown Pontiac (including the Route 66 Association Hall of Fame and Museum) are the county’s premier heritage attractions.
Notes: The genuine Route 66 heritage preserved in Pontiac, including a National Register-listed former state police headquarters directly on the historic highway, is among the standout local facts covered in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Livingston County Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via livingstoncounty-il.org.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via livingstoncounty-il.org; Livingston County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Livingston County Environmental Health – confirm current contact via livingstoncounty-il.org.
NOTES: Livingston County is the fifty-third county completed in Illinois’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine Route 66 heritage preserved in Pontiac 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 Livingston County
Livingston County is north-central Illinois’s Route 66 heritage county – a Mother Road corridor community whose Frank Lloyd Wright bank and Route 66 museum anchor an authentic highway travel experience.
Pontiac (the county seat, population ~11,000) has embraced its Route 66 heritage with the Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum and a series of large-scale Route 66-themed murals throughout downtown – the mural program has made Pontiac one of the most visually engaging Route 66 communities in Illinois.
Dwight (population ~4,000) has a genuine architectural treasure – the First National Bank (1905), designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in his Prairie Style, is one of the few Wright-designed bank buildings remaining in Illinois.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Livingston County Assessor at 112 W. Madison Street, Pontiac, IL 61764, phone 815-844-7022. IL residential assessed at 33.33% of market value. Appeal to Board of Review.
Courts & Legal
Livingston County Circuit Court at 112 W. Madison Street, Pontiac, IL 61764, phone 815-844-7026, 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)
112 W. Madison St., Pontiac, IL 61764
(815) 844-2006
CIRCUIT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
112 W. Madison St., Pontiac, IL 61764
(815) 844-5181
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
112 W. Madison St., Pontiac, IL 61764
(815) 844-2006
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Livingston County Circuit Clerk (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Livingston 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
Livingston County Circuit Clerk 112 West Madison Street, Pontiac, IL 61764 (815) 844-2006 Livingston County is in north-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 Livingston 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. The Circuit Clerk’s office also handles the collection and monthly distribution of fines, fees, costs, and penalties to the county, state, municipalities, and townships as mandated by state statute.
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 Livingston 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
112 W. Madison St., Pontiac, IL 61764
(815) 842-2166
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
112 W. Madison St., Pontiac, IL 61764
(815) 844-2006
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
112 W. Madison St., Pontiac, IL 61764
(815) 844-2006
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Livingston County Health Dept
(815) 842-6511
IL DCFS — Pontiac
(815) 844-6101
IL Medicaid
(800) 843-6154
OSF St. James – John W. Albrecht Medical Center (Pontiac)
osfstjames.org
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Livingston County Health Department – confirm current contact via livingstoncounty-il.org.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Pontiac
Population: 36,000
Area: 1,045 sq mi
Established: 1837
Tier: 3
Public Records
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