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Illinois County
Woodford County, Illinois
Eureka College - Ronald Reagan's alma mater - and Illinois's corn belt heartland - from Eureka College (Ronald Reagan graduated from this small Christian church-affiliated liberal arts college in 1932 - Eureka College's Reagan collection, the Reagan Peace Garden, and the Ronald Reagan statue make it a pilgrimage site for Reagan admirers - the 40th President credited Eureka College's debate team and sports programs with shaping his public speaking and competitive spirit) to Woodford County's extraordinary corn and soybean production on some of Illinois's finest glacially deposited soils.
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Office: Woodford County Emergency Management – 115 N. Main St., Eureka, IL 61530; confirm current phone via woodford-county.org.
Sheriff: Woodford County Sheriff’s Office – 111 E. Court Street, Eureka, IL 61530 | (309) 467-2375 | Fax: (309) 467-4092 | Email: [email protected].
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-24 and IL-117 intersect at Eureka, the county seat, part of the Peoria metropolitan area in central Illinois.
Notes: Eureka is one of the towns along the Ronald Reagan Trail, a series of roads connecting central Illinois communities significant to Reagan’s early life.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Woodford County Building and Zoning – 115 N. Main St., Eureka, IL 61530
Services: Zoning permits, subdivision regulations, floodplain ordinance enforcement, and rural addressing for unincorporated Woodford County; the county is a non-building-code jurisdiction, so no building code is adopted at the county level – individual municipalities set their own standards.
Notes: Woodford County, created February 1841 and named for Revolutionary War General William Woodford, holds a genuine and significant connection to Abraham Lincoln – the county’s original 1845-46 Greek Revival courthouse in the former county seat of Metamora was regularly used by Lincoln as a circuit-riding lawyer in central Illinois, and survives today as the state-preserved Metamora Courthouse State Historic Site. The current 1897-98 Classical Revival courthouse in Eureka replaced it after voters moved the county seat there in 1894.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Woodford County Veterans Assistance Commission – confirm current contact via woodford-county.org.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Eureka Public Library District – Eureka, IL 61530.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Eureka is genuinely the “College Home of Ronald Reagan” – the future president attended and graduated from Eureka College, and the town remains a stop on the officially designated Ronald Reagan Trail connecting sites significant to his early life. The county’s Lincoln-era connection is preserved just outside its borders at the Metamora Courthouse State Historic Site, where Lincoln practiced law as a circuit rider. Eureka also offers a 240-acre community park with a 36-acre lake and a public golf course
Notes: Eureka’s genuine dual heritage – as Ronald Reagan’s college hometown and as a stop on Abraham Lincoln’s historic legal circuit – is a distinctive and well-documented local story.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Woodford County Supervisor of Assessments – confirm current contact via woodford-county.org.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Woodford County Animal Control – 115 N. Main St., Room 105, Eureka, IL 61530 | (309) 467-2375 (24/7 for emergencies)
Services: County-operated animal control and adoption services; open daily 8 AM-6 PM for adoptions; adopted animals are spayed/neutered and microchipped before release, per county ordinance; a $50 adoption fee applies.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Woodford County Health Department Environmental Health Division – confirm current contact via woodford-county.org.
NOTES
Eureka’s genuine dual heritage – as Ronald Reagan’s college hometown and as a stop on Abraham Lincoln’s historic legal circuit via the nearby Metamora Courthouse – is a distinctive and well-documented local story. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of mid-August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Woodford County
Woodford County is north-central Illinois’s presidential alma mater and corn belt county – a flat agricultural landscape whose small college produced one of America’s most consequential 20th-century presidents.
Eureka (the county seat, population ~5,000) is dominated by Eureka College – enrollment ~600, Disciples of Christ-affiliated – where Ronald Reagan played football, acted in theater, and developed the communication skills that defined his political career. The college’s Reagan Peace Garden and statue attract visitors from around the country.
Woodford County’s agricultural landscape – flat, glacially deposited, and extraordinarily productive – is quintessential Illinois corn belt territory. The county consistently ranks among Illinois’s top corn and soybean producers per acre.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Woodford County Assessor at 115 N. Main Street, Eureka, IL 61530, phone 309-467-2822. IL residential assessed at 33.33% of market value. Appeal to Board of Review.
Courts & Legal
Woodford County Circuit Court at 115 N. Main Street, Eureka, IL 61530, phone 309-467-3312, 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)
115 N. Main St., Eureka, IL 61530
(309) 467-2822
CIRCUIT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
115 N. Main St., Eureka, IL 61530
(309) 467-3312
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
115 N. Main St., Eureka, IL 61530
(309) 467-2822
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Woodford County Circuit Clerk (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Eureka College Archives – holds materials related to Ronald Reagan’s college years and other regional history.
Local societies
No dedicated Woodford 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
Woodford County Circuit Clerk (11th Judicial Circuit) 115 North Main Street, Suite 201, P.O. Box 284, Eureka, IL 61530 (309) 467-3312
Woodford County is in central Illinois. Its seat, Eureka, is home to Eureka College, alma mater of President Ronald Reagan.
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 Woodford 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 Woodford 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
115 N. Main St., Eureka, IL 61530
(309) 467-2375
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
115 N. Main St., Eureka, IL 61530
(309) 467-2822
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
115 N. Main St., Eureka, IL 61530
(309) 467-2822
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Woodford County Health Dept
(309) 467-3064
IL DCFS — Peoria
(309) 671-7900
IL Medicaid
(800) 843-6154
OSF Saint Francis Medical Center (Peoria)
osfhealthcare.org
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Woodford County Health Department – confirm current contact via woodford-county.org.
Hospital: Eureka Hospital – Eureka, IL, offering over 40 specialty services for a community of roughly 5,000 residents.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Eureka
Population: 38,000
Area: 528 sq mi
Established: 1841
Tier: 3
Public Records
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