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Office: Washington County Sheriff’s Office – 245 N. Kaskaskia Street, Nashville, IL 62263 | (618) 327-8274 | Email: [email protected]; Sheriff Ross Schultze, Chief Deputy Charles Carroll. Jail capacity 25 beds.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. The office traces to its establishment in 1818, with Daniel S. Swearingen as first sheriff. Sheriff Jacob K. May was killed in the line of duty on June 20, 1917, the only Washington County sheriff to lose his life while in office – a documented part of the department’s history, referenced here with care.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: SR-127/15 serve Nashville, the county seat and largest city, in the region of southern Illinois known as “Little Egypt,” near but not officially part of the St. Louis metropolitan area.
Notes: Washington County was formed January 2, 1818, from St. Clair County, named for George Washington. In 1813, the tragic Lively Massacre occurred near Little Crooked Creek – settlers John Lively and David Huggins and their families were among the area’s first pioneers, but Native American conflict that year forced one family to flee and resulted in the murder of the other; permanent settlement did not resume until 1815. This history is referenced here factually and with care.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Washington County Courthouse – Nashville, IL (built 1884, the fourth courthouse, following the destruction of its predecessor by fire).
Notes: The county seat moved from Covington to Nashville in 1831, after Nashville was platted near the center of the county’s boundaries; Covington’s original courthouse was a primitive structure with no surviving details, and no courthouse was ever built in the other early contender, Georgetown.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Washington County Veterans Assistance – confirm current contact via washingtonco.illinois.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Nashville Public Library (Nashville) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Washington County Courthouse and downtown Nashville’s historic square are the county’s premier heritage attractions.
Notes: The genuine, tragic 1813 Lively Massacre and Sheriff Jacob K. May’s 1917 line-of-duty death are among the significant local historical facts covered in this project, presented factually and with appropriate care.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Washington County Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via washingtonco.illinois.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via washingtonco.illinois.gov; Washington County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Washington County Environmental Health – confirm current contact via washingtonco.illinois.gov.
NOTES: Washington County is the eighty-seventh county completed in Illinois’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The tragic 1813 Lively Massacre and a 1917 sheriff line-of-duty death are referenced with appropriate 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 Washington County County
Washington County is south-central Illinois’s Kaskaskia River and Carlyle Lake gateway county – the river bottomland corridor and the edge of Illinois’s largest man-made lake define a small county where Nashville serves the surrounding agricultural communities in the rolling south-central Illinois landscape.
Nashville (the county seat, population ~3,000) is Washington County’s governmental hub on I-64, a south-central Illinois small city whose Carlyle Lake proximity, agricultural service role, and I-64 corridor position anchor its community identity between St. Louis and the southern Illinois coalfields.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Washington County Supervisor of Assessments at 101 E. St. Louis Street, Nashville, IL 62263, phone 618-327-8314. IL assessed at 33.33% of market value.
Courts & Legal
Washington County Circuit Court at 101 E. St. Louis Street, Nashville, IL 62263, phone 618-327-8314, 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)
101 E. St. Louis St., Nashville, IL 62263
(618) 327-4800
CIRCUIT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
101 E. St. Louis St., Nashville, IL 62263
(618) 327-8195
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
101 E. St. Louis St., Nashville, IL 62263
(618) 327-4800
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Washington County Circuit Clerk (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Washington 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
Washington County Circuit Clerk 101 East Elm Street, Nashville, IL 62263 (618) 327-4800, ext. 305 Washington County is in south-central Illinois.
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 Washington 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 Washington 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
101 E. St. Louis St., Nashville, IL 62263
(618) 327-4807
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
101 E. St. Louis St., Nashville, IL 62263
(618) 327-4800
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
101 E. St. Louis St., Nashville, IL 62263
(618) 327-4800
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Washington County Health Dept
(618) 327-3849
IL DCFS — Nashville
(618) 327-3131
IL Medicaid
(800) 843-6154
Washington County Hospital
washingtoncountyhospital.net (Nashville)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Washington County Health Department – confirm current contact via washingtonco.illinois.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Nashville
Population: 14,000
Area: 564 sq mi
Established: 1818
Public Records
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