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Illinois · Central Illinois · #424
Peoria County, Illinois
On the Illinois River at the geographic center of the state, Peoria has been the benchmark for American mainstream opinion for more than a century - "Will it play in Peoria?" - while quietly hosting one of the world's largest equipment manufacturers and one of the most storied whiskey distilling traditions in the country.
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Office: Peoria County Sheriff’s Office – 301 N. Maxwell Road, Peoria, IL 61604 | (309) 672-6011 | Fax (309) 697-3734 / (309) 697-8515; Sheriff Chris Watkins, a U.S. Air Force veteran. Chief Deputy James Middlemas. Serves roughly 183,433 residents across 629 square miles, four cities and eleven villages.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Peoria County elected its first sheriff, Samuel Fulton, in 1825. The county’s jail history spans five facilities: 1834, 1849, 1869, 1913, and the current facility opened in 1985 (expanded in 1999 with 144 additional beds, a new sallyport, and a crime lab).
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-74/155 and US-24/150 serve Peoria, the county seat and largest city on the Illinois River, principal city of the Peoria Metropolitan Area (Marshall, Peoria, Stark, Tazewell, and Woodford Counties).
Notes: Peoria is genuinely the oldest European settlement in Illinois. French explorers René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, and Henri de Tonti built Fort Crèvecœur nearby in 1680; a decade later, Fort Pimiteoui followed. A village grew around it with trading posts, a blacksmith shop, a chapel, and a windmill. In 1773, French-Canadian leader Jean Baptiste Maillet sold his property to Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable – Peoria’s most notable early Black settler, who went on to found Chicago. Fort Clark was built on the site in 1813 during the War of 1812, named for General George Rogers Clark; when Peoria County organized in 1825, the settlement was officially renamed Peoria, after the Peoria tribe of the Illinois Confederation.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Peoria County Courthouse – Peoria, IL.
Notes: On October 16, 1854, Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous “Peoria Speech” against the Kansas-Nebraska Act in Peoria – a pivotal moment in his political career and a cornerstone of the national slavery debate leading up to the Civil War. Peoria residents were themselves sharply divided over slavery, with documented abolitionist rallies met by resistance from Southern sympathizers. By the 1880s, Peoria had become the largest distillation center in the United States, earning the nickname “Whiskey Capital of the World.” In 1925, the merger of two companies formed Caterpillar Tractor Co., which became the city’s dominant employer and economic symbol for decades. Peoria is also the hometown of legendary comedian Richard Pryor.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Peoria County Veterans Assistance Commission – confirm current contact via peoriacounty.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Peoria Public Library (Peoria) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Peoria RiverFront district, Wildlife Prairie State Park, and historic sites tied to Fort Clark and Lincoln’s 1854 speech are the county’s premier heritage and recreational attractions.
Notes: The genuine, exceptional depth of Peoria’s history – from Illinois’s oldest European settlement to Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable’s local roots and Lincoln’s historic 1854 speech – is among the most historically significant local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Peoria County Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via peoriacounty.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via peoriacounty.gov; Peoria County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Peoria County Environmental Health – confirm current contact via peoriacounty.gov.
NOTES: Peoria County is the seventy-second county completed in Illinois’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, exceptional depth of Peoria’s history – Illinois’s oldest European settlement, Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable’s local roots, and Lincoln’s historic 1854 speech – is among the most historically significant local facts covered anywhere 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 Peoria County
Peoria’s role in American cultural mythology – the “Will it play in Peoria?” test of mainstream acceptability – obscures a more interesting reality. The city has been home to Caterpillar Inc.’s global headquarters since the company’s founding in 1925, and the heavy equipment manufacturer’s economic influence on Peoria County is as significant as any single corporate relationship in American mid-sized cities. When Caterpillar’s manufacturing cycles turn down, the regional economy contracts; when they expand, the Peoria metro grows. The company’s recent decision to relocate its official headquarters to Irving, Texas while maintaining major operations in Peoria has raised questions about the long-term relationship, but Peoria remains the center of Cat’s largest manufacturing and engineering operations.
Before Prohibition, Peoria was the whiskey capital of the United States – producing roughly half the nation’s rye and bourbon whiskey through dozens of distilleries along the Illinois River. That history is being recovered: the Peoria Distillery and other craft spirits operations have revived the tradition, and the Illinois Whiskey History Museum in nearby Pekin has documented the lost industry. Bradley University, with about 5,000 students, and Illinois Central College contribute to the county’s educational base. The Illinois River waterfront, OSF HealthCare’s medical campus, and the Peoria Civic Center anchor the downtown economy. Peoria is a genuinely interesting mid-American city that is more substantial than its “Middletown” reputation suggests.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Illinois assesses property at 33.33% of fair market value; Peoria County reassesses on a triennial cycle (one-third of townships each year). Property owners may appeal to the Board of Review within 30 days of the publication of the assessment roll. Illinois offers a Senior Citizens Homestead Exemption ($8,000 assessed value reduction) and a Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Exemption for qualifying residents 65 or older with household income at or below $65,000. Illinois has an estate tax on estates above $4 million; no Illinois inheritance tax.
Courts & Legal
Courts & Legal
SENIOR SERVICES
Tri-County Regional Planning Commission – Area Agency on Aging
456 Fulton Street, Suite 401, Peoria, IL 61602
Phone: (309) 671-8200
Senior transportation, Meals on Wheels, caregiver support, legal assistance, and long-term care options counseling for Peoria County residents.
Senior Services
Tri-County Regional Planning Commission – Area Agency on Aging
456 Fulton Street, Suite 401, Peoria, IL 61602
Phone: (309) 671-8200
Senior transportation, Meals on Wheels, caregiver support, legal assistance, and long-term care options counseling for Peoria County residents.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
324 Main St., Peoria, IL 61602
(309) 672-6059
CIRCUIT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
324 Main St., Peoria, IL 61602
(309) 672-6989
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
324 Main St., Peoria, IL 61602
(309) 672-6059
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Peoria County Circuit Clerk (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Peoria Riverfront Museum and Peoria Public Library’s local history collection are significant regional research resources.
Local societies
No dedicated Peoria 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
Peoria County Circuit Clerk 324 Main Street, Room G-22, Peoria, IL 61602 (309) 672-6000
Peoria County is one of Illinois’ most populous counties, home to Peoria – one of the oldest European settlements in Illinois, on the Illinois River.
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 Peoria 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 Peoria 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
301 NE Adams St., Peoria, IL 61603
(309) 672-6910
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
324 Main St., Peoria, IL 61602
(309) 672-6059
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
324 Main St., Peoria, IL 61602
(309) 672-6059
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Peoria City/County Health Dept
(309) 679-6000
IL DCFS — Peoria
(309) 671-7900
IL Medicaid
(800) 843-6154
OSF Saint Francis Medical Center
osfhealthcare.org (Peoria — major academic medical center; Level I Trauma; Children's Hospital of Illinois)
UnityPoint Health — Methodist/Proctor
unitypoint.org/peoria
Carle Health Methodist Hospital
carle.org/methodist
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Peoria City/County Health Department – confirm current contact via peoriacounty.gov.
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Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Peoria
Population: 183,000
Area: 619 sq mi
Established: 1825
Tier: 2
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Peoria County facilities via Amazon.
