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Illinois County
Perry County, Illinois
Du Quoin's Illinois State Fair and the Du Quoin Racetrack - from the Du Quoin State Fair (one of Illinois's two state fairs - held annually in late August, the Du Quoin State Fair predates the Springfield State Fair and has a distinctly southern Illinois agricultural and entertainment character, drawing significant crowds to the Du Quoin fairgrounds) to the Du Quoin Mile (the dirt oval at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds has hosted championship automobile and horse racing for over a century - the Champ Dirt Car Series races at Du Quoin are among the most prestigious in American dirt track racing) and Perry County's coal mining heritage.
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Office: Perry County Sheriff’s Office – 12 East Water Street, Pinckneyville, IL 62274 | (618) 357-5172 | Fax (618) 357-3606; Sheriff Chad Howard.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: SR-13/154/152 serve Pinckneyville, the county seat, in the region of southern Illinois known as “Little Egypt”; Du Quoin is the county’s largest city.
Notes: Perry County was created January 29, 1827, from Jackson and Randolph Counties, named for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, who defeated the British fleet at the decisive War of 1812 Battle of Lake Erie. Pinckneyville was platted in January 1828 and formally organized May 17, 1857, on 20 acres retained from the original 80-acre county land grant.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Perry County Courthouse – 1 Public Square, Pinckneyville, IL | (618) 357-6726 (completed 1850, cost $6,000, the third courthouse in county history, twice expanded since).
Notes: County government initially operated from the home of local resident Amos Anderson before Pinckneyville was chosen and platted as the permanent county seat; the first proper courthouse, a two-story log building, was completed there in September 1828 for a modest $54. The Perry County Jail (108 W. Jackson Street, Pinckneyville, built 1871, Italianate, architects Samuel Hannaford and E. Haugh; National Register of Historic Places since 2000) was the county’s second jail, replacing an 1833-34 two-story brick structure; it is now preserved as the Perry County Jail Museum. Local historical archives document at least one home in the area, the B.G. Roots Home (also known as the Kimzey House/Locust Hill), reputed to have hidden freedom seekers as part of the Underground Railroad.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Perry County Veterans Assistance – confirm current contact via perrycountyil.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Pinckneyville Public Library (Pinckneyville) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Perry County Jail Museum (National Register of Historic Places), the Perry County Courthouse, and downtown Pinckneyville’s historic buildings are the county’s premier heritage attractions.
Notes: The genuine, preserved Perry County Jail Museum, alongside documented local Underground Railroad history, are among the standout local facts covered in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Perry County Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via perrycountyil.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via perrycountyil.gov; Perry County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Perry County Environmental Health – confirm current contact via perrycountyil.gov.
NOTES: Perry County is the seventy-third county completed in Illinois’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, preserved Perry County Jail Museum and documented local Underground Railroad history are 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 Perry County
Perry County is southern Illinois’s state fair and dirt track racing county – a coal heritage community whose Du Quoin fairgrounds host one of Illinois’s two official state fairs and one of America’s most respected dirt track racing events.
Du Quoin (population ~5,500) hosts the Du Quoin State Fair each August – one of Illinois’s two official state fairs, with a distinctly southern Illinois agricultural character. The Du Quoin Mile dirt oval has hosted Champ Car, IndyCar, and harness racing for over a century.
Pinckneyville (the county seat, population ~5,000) serves the county’s governmental needs in an agricultural and mining community.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Perry County Assessor at 1 Public Square, Suite 8, Pinckneyville, IL 62274, phone 618-357-5116. IL residential assessed at 33.33% of market value. Appeal to Board of Review.
Courts & Legal
Perry County Circuit Court at 1 Public Square, Pinckneyville, IL 62274, phone 618-357-6726, 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)
3599 State Route 13, Pinckneyville, IL 62274
(618) 357-5116
CIRCUIT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
3599 State Route 13, Pinckneyville, IL 62274
(618) 357-6726
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
3599 State Route 13, Pinckneyville, IL 62274
(618) 357-5116
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Perry County Circuit Clerk (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Perry 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
Perry County Circuit Clerk (24th Judicial Circuit) 1 Public Square, Pinckneyville, IL 62274 (618) 357-6726
Perry County’s seat, Pinckneyville, is named for early American diplomat Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.
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 Perry 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.
NOTE: Perry County offers e-filing for court documents.
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 Perry 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
3599 State Route 13, Pinckneyville, IL 62274
(618) 357-2101
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
3599 State Route 13, Pinckneyville, IL 62274
(618) 357-5116
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
3599 State Route 13, Pinckneyville, IL 62274
(618) 357-5116
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Perry County Health Dept
(618) 357-2651
IL DCFS — Du Quoin
(618) 542-3261
IL Medicaid
(800) 843-6154
Pinckneyville Community Hospital
pinckneycommunityhosp.com
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Perry County Health Department – confirm current contact via perrycountyil.gov.
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