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Indiana County
Posey County, Indiana
New Harmony - America's utopian experiment capital - from New Harmony's dual utopian heritage (New Harmony was the site of two extraordinary utopian experiments - the Harmonist religious community of George Rapp (1814-1824) and Robert Owen's secular socialist community (1825-1827) - two back-to-back attempts to create perfect human communities in the Indiana wilderness that attracted intellectuals, scientists, and reformers from Europe and America, making New Harmony one of the most intellectually significant small towns in American history) and the Atheneum designed by Richard Meier.
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Office: Posey County Emergency Management – confirm current contact via poseycountyin.gov.
Sheriff: Posey County Sheriff’s Office – 1201 O’Donnell Road, Mount Vernon, IN 47620 | (812) 838-1321.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: SR-62/69/69 serve Mount Vernon, the county seat, about 18 miles from Evansville. Mount Vernon is one of only three official Indiana ports (alongside Burns Harbor on Lake Michigan and Jeffersonville on the Ohio River), protected by the U.S. Coast Guard’s 8th District.
Notes: Posey County was established by the Indiana Territorial Assembly on November 1, 1814, named for Thomas Posey, Indiana Territorial Governor at the time. The county seat moved from Blackford (the first, 1815) to Springfield (1817) before finally settling in Mount Vernon in 1825.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Posey County Courthouse – Mount Vernon, IN (built 1867-1874, three-story Italianate, red brick with Bedford limestone detailing, costing $95,000).
Notes: Posey County is home to New Harmony, one of the most genuinely remarkable small towns in American history. Founded in 1814 by George Rapp and the German Harmony Society, the settlement hosted two distinct utopian communal-living experiments: first the Harmonists (1814-1824), then, after Robert Owen and William Maclure purchased the site in 1825, a community of scientists and educators famously arriving by a “boatload of knowledge,” lasting through 1860’s broader legacy. New Harmony was home to the first women’s club in the United States, the Minerva Society, organized in 1859, and is still home to Indiana’s oldest continuously operating public library, the Working Men’s Institute. New Harmony functioned for a time as a genuine national center for scientific geography, and today operates as Historic New Harmony, a program of the University of Southern Indiana and the Indiana State Museum, alongside a thriving contemporary art and spiritual-tourism scene that began developing in the 1960s.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Posey County Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via poseycountyin.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Working Men’s Institute (New Harmony) – Indiana’s oldest continuously operating public library. Mount Vernon-Posey County Public Library (Mount Vernon) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Historic New Harmony, the Working Men’s Institute, Harmonie State Park, and the Posey County Courthouse are the county’s premier heritage and recreational attractions.
Notes: The genuine, internationally significant utopian community history of New Harmony – home to two distinct communal-living experiments and America’s first women’s club – is among the most historically remarkable local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Posey County Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via poseycountyin.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Posey County Animal Shelter – confirm current contact via poseycountyin.gov.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Posey County Environmental Health – confirm current contact via poseycountyin.gov.
NOTES: Posey County is the sixty-sixth county completed in Indiana’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, internationally significant utopian community history of New Harmony is among the most historically remarkable 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 Posey County
Posey County is Indiana’s utopian experiment county – New Harmony hosted two consecutive back-to-back attempts to create perfect communities in the 1810s-1820s, attracting European intellectuals and American reformers to the Indiana wilderness in what became the most intellectually ambitious town in frontier America.
New Harmony (population ~800) preserves the extraordinary legacy of the Harmonist and Owenite communities – the Atheneum visitor center, the Roofless Church, and the preserved communal buildings make it a unique American heritage site.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Posey County Assessor at 300 Main Street, Suite 5, Mount Vernon, IN 47620, phone 812-838-1316. IN residential deductions reduce assessed value.
Courts & Legal
Posey County Circuit Court at 300 Main Street, Mount Vernon, IN 47620, phone 812-838-1306, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF CIRCUIT COURT (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
300 Main St., Mount Vernon, IN 47620
(812) 838-1306
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
126 E. 3rd St., Mount Vernon, IN 47620
(812) 838-1306
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Posey County Circuit Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Historic New Harmony, site of two significant 19th-century utopian communal experiments (Harmonist and Owenite), is a nationally significant historical landmark and major genealogical research destination within the county.
Local societies
No dedicated Posey County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories, though New Harmony’s historical significance draws substantial dedicated scholarly and archival attention.
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
Posey County Circuit Court 300 Main Street, Room 115, Mount Vernon, IN 47620 (812) 838-1306
Posey County is Indiana’s southwesternmost county, home to the historic New Harmony, a 19th-century utopian community settlement of national significance.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Indiana has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code – probate is governed by Indiana Code Title 29. Indiana offers several tracks depending on estate size and complexity:
Small Estate Affidavit – for estates where the gross probate estate (less liens, encumbrances, and funeral expenses) is $100,000 or less. Available 45 days after death. The affidavit must be signed and recorded with the county recorder’s office before a personal representative is appointed. No court filing is required.
Devolution of Real Estate Affidavit – a separate affidavit specifically for transferring real property, available 7 months after death, with no value limit on the real estate, recorded with the county recorder.
Unsupervised Administration – a simplified probate track available when the estate is solvent and all inheritors agree; fewer court appearances and filings than supervised administration.
Supervised Administration – full court oversight, used for contested, complex, or insolvent estates.
Step 2: filing for formal probate
File a Petition for Probate of Will and for Issuance of Letters (if there’s a will) or a Petition for Appointment of Personal Representative (if intestate) with the Posey County Circuit Court.
The court reviews the will for compliance with Indiana Code § 29-1-5-3 (in writing, signed by the testator, witnessed by at least 2 credible witnesses).
The court issues Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (intestate) appointing the personal representative.
Publish notice to creditors; creditors generally have a limited window (commonly 3 months from first publication) to file claims.
The personal representative marshals assets, pays valid debts and expenses, and distributes the estate.
File a closing statement or final accounting to formally close the estate.
What it costs
Indiana does not have a state estate or inheritance tax.
Filing fees vary by county – confirm current amounts with the Posey County Circuit Court.
Indiana has no statutory fee schedule for attorneys or personal representatives – fees must be “reasonable” and are subject to court approval.
Typical timelines: Small Estate Affidavit – a minimum 45-day wait; Unsupervised Administration – roughly 6-9 months if uncontested; Supervised Administration – 9-12+ months.
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
126 E. 3rd St., Mount Vernon, IN 47620
(812) 838-2191
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
126 E. 3rd St., Mount Vernon, IN 47620
(812) 838-1306
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Posey County Health Dept
(812) 838-1324
IN FSSA — Southwest Region
(800) 403-0864
IN Medicaid
(800) 403-0864
Deaconess Midtown Hospital (Evansville)
deaconess.com
St. Vincent Evansville
ascension.org
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Posey County Health Department – confirm current contact via poseycountyin.gov.
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