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Illinois County
Union County, Illinois
The Third Lincoln-Douglas Debate and Little Egypt's fruit country - from Jonesboro's Third Lincoln-Douglas Debate (September 15, 1858 - the least attended of the seven debates, held in the heart of southern Illinois's pro-Douglas territory, drawing only about 1,500 spectators in a region where Lincoln was deeply unpopular) to Cobden's extraordinary fruit-growing heritage (Union County's hills and microclimate produce peaches, apples, and strawberries that have made the Cobden area one of Illinois's most significant fruit-growing regions - the annual Cobden Peach Festival celebrates a horticultural tradition stretching back to the 19th century) and Giant City State Park's massive sandstone bluffs.
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Office: Union County Sheriff’s Office – headquartered on the lower level of the Union County Courthouse, Jonesboro, IL | (618) 833-5500; Sheriff Scott Harvel, elected 2022, 26 years in law enforcement (per Illinois Sheriffs’ Association; note some records show Harvel announcing retirement in a prior year – confirm current sheriff). Executive Assistant Heidi Robinson, Chief Deputy Bart Hileman, Jail Administrator Anthony Pena.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: SR-146/127 serve Jonesboro, the county seat, roughly ten miles east of the Mississippi River; the Shawnee National Forest dominates much of the county’s landscape.
Notes: Union County was created January 2, 1818, from Johnson County, while Illinois was still a territory. Jonesboro was laid out as county seat in March 1818 on land donated by John and Juliet Grammer.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Union County Courthouse – Jonesboro, IL.
Notes: Union County holds genuinely profound and somber national historical significance. In the frigid winter of 1838-1839, thousands of Cherokee people were forced through the county during the Trail of Tears, their government-mandated relocation from the Southeast to present-day Oklahoma; unable to cross the ice-choked Mississippi River, an estimated group camped near Dutch Creek for a period, and nearly 2,000 of the roughly 13,000 who began the journey died along the way. Trail of Tears State Forest (5,114 acres, established 1929), five miles northwest of Jonesboro, memorializes this tragic history – referenced here factually and with appropriate care. Separately, on September 15, 1858, Jonesboro hosted the third of the seven famous Lincoln-Douglas debates, drawing fewer than 1,500 attendees, the smallest crowd of the series; Lincoln stayed as a guest of D.L. Phillips in nearby Anna. During the Civil War, Anna served as a Union troop mustering point, with General Ulysses S. Grant himself spending a week there mustering in eight regiments. Anna itself was founded in 1854 by Jonesboro merchant Winstead Davie, who secured the Illinois Central Railroad route through his own land after Jonesboro failed to fund the required survey; Davie named the new town for his wife, Anna Willard Davie.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Union County Veterans Assistance – confirm current contact via unioncountyil.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Jonesboro Public Library / Anna-Jonesboro area libraries – confirm current addresses/phones via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Trail of Tears State Forest (5,114 acres, hiking and equestrian trails), the Shawnee National Forest, Bald Knob Cross of Peace (atop the highest point in southern Illinois), the Lincoln-Douglas debate site, and the Union County Museum in Cobden are the county’s premier heritage and recreational attractions.
Notes: The genuine, profound historical significance of Union County’s role in the Trail of Tears is among the most important and sobering local facts covered anywhere in this project, presented here with particular care and respect. The county’s Lincoln-Douglas debate and Civil War history are also of note.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Union County Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via unioncountyil.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via unioncountyil.gov; Union County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Union County Environmental Health – confirm current contact via unioncountyil.gov.
NOTES: Union County is the eighty-second county completed in Illinois’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, profound historical significance of Union County’s role in the Trail of Tears is among the most important and sobering local facts covered anywhere in this project, presented with particular care. 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 Union County
Union County is southernmost Illinois’s debate and orchard county – a Shawnee Hills community where Lincoln was unwelcome in 1858 and where peaches and apples grow in a microclimate unlike the rest of Illinois.
Jonesboro (the county seat, population ~2,000) hosted the Third Lincoln-Douglas Debate on September 15, 1858 – the most poorly attended debate in a region so thoroughly pro-Douglas and pro-slavery that Lincoln supporters were few. The debate site is commemorated but the event is the least celebrated of the seven.
Cobden’s fruit growing heritage – peaches, apples, and strawberries – reflects the Shawnee Hills’ protected southern-facing slopes and microclimate that allow fruit production impossible on the flat prairie to the north.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Union County Assessor at 309 W. Market Street, Suite 101, Jonesboro, IL 62952, phone 618-833-6362. IL residential assessed at 33.33% of market value. Appeal to Board of Review.
Courts & Legal
Union County Circuit Court at 309 W. Market Street, Jonesboro, IL 62952, phone 618-833-5913, 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)
309 W. Market St., Jonesboro, IL 62952
(618) 833-5711
CIRCUIT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
309 W. Market St., Jonesboro, IL 62952
(618) 833-5913
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
309 W. Market St., Jonesboro, IL 62952
(618) 833-5711
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Union County Circuit Clerk (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Union 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
Union County Circuit Clerk (First Judicial Circuit) 309 West Market Street, Room 108, Jonesboro, IL 62952 (618) 833-5913 Union County is in far southern Illinois, part of the Shawnee National Forest region.
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 Union 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 Union 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
309 W. Market St., Jonesboro, IL 62952
(618) 833-5000
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
309 W. Market St., Jonesboro, IL 62952
(618) 833-5711
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
309 W. Market St., Jonesboro, IL 62952
(618) 833-5711
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Union County Health Dept
(618) 833-6025
IL DCFS — Anna
(618) 833-4551
IL Medicaid
(800) 843-6154
Union County Hospital
unioncountyhospital.com (Anna)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Union County Health Department – confirm current contact via unioncountyil.gov.
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