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Office: Montgomery County Emergency Management – housed within the Joint Law Enforcement Center, Red Oak, IA (built following a 2010 voter-approved referendum).
Sheriff: Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office – 106 W. Coolbaugh Street, Red Oak, IA 51566 | (712) 623-5107 | Crime Stoppers (888) 434-2712 | Email: [email protected]. Provides law enforcement for unincorporated areas and contract towns; issues gun permits and oversees the county drug task force.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-29 and US-34 serve Red Oak, the county seat, in southwestern Iowa.
Notes: Montgomery County was created January 15, 1851, and organized August 15, 1853, named for Revolutionary War hero Richard Montgomery. Red Oak Creek gave the county seat its name, after the red oak trees along its banks. The county seat moved from Frankfort to Red Oak in 1863-64 in a genuinely memorable episode: the old courthouse building was placed on sleds and pulled by thirty yoke of oxen through a blizzard, with the storm’s intensity causing the team to be unhitched partway, letting the courthouse “wander” on its own before reaching its new site.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Montgomery County Courthouse – Red Oak, IA (built 1890, on a Red Oak town square; part of the Red Oak Downtown Historic District).
Notes: Red Oak has a genuinely distinguished and often somber military history. During World War I, Red Oak’s “Company M” went to the front with 250 men and suffered 160 casualties, including 52 killed in action, fighting at Belleau Wood and the Argonne Forest. During World War II, Red Oak drew national attention for the disproportionate losses suffered by local men serving in the 34th Infantry Division’s 168th Infantry Regiment at the Battle of Faid Pass in Tunisia (February 1943) – on a single day, more than 100 telegrams reporting missing soldiers arrived in town, and dozens were later confirmed as prisoners of war. This history is documented at the Burlington Northern Depot & WWII Memorial Museum. Separately, Red Oak also holds a lighter distinction as the birthplace of the American art calendar industry: in 1888, Edmond Osborne and Thomas D. Murphy purchased a woodcut of the under-construction county courthouse, added advertising and a calendar pad around it to offset costs, and founded the Thos. D. Murphy Co., which operated for over a century.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Montgomery County Veterans Affairs – Red Oak, IA. Hours: Tue-Fri 8 AM-noon and 1-4 PM.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Red Oak Public Library (Red Oak) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Burlington Northern Depot & WWII Memorial Museum, the Montgomery County History Center, the Swedish Heritage and Cultural Center in Stanton, and the Red Oak Downtown Historic District are the county’s premier heritage attractions.
Notes: The genuine, well-documented WWII sacrifice of Red Oak’s soldiers at Faid Pass – a story that drew national attention at the time – is among the most moving local histories covered in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Montgomery County Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via montgomerycountyia.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
⚠️ Montgomery County Animal Rescue (MCAR), 103 S. Broadway Street, Red Oak, IA 51566, a volunteer-run 501(c)(3) established 2001, has publicly indicated it is no longer taking in animals as of recent reporting; it still assists with lost-and-found matching. Residents should contact the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, (712) 623-5107, or check for a current regional rescue partner before assuming intake capacity.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Montgomery County Environmental Health – confirm current contact via montgomerycountyia.gov.
NOTES: Montgomery County is the seventy-first county in Iowa’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, well-documented WWII sacrifice of Red Oak’s soldiers at Faid Pass is among the most moving local histories covered in this project. ⚠️ Animal shelter intake status could not be fully confirmed as current and is flagged for follow-up rather than smoothed over. 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 Montgomery County County
Montgomery County is southwest Iowa’s World War II memorial and Nishnabotna River agricultural county – Red Oak’s extraordinary WWII sacrifice commemorated at the town’s museum and the rolling corn and soybean farming landscape define a community where Red Oak serves as a southwest Iowa market town and a keeper of one of the war’s most affecting small-town stories.
Red Oak (the county seat, population ~5,400) is Montgomery County’s governmental hub on US 34, a southwest Iowa community whose WWII museum, Nishnabotna River watershed, and agricultural economy anchor its identity.
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Montgomery County Assessor at 105 Coolbaugh Street, Red Oak, IA 51566, phone 712-623-4774. IA assessed at actual value.
Courts & Legal
Montgomery County District Court at 105 Coolbaugh Street, Red Oak, IA 51566, phone 712-623-4986, 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)
105 E. Washington St., Red Oak, IA 51566
(712) 623-4986
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Montgomery County District Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
The Red Oak Downtown Historic District is a significant local historical resource.
Local societies
No dedicated Montgomery 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
Montgomery County District Court, 4th Judicial District 105 Coolbaugh Street, Red Oak, IA 51566 (712) 623-4986
Montgomery County was created January 15, 1851 and organized August 15, 1853, named for General Richard Montgomery. The 1891 Montgomery County Courthouse (Romanesque, National Register of Historic Places) anchors the Red Oak Downtown Historic District.
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 Montgomery 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
105 E. Washington St., Red Oak, IA 51566
(712) 623-2107
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY AUDITOR (Records, Elections, Finance)
105 E. Washington St., Red Oak, IA 51566
(712) 623-4986
ELECTIONS (County Auditor)
105 E. Washington St., Red Oak, IA 51566
(712) 623-4986
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Montgomery County Health Dept
(712) 623-2336
Iowa DHHS — Region 4
(800) 338-8366
Iowa Medicaid
(800) 338-8366
Montgomery County Memorial Hospital
mcmhospital.com (Red Oak — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Montgomery County Public Health – confirm current contact via montgomerycountyia.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Red Oak
Population: 10,000
Area: 424 sq mi
Established: 1851
Public Records
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