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Iowa County
Lee County, Iowa
Keokuk's Mississippi River dam and the Civil War arsenal - from Keokuk's Lock and Dam No. 19 (the Keokuk hydroelectric dam - completed in 1913 - was the largest hydroelectric dam in the world at the time of its construction, harnessing the Des Moines Rapids that had blocked Mississippi River navigation for centuries and producing electricity for the region) to Fort Madison's Iowa State Penitentiary (the oldest prison west of the Mississippi River, opened 1839, whose stone walls and historic cellblock are among the most significant 19th-century correctional architecture in the Midwest) and Keokuk's role as a major Civil War medical center.
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Office: Lee County Emergency Management – confirm current contact via leecounty.iowa.gov.
Sheriff: Lee County Sheriff’s Office – (319) 372-1152 (Fort Madison-based, countywide jurisdiction).
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-61 and IA-2 serve Fort Madison; US-61 and US-136 serve Keokuk, along the Mississippi River in Iowa’s southeasternmost corner.
Notes: Lee County was established December 7, 1836. Fort Madison was named county seat first, in 1837; Keokuk became a second, distinct county seat in 1847-48 by special act of the Iowa General Assembly, following disagreements over jurisdiction. The county is split administratively along the historic Sullivan Line, an 1816 Missouri-Iowa boundary survey.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Lee County Courthouse (North Lee) – 701 Avenue F, Fort Madison, IA (built 1841-1842, Greek Revival, the county’s first and oldest courthouse; National Register of Historic Places since 1976). Lee County Courthouse (South Lee) – 25 N. 7th Street, Keokuk, IA (housed in a former federal courthouse and post office building dating to 1890).
Notes: Fort Madison, founded around the site of the first U.S. military fort in the upper Mississippi region, is also home to the Iowa State Penitentiary, the state’s maximum-security prison (a new facility opened in 2015 replacing the historic 175-year-old original). Keokuk, at the southern tip of the county, is genuinely notable as home to America’s first national cemetery west of the Mississippi River, and a young Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) lived and worked there before his writing career began; Theodore Roosevelt visited Keokuk three times, including for a 1912 “Bull Moose” campaign speech.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Lee County Veterans Affairs – 25 N. 7th Street, Keokuk, IA 52632 | (319) 524-9590.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Fort Madison Public Library (Fort Madison) and Keokuk Public Library (Keokuk) – confirm current addresses/phones via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Riverview Park in Fort Madison (Mississippi River access), Shimek State Forest (Iowa’s largest state forest, near Fort Madison), Rodeo Park (250 acres, Fort Madison), and Keokuk’s National Cemetery are the county’s premier heritage and recreational attractions.
Notes: The genuine, unique dual-county-seat structure of Lee County, along with Keokuk’s documented connections to Mark Twain and Theodore Roosevelt, are among the standout distinctions covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Lee County Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via leecounty.iowa.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
PAW (Protectors of Animal Welfare of North Lee County) – 1931 48th Street, Fort Madison, IA 52627 | (319) 372-2274. No-kill 501(c)(3) shelter serving southeast Iowa for over 15 years, housing 80-90 animals at a time. Keokuk Animal Services – 249 Carbide Lane, Keokuk, IA 52632 | (319) 526-5421. City of Keokuk sheltering facility for South Lee County; adoption fees $175 dogs/$100 cats.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Great River Regional Waste Authority (Landfill) – confirm current contact via leecounty.iowa.gov.
NOTES: Lee County is the fifty-seventh county in Iowa’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, unique dual-county-seat structure of Lee County, along with Keokuk’s documented connections to Mark Twain and Theodore Roosevelt, are among the standout distinctions 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 Lee County
Lee County is southeast Iowa’s Mississippi River dam and oldest prison county – Keokuk’s 1913 hydroelectric dam was the world’s largest at completion, and Fort Madison’s Iowa State Penitentiary is the oldest prison west of the Mississippi.
Fort Madison (the county seat, population ~10,000) and Keokuk (population ~10,000) anchor the county at the southernmost tip of Iowa where the Des Moines River joins the Mississippi.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Lee County Assessor at 933 Avenue H, Fort Madison, IA 52627, phone 319-372-3522. IA assessed at 100% market value with residential rollback.
Courts & Legal
Lee County District Court at 933 Avenue H, Fort Madison, IA 52627, phone 319-372-3523, 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)
25 N. 7th St., Fort Madison, IA 52627
(319) 372-3523
Genealogy
County-level record sources
North Lee and South Lee County District Court offices (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
The dual county-seat structure (Fort Madison and Keokuk), a rarity in Iowa, is a notable local administrative history topic.
Local societies
No dedicated Lee 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
Lee County District Court, 8th Judicial District
Lee County is unusual in having two county seats and two courthouses, reflecting a historic north-south split:
North Lee County District Court, 701 Avenue F, Fort Madison, IA 52627, (319) 372-3523
South Lee County District Court, 25 North 7th Street, Suite 301, Keokuk, IA 52632, (319) 524-2433
Lee County is Iowa’s southeasternmost county on the Mississippi River, and Iowa’s most populous county with dual county seats.
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 appropriate Lee County District Court office (North Lee in Fort Madison or South Lee in Keokuk, depending on the decedent’s residence).
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
25 N. 7th St., Fort Madison, IA 52627
(319) 372-2525
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY AUDITOR (Records, Elections, Finance)
25 N. 7th St., Fort Madison, IA 52627
(319) 372-3523
ELECTIONS (County Auditor)
25 N. 7th St., Fort Madison, IA 52627
(319) 372-3523
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Lee County Health Dept
(319) 372-5225
Iowa DHHS — Region 7
(800) 338-8366
Iowa Medicaid
(800) 338-8366
UnityPoint Health — Fort Madison
unitypoint.org/fortmadison (quality community hospital)
Blessing Health System (Quincy, IL)
blessinghospital.com (serves Keokuk area)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Lee County Health Department – 933 Avenue H, Fort Madison, IA 52627 | (319) 372-5673 (also serving South Lee at 25 N. 7th Street, Keokuk).
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