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Iowa County
Bremer County, Iowa
Waverly's Wartburg College and the Shell Rock River corridor - from Wartburg College (the Lutheran liberal arts college in Waverly - enrollment ~1,600 - whose strong music program, teacher education, and community engagement have made it a significant cultural and economic anchor in northeast Iowa) to the Shell Rock River's scenic Bremer County corridor and Waverly's Iowa Soybean Association connections (Bremer County's agricultural economy is deeply tied to Iowa's soybean and corn production that forms the backbone of the state's agricultural exports).
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Office: Bremer County Emergency Management Agency – 415 E. Bremer Avenue, Waverly, IA 50677 | (319) 352-0133; Coordinator Aaron Goodenbour. Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-4:30 PM. Bremer County CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) supports preparedness training and emergency communications.
Sheriff: Bremer County Sheriff’s Office – 111 4th Street NE, Waverly, IA 50677 | (319) 352-5400 (option 5 for administration, option 3 for dispatch) | Fax (319) 352-0233; Sheriff Dan Pickett. The office has provided elected law enforcement since 1853 (first sheriff Austin Farris); also contracts police protection for Plainfield and Frederika. Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-4:30 PM (emergency services 24/7).
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-218 and IA-3 serve Waverly, the county seat, in northeastern Iowa, part of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metropolitan area.
Notes: Bremer County was formed in 1851, named for Fredrika Bremer, a Swedish feminist writer. Waverly was founded along the Cedar River by William Patterson Harmon, who also established it as the county seat; the city incorporated in 1859.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Bremer County Courthouse – 415 E. Bremer Avenue, Waverly, IA | (319) 352-0340.
Notes: Waverly is home to Wartburg College, a private Lutheran liberal arts college with a genuinely remarkable, peripatetic founding history. Traced to 1852, when Bavarian pastor Wilhelm Löhe sent Pastor Georg Grossmann and five students to found a German-immigrant teacher-training seminary in Saginaw, Michigan, the institution relocated repeatedly over its early decades – through Dubuque, St. Sebald (where it took the “Wartburg” name, inspired by the wooded countryside’s resemblance to the Thuringian Forest surrounding Germany’s Wartburg Castle, where Martin Luther once took refuge), Clinton, and Galena and Mendota, Illinois – before permanently settling in Waverly in 1935. A separate but related teacher-training “normal school” was independently established in Waverly in 1879, housed first in a vacant hotel and then in the still-standing “Old Main” building, funded partly by a $1,500 pledge from Bremer County itself. Today Wartburg enrolls roughly 1,500 students and is known for Iowa’s oldest undergraduate social work program and the state’s only music therapy major at a private college.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Bremer County Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via bremercounty.iowa.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Waverly Public Library (Waverly) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Wartburg College campus, the Cedar River trail system, and Waverly’s Main Street District are the county’s premier heritage and recreational attractions.
Notes: The genuine, multi-state founding journey of Wartburg College – and the story behind its name, tied to Martin Luther’s refuge at Wartburg Castle – is among the more distinctive institutional histories covered in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Bremer County Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via bremercounty.iowa.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Waverly Pet Rescue – all-volunteer, no-kill, foster-based rescue (not a physical shelter), established August 2006; email [email protected] (no phone line). Bremer County maintains an animal control ordinance prohibiting dogs, cats, and livestock running at large; contact the Sheriff’s Office, (319) 352-5400, to report violations or strays.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Bremer County Environmental/Solid Waste – confirm current contact via bremercounty.iowa.gov.
NOTES: Bremer County is the ninth county in Iowa’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, multi-state founding journey of Wartburg College – and the story behind its name, tied to Martin Luther’s refuge at Wartburg Castle – is among the more distinctive institutional histories 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 Bremer County
Bremer County is northeast Iowa’s Wartburg College and Shell Rock River county – the Lutheran liberal arts institution’s music and education programs and the county’s productive agricultural landscape define a community on the edge of the Iowa Great Lakes region.
Waverly (the county seat, population ~10,000) is anchored by Wartburg College – the institution’s cultural programming, athletic events, and economic activity give Waverly a vitality proportional to its size.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Bremer County Assessor at 415 E. Bremer Avenue, Waverly, IA 50677, phone 319-352-0145. IA assessed at 100% market value with residential rollback.
Courts & Legal
Bremer County District Court at 415 E. Bremer Avenue, Waverly, IA 50677, phone 319-352-0350, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF DISTRICT COURT (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
415 E. Bremer Ave., Waverly, IA 50677
(319) 352-5079
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Bremer County District Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Wartburg College Archives, Waverly, holds significant regional historical materials.
Local societies
No dedicated Bremer 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
Bremer County District Court, 2nd Judicial District 415 East Bremer Avenue, Waverly, IA 50677 (319) 352-5661
Bremer County was founded in 1851, named for Swedish writer Fredrika Bremer. Its seat, Waverly, is home to Wartburg College. The 1937 Bremer County Courthouse (National Register of Historic Places) is the county’s fourth.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Iowa has its own comprehensive probate code (Iowa Code Chapter 633) and has not formally adopted the Uniform Probate Code. Iowa offers several tracks depending on estate size and complexity:
Distribution by Affidavit (“very small estates”) – for estates where the gross value of personal property is $50,000 or less and there is no real estate, available 40 days after death under Iowa Code § 633.356. A sworn affidavit is presented directly to banks and other institutions. No court filing is required.
Small Estate Administration – a simplified probate process under Iowa Code Chapter 635 for estates with a gross value of $200,000 or less, with reduced notice requirements and court costs compared to full administration.
Regular (Full) Probate – standard administration through the district court for larger or more complex estates, which can be independent (unsupervised) or supervised.
Supervised Administration – closer court oversight, typically used for contested estates.
Step 2: filing for formal probate
File a Petition for Probate of Will and Appointment of Executor (if there’s a will) or a Petition for Administration (if intestate) with the Bremer County District Court.
The court admits the will (if any) and issues Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (intestate) appointing the personal representative.
Publish notice to creditors; under independent administration, creditors generally have 4 months from the date of first publication to file claims.
The personal representative inventories assets, pays valid debts and expenses, and – under independent administration – largely acts without ongoing court check-ins.
After the creditor period closes and debts are paid, the personal representative distributes assets to heirs or beneficiaries.
File a final accounting/final report; the court closes the estate upon approval.
What it costs
Personal representative fees are capped by statute at 3% of the gross value of the probate estate (excluding life insurance) unless services are itemized; attorney fees follow a similar framework.
Recording fees at the county recorder run about $7 for the first page of a document and $5 for each additional page.
Typical timelines: Distribution by Affidavit – a minimum 40-day wait; independent (unsupervised) probate typically closes in 6-12 months, with the 4-month creditor period as the primary timing constraint.
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
415 E. Bremer Ave., Waverly, IA 50677
(319) 352-2631
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY AUDITOR (Records, Elections, Finance)
415 E. Bremer Ave., Waverly, IA 50677
(319) 352-0130
ELECTIONS (County Auditor)
415 E. Bremer Ave., Waverly, IA 50677
(319) 352-0130
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Bremer County Health Dept
(319) 352-0130
Iowa DHHS — Region 1
(800) 338-8366
Iowa Medicaid
(800) 338-8366
Waverly Health Center
waverlyhealthcenter.org (Waverly — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Bremer County Health & Human Services – 403 3rd Street SE, Waverly, IA 50677.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Waverly
Population: 25,000
Area: 439 sq mi
Established: 1851
Tier: 3
Public Records
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