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Iowa County
Howard County, Iowa
Cresco and Iowa's Driftless Area border country - from Cresco's position as the governmental hub of one of Iowa's most scenic northeast counties to Howard County's Driftless Area terrain (unlike most of Iowa, Howard County's landscape was shaped by streams rather than glaciers, producing steep valleys, limestone outcroppings, and cold trout streams that make the county a destination for outdoor recreation and a distinctive corner of the Iowa-Minnesota border region).
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Office: Howard County Emergency Management – 124 S. Park Place, Cresco, IA 52136 | (563) 547-9208 | Fax (563) 547-9244.
Sheriff: Howard County Sheriff’s Office (Law Enforcement Center) – 124 S. Park Place, Cresco, IA 52136 | (563) 547-3535 | Fax (563) 547-9296; Sheriff Wade Michels. Patrols nearly 800 miles of roads and 480 square miles, chief law enforcement for Lime Springs, Chester, Elma, Protivin, Riceville, and unincorporated areas. Maintains a 10-bed county jail; provides 24-hour dispatching for law enforcement, fire, and EMS.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-63 and IA-9 serve Cresco, the county seat and largest city, in far northeastern Iowa near the Minnesota border.
Notes: Howard County was founded in 1851, named for General Tilghman Ashurst Howard, an Indiana congressman. The county seat moved several times in its early history – from Vernon Springs to Howard Center to Pikes Peak – before settling permanently in Cresco after a courthouse there burned and was rebuilt in 1879-1880.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Howard County Courthouse – Elm Street, Cresco, IA (built 1879-1880, Italianate style, architects B.D. Everingham and J.L. Harlow; National Register of Historic Places since 1981; the third courthouse building in county history).
Notes: Cresco holds two genuinely remarkable claims to fame. It is the boyhood home of Dr. Norman Borlaug (1914-2009), who grew up on a farm about 12 miles southwest of town and graduated from Cresco High School in 1932 before going on to develop high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties that are credited with saving hundreds of millions of lives worldwide as the “Father of the Green Revolution.” Borlaug won the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize and is one of only a handful of people in history to also receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal; his boyhood farm, preserved by the Norman Borlaug Heritage Foundation, is open for tours, and Iowa has honored him with one of its two statues in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall. Separately, Cresco is the birthplace of Ellen Church (1904-1965), a registered nurse and pilot who, after being denied a pilot position, successfully proposed putting trained nurses aboard passenger flights to ease public fear of flying; her first flight for Boeing Air Transport took off May 15, 1930, creating the flight attendant profession. Cresco’s municipal airport, Ellen Church Field, is named in her honor. The town is also home to the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Howard County Veterans Affairs – 137 N. Elm Street, Cresco, IA 52136 | (563) 547-9212 | Fax (563) 547-9285.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Cresco Public Library (Cresco) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Norman Borlaug Boyhood Farm, the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame, the Howard County Historical Museum at the Fairgrounds, and the Prairie Springs Recreational Trail (3 miles, paved, along the Turkey River) are the county’s premier heritage and recreational attractions.
Notes: The genuine, extraordinary legacy of Norman Borlaug – one of the most consequential humanitarian scientists of the 20th century – alongside Ellen Church’s founding of the flight attendant profession, make Cresco one of the most remarkable small towns covered in this entire project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Howard County Assessor’s Office – 137 N. Elm Street, Cresco, IA 52136 | (563) 547-9201.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Humane Society of Northeast Iowa – serves Allamakee, Clayton, Fayette, Howard, and Winneshiek counties from its Love & Friendship Adoption Center in Decorah, IA; confirm current phone via hsnei.org.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Howard County Environmental Health – 137 N. Elm Street, Cresco, IA 52136 | (563) 547-9209.
NOTES: Howard County is the forty-sixth county in Iowa’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, extraordinary legacy of Norman Borlaug – one of the most consequential humanitarian scientists of the 20th century – alongside Ellen Church’s founding of the flight attendant profession, make Cresco one of the most remarkable small towns covered in this entire 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 Howard County
Howard County is northeast Iowa’s Driftless Area border county – the rugged, stream-carved landscape along the Minnesota border supports a mix of dairy farming, row crop agriculture, and outdoor recreation while Cresco serves as the governmental and commercial hub for this scenic corner of Iowa.
Cresco (the county seat, population ~3,700) is Howard County’s governmental and commercial center, providing regional services to the county’s rural communities near the Iowa-Minnesota border.
All Services
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Howard County Assessor at 137 N. Elm Street, Cresco, IA 52136, phone 563-547-2813. IA assessed at 100% market value with residential rollback.
Courts & Legal
Howard County District Court at 137 N. Elm Street, Cresco, IA 52136, phone 563-547-2868, 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)
137 N. Elm St., Cresco, IA 52136
(563) 547-3800
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Howard County District Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Howard 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
Howard County District Court, 1st Judicial District 137 North Elm Street, Cresco, IA 52136 (563) 547-9206
Howard County was founded in 1851, named for Representative Tilghman Ashurst Howard. The 1879-1880 Howard County Courthouse (Italianate, National Register of Historic Places) is the county’s third.
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 Howard 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
137 N. Elm St., Cresco, IA 52136
(563) 547-2415
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY AUDITOR (Records, Elections, Finance)
137 N. Elm St., Cresco, IA 52136
(563) 547-2108
ELECTIONS (County Auditor)
137 N. Elm St., Cresco, IA 52136
(563) 547-2108
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Regional Health Services of Howard County – 235 8th Avenue W, Cresco, IA 52136 | (563) 547-2989.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Cresco
Population: 9,500
Area: 473 sq mi
Established: 1851
Tier: 4
Public Records
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