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Office: Lee County Department of Public Safety/Emergency Management – 256 Main Street, Beattyville, KY 41311 | (606) 464-4100. Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-4:30 PM.
Sheriff: Lee County Sheriff’s Office – Courthouse, 256 Main Street, Beattyville, KY 41311 | (606) 464-4120 | Fax (606) 464-4140 | Email: [email protected]; Sheriff Joseph C. Lucas.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: KY-11 and the Mountain Parkway serve Beattyville, the county seat, at the confluence of the Kentucky River’s three forks in eastern Kentucky. The area offers 450 miles of scenic country roads popular with cyclists and motorcyclists.
Notes: Lee County was formed March 1, 1870 from parts of Breathitt, Estill, Owsley, and Wolfe counties, originally with Proctor as county seat before the seat moved to Beattyville in 1872. Sources differ on the county’s namesake – most cite Confederate General Robert E. Lee, though some residents trace ancestral roots to Lee County, Virginia instead.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Lee County Courthouse – 256 Main Street, Beattyville, KY 41311.
Notes: Beattyville hosts the annual Woolly Worm Festival, held every year since 1988 on the last full weekend of October, drawing tens of thousands of visitors to downtown Main Street for woolly worm races (a folk-tradition winter-weather forecasting caterpillar), a car show, parade, and live music. Lee County also has seven sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its rugged, cliff-lined terrain near the Red River Gorge has begun attracting free climbers from around the world.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Lee County Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via leecounty.ky.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Lee County Public Library (Beattyville) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Woolly Worm Festival grounds in downtown Beattyville, and nearby cliff/rock formations similar to Red River Gorge, are the county’s most distinctive attractions.
Notes: The genuine, beloved Woolly Worm Festival tradition is one of the more charming small-town Kentucky festivals covered in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Lee County Property Valuation Administrator – Elizabeth Roach, 667 Tip Top Road, Beattyville, KY 41311 | (606) 464-4105 | Fax (606) 464-2102 | Email: [email protected].
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Lee County Animal Control – (606) 560-0754.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Lee County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via leecounty.ky.gov.
NOTES: Lee County is the first county in Kentucky’s tenth batch under the Round 3 A+ sourced standard. The genuine, beloved Woolly Worm Festival tradition is one of the more charming small-town Kentucky festivals 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 Lee County County
Lee County is eastern Kentucky’s Three Forks of the Kentucky River county – the confluence where the Kentucky River is born from its three mountain headwaters and the proximity to Red River Gorge’s spectacular sandstone landscapes define a small Appalachian county where Beattyville’s river setting anchors a community at the heart of eastern Kentucky’s mountain watershed.
Beattyville (the county seat, population ~1,200) is Lee County’s governmental hub at the Three Forks confluence, a small eastern Kentucky mountain river town on KY-11 whose Kentucky River headwaters position, Red River Gorge proximity, and Appalachian character anchor its community identity.
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Lee County Property Valuation Administrator at 9 Court Square, Beattyville, KY 41311, phone 606-464-2780. KY assessed at 100% fair cash value.
Courts & Legal
Lee County Circuit Court at 9 Court Square, Beattyville, KY 41311, phone 606-464-3986, 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)
11 Main St., Beattyville, KY 41311
(606) 464-2500
CIRCUIT COURT CLERK (Court Records)
11 Main St., Beattyville, KY 41311
(606) 464-8985
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
11 Main St., Beattyville, KY 41311
(606) 464-2500
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Lee County District Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
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 Lee County Courthouse, 256 Main Street, 2nd Floor, P.O. Box E, Beattyville, KY 41311 (606) 464-8400 Lee County is in eastern Kentucky, seated in Beattyville.
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
11 Main St., Beattyville, KY 41311
(606) 464-8986
SHERIFF / TAX COLLECTOR
11 Main St., Beattyville, KY 41311
(606) 464-8986
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Elections, Marriage Licenses)
11 Main St., Beattyville, KY 41311
(606) 464-2500
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
11 Main St., Beattyville, KY 41311
(606) 464-2500
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Lee County Health Dept
(606) 464-3199
KY CHFS — Kentucky River Region
(606) 439-3557
KY Medicaid
(855) 306-8959
Morgan County ARH Hospital
arh.org/morgan (West Liberty — adjacent Morgan County; nearest hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Lee 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: Beattyville
Population: 6,800
Area: 212 sq mi
Established: 1870
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