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Office: Hickman County Office of Emergency Management/EOC – 116 South Jefferson Street, Clinton, KY 42031 | (270) 653-4369 | 24/7 dispatch (270) 653-5871 | Email: [email protected]; Director Dylan Jewell. Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-4 PM.
Sheriff: Hickman County Sheriff’s Office – 110 East Clay Street, Suite B, Clinton, KY 42031 | (270) 653-2241 | Email: [email protected]; Sheriff Ben Natividad.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. ⚠️ Naming trap: not to be confused with Hickman, Kentucky’s own county seat of Fulton County – this is a distinct Hickman County.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-51 and KY-58 serve Clinton, the county seat, in far western Kentucky near the Mississippi River.
Notes: Hickman County, formed in 1821, is named for Captain Paschal Hickman, killed in the War of 1812.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Hickman County Courthouse – Clinton, KY.
Notes: Hickman County is home to Columbus-Belmont State Park, a genuinely significant Civil War site on the Mississippi River bluffs near the town of Columbus. In September 1861, Confederate General Leonidas Polk fortified the bluff (which he called the “Gibraltar of the West”) and stretched a massive iron chain – anchored by a six-ton weight, still on display at the park – across the Mississippi River to Belmont, Missouri, in an attempt to block Union gunboats. The strategic standoff led to the November 1861 Battle of Belmont, the opening engagement of the Union’s western campaign and General Ulysses S. Grant’s first active battle of the Civil War. The site is also historically significant as a documented 1838 camping site for nearly 1,100 Cherokee people forced along the Trail of Tears, who waited there to be ferried across the Mississippi.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Hickman County Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via hickmancoky.com.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Hickman County Library – 209 Mayfield Road, Clinton, KY 42031 | (270) 653-2225.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Columbus-Belmont State Park (Civil War museum, the Great Chain anchor, a 2.5-mile hiking trail along the bluffs, and Trail of Tears interpretive signage) is the county’s premier historic attraction.
Notes: The genuine “Great Chain” Civil War story and its Trail of Tears history are among the most significant American historical sites covered anywhere in this project.
Office: Hickman County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via hickmancoky.com.
NOTES: Hickman County is the third county in Kentucky’s eighth batch under the Round 3 A+ sourced standard. The genuine “Great Chain” Civil War story at Columbus-Belmont State Park and its Trail of Tears history are among the most significant American historical sites 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 Hickman County County
Hickman County is far western Kentucky’s Mississippi River bottomland agricultural county – one of the state’s smallest and most rural communities where Clinton serves the surrounding grain farming population in a flat Purchase Region landscape near the Tennessee border and the great river.
Clinton (the county seat, population ~1,300) is Hickman County’s governmental hub, a small western Kentucky Purchase Region community on US 51 serving the county’s row crop farming communities in the flat alluvial landscape near the Mississippi River and Tennessee border.
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Hickman County Property Valuation Administrator at 110 E. Clay Street, Clinton, KY 42031, phone 270-653-4523. KY assessed at 100% fair cash value.
Courts & Legal
Hickman County Circuit Court at 110 E. Clay Street, Clinton, KY 42031, phone 270-653-4523, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Elections, Marriage Licenses)
110 E. Clay St., Clinton, KY 42031
(270) 653-4355
CIRCUIT COURT CLERK (Court Records)
110 E. Clay St., Clinton, KY 42031
(270) 653-4481
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
110 E. Clay St., Clinton, KY 42031
(270) 653-4355
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Hickman County District Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Hickman 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
Hickman County District Court 110 East Clay Street, Clinton, KY 42031 (270) 653-2131 Hickman County is in far western Kentucky, seated in Clinton.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Kentucky has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code; probate is governed by KRS Chapter 395 (Administration of Estates), handled by the District Court in the county where the decedent resided (KRS 24A.120).
Dispensing with Administration – Kentucky’s simplified small-estate procedure, governed by KRS 395.450, 395.455, and 395.470. Available when the value of the personal estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $30,000, and the petitioner is a surviving spouse, adult child, or other qualifying heir/preferred creditor. The petitioner files a Petition to Dispense with Administration (Form AOC-830) with an affidavit listing assets, debts, and proposed distribution – no personal representative or full administration is required. Real estate is generally not covered by this procedure.
Regular (Full) Administration – for larger or more complex estates, the District Court appoints a personal representative (executor if named in a will, administrator if intestate), who gathers assets, pays debts, and distributes what remains under court oversight.
Step 2: filing for formal probate
File a Petition for Probate of Will and Appointment of Executor/Administrator (Form AOC-805) with the District Court in the county of residence.
If there’s a will, the court admits it to probate; it is then recorded with the county clerk (KRS 394.140).
The personal representative files an Inventory and Appraisement (Form AOC-841) of estate assets.
Notice to creditors is published; creditors generally have 6 months from appointment to file claims.
The personal representative pays valid debts, taxes, and expenses.
A Settlement of Estate (Form AOC-846) is filed, and the court closes the estate upon approval.
What it costs
Filing fees and publication costs are collected by the clerk and vary somewhat by county.
Kentucky does not require an attorney for probate, though it is commonly recommended, especially for formal administration.
Typical timelines: full probate generally takes 6-12 months; the creditor claims period is 6 months. Dispensing with Administration can move significantly faster once the estate qualifies.
Before distribution, a surviving spouse may petition for release of up to $2,500 from the estate as an exempt charge against estate property.
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
110 E. Clay St., Clinton, KY 42031
(270) 653-4382
SHERIFF / TAX COLLECTOR
110 E. Clay St., Clinton, KY 42031
(270) 653-4382
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Elections, Marriage Licenses)
110 E. Clay St., Clinton, KY 42031
(270) 653-4355
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
110 E. Clay St., Clinton, KY 42031
(270) 653-4355
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Hickman County Health Dept
(270) 653-4323
KY CHFS — Purchase Region
(270) 444-9625
KY Medicaid
(855) 306-8959
Baptist Memorial Hospital (Union City, TN)
baptistonline.org (Tennessee; nearest hospital)
Lourdes Hospital (Paducah)
lourdes.com (accessible for regional care)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Hickman County Health Department – confirm current contact via chfs.ky.gov local health department directory.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Clinton
Population: 4,700
Area: 244 sq mi
Established: 1821
Public Records
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