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Illinois County
Monroe County, Illinois
Fort de Chartres and the French Colonial Mississippi valley - from Fort de Chartres State Historic Site (the reconstructed 18th-century French colonial fortification near Prairie du Rocher - the largest and most important French colonial fort in the interior of North America, controlling the Mississippi valley for France from 1720 until its transfer to Britain in 1765) to Waterloo and Columbia's rapid growth as St. Louis exurban communities and Monroe County's position on the Great River Road's Illinois segment of dramatic Mississippi bluff scenery.
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Office: Monroe County Sheriff’s Office – 225 East Third Street, Waterloo, IL 62298 | (618) 939-8651 | Email: [email protected]; Sheriff Neal Rohlfing. Patrols 398 square miles serving over 35,000 residents; assists Columbia, Waterloo, and Valmeyer Police Departments, Illinois State Police, and DNR Conservation Police. Jail capacity 48 beds. Free mobile app available for real-time alerts.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: SR-3 serves Waterloo, the county seat, motto “City Conveniences, Rural Advantages.”
Notes: Waterloo’s history genuinely predates its current name: French settlers established Bellefontaine (“beautiful spring”) there in the 18th century, chosen for its elevated position above the flood-prone Mississippi River Valley lowlands and its proximity to Fort de Chartres. Though France ceded the territory to Britain after the Seven Years’ War in 1763, King Louis XV was said to have specifically and famously mourned the loss of this outpost. The first documented English-speaking settlers arrived in spring 1782.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Monroe County Courthouse – Waterloo, IL, sited within the Waterloo Historic District’s town square.
Notes: The Waterloo Historic District (National Register of Historic Places since 1978) encompasses 271 buildings in central Waterloo, 182 of them historically contributing, with a town square unusually surrounded by residential development on three sides – a rare arrangement among small Illinois towns. Local architecture reflects both the Federal style and a distinctive German cottage style developed by the city’s 19th-century German immigrant community.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Monroe County Veterans Assistance – confirm current contact via monroecountyil.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Waterloo Public Library (Waterloo) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Waterloo Historic District (National Register of Historic Places), the Monroe County Courthouse town square, and nearby Mississippi River bluff country are the county’s premier heritage attractions.
Notes: The genuine, obscure historical footnote that King Louis XV of France specifically mourned the loss of the original Bellefontaine outpost (now Waterloo) is among the standout local facts covered in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Monroe County Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via monroecountyil.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via monroecountyil.gov; Monroe County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Monroe County Environmental Health – confirm current contact via monroecountyil.gov.
NOTES: Monroe County is the sixty-seventh county completed in Illinois’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, obscure historical footnote that Louis XV mourned the loss of Waterloo’s original French settlement 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 Monroe County
Monroe County is southwestern Illinois’s French colonial heritage and St. Louis exurban county – a Mississippi River bluff community whose 18th-century fort and rapid suburban growth define two very different chapters of development.
Fort de Chartres – reconstructed near Prairie du Rocher – was the administrative center of French Louisiana from 1720 until the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The massive stone fort housed the French colonial government for the vast interior of North America, and its reconstruction provides Illinois’s most complete French colonial experience.
Waterloo (the county seat, population ~12,000) and Columbia (population ~10,000) have grown rapidly as St. Louis families seek affordable housing on the Illinois bluffs with easy access to the metro.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Monroe County Assessor at 100 S. Main Street, Suite 100, Waterloo, IL 62298, phone 618-939-8681. IL residential assessed at 33.33% of market value. Appeal to Board of Review.
Courts & Legal
Monroe County Circuit Court at 100 S. Main Street, Waterloo, IL 62298, phone 618-939-8412, 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)
100 S. Main St., Waterloo, IL 62298
(618) 939-8681
CIRCUIT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
100 S. Main St., Waterloo, IL 62298
(618) 939-3612
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
100 S. Main St., Waterloo, IL 62298
(618) 939-8681
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Monroe County Circuit Clerk (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Monroe 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
Monroe County Circuit Clerk 100 South Main Street, Room 115, Waterloo, IL 62298 (618) 939-8681, ext. 224 Monroe County is in the Metro-East region, part of the greater St. Louis metropolitan area.
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 Monroe 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 Monroe 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
100 S. Main St., Waterloo, IL 62298
(618) 939-8609
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
100 S. Main St., Waterloo, IL 62298
(618) 939-8681
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
100 S. Main St., Waterloo, IL 62298
(618) 939-8681
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Monroe County Health Dept
(618) 939-3871
IL DCFS — Belleville
(618) 583-2100
IL Medicaid
(800) 843-6154
Mercy Hospital South (St. Louis)
mercy.net
HSHS St. Elizabeth's Hospital (O'Fallon)
hshs.org/st-elizabeths
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Monroe County Health Department – confirm current contact via monroecountyil.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Waterloo
Population: 35,000
Area: 393 sq mi
Established: 1816
Tier: 3
Public Records
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