Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
What do you need to do?
Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
Office: Massac County Sheriff’s Office – Superman Square, Metropolis, IL 62960. Jail capacity 42 beds. Sheriff Chad Kaylor announced his retirement effective fall 2026 – confirm current sheriff via massaccountyil.gov.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-24 and US-45 serve Metropolis, the county seat, on the Ohio River, part of the Paducah, Kentucky-Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area, in the region of southern Illinois known as “Little Egypt.”
Notes: Massac County was established February 8, 1843, from the southern portions of Pope and Johnson Counties, named for the historic Fort Massac, a former French and American military outpost. J.H.G. Wilcox, a Pittsburgh merchant, and local landowner William A. McBane platted the townsite in 1839 on high, dry bluffs a mile west of the fort, naming it “Metropolis” for their ambitions of a major Ohio River shipping and travel hub; the city was officially incorporated in 1859.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Massac County Courthouse – 1 Superman Square, Metropolis, IL (built 1940-1941, Public Works Administration architecture).
Notes: Metropolis is genuinely and famously “the Hometown of Superman” – the courthouse square is decorated with a statue of the fictional superhero, and downtown Metropolis features a dedicated Superman museum, with an annual Superman Celebration held each summer. Fort Massac itself (established as Fort de l’Ascension by the French in 1757, later Fort Massac; National Register of Historic Places since 1971) preserves centuries of military and trade history on the Ohio River, with evidence the site may have hosted an even earlier fort built by Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto’s expedition as early as 1540; it is now preserved within Fort Massac State Park (established 1908, 1,450 acres), which hosts a historical encampment each fall. Metropolis is also the birthplace of Annie Malone, one of America’s first Black female millionaires and a hair-care industry pioneer, and has ties to Oscar Micheaux, a groundbreaking early Black filmmaker.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Massac County Veterans Assistance – confirm current contact via massaccountyil.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Metropolis Public Library (Metropolis) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Fort Massac State Park (Ohio River fort site, National Register of Historic Places, fall historical encampment), the Superman Statue and Museum, and downtown Metropolis’s riverfront are the county’s premier heritage and cultural attractions.
Notes: The genuine, widely known “Hometown of Superman” identity of Metropolis – a real place sharing its name with the superhero’s fictional city – is among the most distinctive and fun local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Massac County Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via massaccountyil.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via massaccountyil.gov; Massac County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements. Maisie’s Caring for Cats is a local nonprofit serving Metropolis and Massac County.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Massac County Environmental Health – confirm current contact via massaccountyil.gov.
NOTES: Massac County is the sixty-first county completed in Illinois’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine “Hometown of Superman” identity of Metropolis is among the most distinctive local facts covered anywhere in this project. ⚠️ Sheriff leadership may be in transition (announced fall 2026 retirement) – recommend periodic reconfirmation. 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 Massac County County
Massac County is southern Illinois’s Superman hometown and Fort Massac county – the city that shares its name with the Man of Steel’s fictional home and Illinois’s oldest state park on the Ohio River bluffs define a county at the southern tip of Illinois where the Ohio River marks the Kentucky border.
Metropolis (the county seat, population ~6,000) is Massac County’s governmental hub on the Ohio River, a southern Illinois community whose Superman identity, Fort Massac heritage, and Ohio River waterfront anchor a tourism and river economy near the Kentucky border.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Massac County Supervisor of Assessments at 1 Superman Square, Metropolis, IL 62960, phone 618-524-5213. IL assessed at 33.33% of market value.
Courts & Legal
Massac County Circuit Court at 1 Superman Square, Metropolis, IL 62960, phone 618-524-9884, 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)
1 Superman Square, Metropolis, IL 62960
(618) 524-5011
CIRCUIT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
1 Superman Square, Metropolis, IL 62960
(618) 524-5014
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
1 Superman Square, Metropolis, IL 62960
(618) 524-5011
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Massac County Circuit Clerk (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Fort Massac State Park, Metropolis – a historic French/British/American fort site significant to the county’s colonial-era history.
Local societies
No dedicated Massac 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
Massac County Circuit Clerk (First Judicial Circuit) 1 Superman Square, Metropolis, IL 62960 (618) 524-9359
Massac County’s seat, Metropolis, is officially known as the “Hometown of Superman,” home to a giant Superman statue and the Superman Museum, and sits on the Ohio River across from Kentucky.
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 Massac 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 Massac 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
1 Superman Square, Metropolis, IL 62960
(618) 524-2521
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
1 Superman Square, Metropolis, IL 62960
(618) 524-5011
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
1 Superman Square, Metropolis, IL 62960
(618) 524-5011
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Massac County Health Dept
(618) 524-2349
IL DCFS — Harrisburg
(618) 252-6411
IL Medicaid
(800) 843-6154
Massac Memorial Hospital
massaememorial.com (Metropolis)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Massac County Health Department – confirm current contact via massaccountyil.gov.
Editorial independence: CountyOffices maintains strict editorial independence from our affiliate partners. Our content is researched from official government sources. Affiliate relationships do not influence our recommendations or the information we publish.
Editorial Trust
5 official sources cited
Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Metropolis
Population: 14,000
Area: 239 sq mi
Established: 1843
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Massac County County residents.
