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Maryland County
Somerset County, Maryland
Crisfield blue crab capital and Chesapeake watermen - from Crisfield's identity as the Crab Capital of the World (the small waterfront city of Crisfield in Somerset County built its entire identity and economy around blue crab harvesting and processing - at its peak, Crisfield had over 150 crab picking houses and was the second-largest city in Maryland, and the annual National Hard Crab Derby and Fair celebrates this heritage each Labor Day weekend) to Somerset County's dramatic Chesapeake Bay and Tangier Sound landscape (the county's low-lying terrain of tidal marshes, creeks, and Chesapeake tributaries creates a working watermen's landscape where crabbing, oystering, and finfish harvesting have sustained communities for centuries).
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Office: Somerset County Department of Emergency Services (“Somerset Central”) – 11916 Somerset Avenue, Room 120, Princess Anne, MD 21853 | (410) 651-0707 | Fax (410) 651-3350; the county’s Public Safety Answering Point, staffed by 17 employees (Director, Assistant Director, 11 full-time and 3 part-time communicators, a GIS Coordinator, and an Emergency Planner); serves 8 fire companies, 2 EMS companies, and 3 police agencies, answering an average of 50 911 calls a day.
Sheriff: Somerset County Sheriff’s Office – 7920 Crisfield Hwy, Westover, MD 21871 | (410) 651-9225 | Fax (410) 651-1142; Sheriff Ronnie Howard; established by Lord Baltimore on August 22, 1666, with Stephen Horsey appointed the first Sheriff; the smallest Sheriff’s Office of Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions, with 37 sworn deputies; began 24-hour coverage on July 1, 2010 (previously daytime patrol with on-call evenings, dating to Sheriff Thomas H. Foxwell Jr.’s 1970 introduction of uniforms and patrol vehicles).
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-13 and MD-413 serve Princess Anne, the county seat, on Maryland’s lower Eastern Shore.
Notes: Somerset County is bounded on three sides by water, with roughly 332 square land miles and 46 square water miles.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Somerset County Circuit Court – Princess Anne, MD.
Notes: Somerset County is home to Smith Island – Maryland’s last inhabited offshore island, reachable only by boat, straddling the Maryland-Virginia line about 12 miles west of Crisfield. Smith Island is genuinely the birthplace of Smith Island Cake, Maryland’s official state dessert (designated by House Bill 315 in 2008): a distinctive eight-to-ten-layer yellow cake with chocolate fudge icing between each thin layer, a tradition tracing back over a century among the island’s watermen families. Somerset County Tourism launched a self-guided Smith Island Cake Trail across 11 county locations in 2026.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Somerset County Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via somersetmd.us.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Somerset County Library – confirm current address/phone via somersetlibrary.org.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Smith Island (accessible via ferry from Crisfield), the Smith Island Cultural Center in Ewell, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (in Princess Anne) are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine Smith Island Cake/state dessert origin story is one of the most distinctive and beloved local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Somerset County Division of Planning & Zoning – (410) 651-1424.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Humane Society of Somerset County, Maryland – P.O. Box 493, Princess Anne, MD 21853 | (410) 651-2424; an all-volunteer network founded by concerned residents to manage the county’s stray cat population, now caring for rescued and ownerless cats and dogs; adoption donation of $60 for most breeds; after-hours emergency rescues route through the Sheriff’s Office at (410) 651-9225.
Somerset County Animal Control – confirm current contact via somersetmd.us.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Somerset County Department of Public Works – confirm current contact via somersetmd.us.
NOTES: Somerset County is the second county in the fourth and final batch of the Maryland v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine Smith Island Cake/state dessert origin story is one of the most distinctive and beloved local facts 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 Somerset County
Somerset County is Maryland’s lower Eastern Shore Chesapeake watermen and Crisfield blue crab county – the Crab Capital of the World and the working watermen’s landscape of tidal marshes and Tangier Sound define one of Maryland’s most authentically maritime counties, where the blue crab economy and Chesapeake Bay fishing culture have sustained communities for generations.
Princess Anne (the county seat, population ~3,600) is Somerset County’s governmental hub and home of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, while Crisfield anchors the county’s crab fishing and tourism economy on the Chesapeake Bay.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Somerset County Assessor at 11916 Somerset Avenue, Princess Anne, MD 21853, phone 410-651-1010. MD assessed at percentage of full cash value.
Courts & Legal
Somerset County Circuit Court at 30512 Prince William Street, Princess Anne, MD 21853, phone 410-651-1555, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CIRCUIT COURT CLERK (Land Records & Court Filings)
30512 Prince William St., Princess Anne, MD 21853
(410) 651-1555
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Somerset County Register of Wills (estate/probate case files – see Probate section above).
“Index to Somerset County, Maryland, Wills, 1666-1777” and “Other Wills in the Prerogative Court for Somerset and Worcester Counties, 1664-1775” are specific published resources for this county.
Local societies
No dedicated Somerset 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
Somerset County Register of Wills Courthouse, 30512 Prince William Street, Princess Anne, MD 21853 (410) 651-1696 Somerset County is on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, seated in Princess Anne.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Maryland is NOT a Uniform Probate Code state – it follows its own framework under the Maryland Estates and Trusts Article, administered through the Register of Wills rather than a traditional probate court in most cases.
Small Estate Administration – for a gross probate estate of $50,000 or less, or $100,000 or less if the surviving spouse is the sole heir or legatee. Filed as a Petition for Administration of a Small Estate. There is no filing fee for small estates opened on or after October 1, 2022. Small estates typically close in 2 to 4 months.
Modified Administration – available for Regular Estates when the residuary legatees consist of the personal representative and non-taxable recipients of property (spouse, children, parents, grandparents, siblings), the estate is solvent, and all consent. The personal representative must elect this within 3 months of appointment, files a verified Final Report within 10 months, and must complete final distribution within 12 months of appointment.
Regular Estate (Administrative Probate) – required when probate assets exceed $50,000 (or $100,000 with spouse as sole heir). Requires a formal Inventory (due within 3 months) and Account (first account due within 9 months, can be filed as early as 6 months), with a fee based on estate value.
Judicial Probate – conducted by the Orphans’ Court rather than administratively through the Register of Wills, required when the will’s validity is questioned, the will is damaged, or more than one qualified person petitions to serve as personal representative.
Step 2: filing for probate
File a Petition for Administration (Form 1103, plus Schedule B/Form 1137 as needed) with the Register of Wills in the county where the decedent was domiciled at death.
The Register of Wills reviews the petition and, following the statutory order of priority, appoints a personal representative and issues Letters of Administration.
Notice to creditors is published by the Register in a newspaper; creditors have 6 months from the date of death (or 2 months after being mailed notice, whichever is later) to file a claim, or they’re barred from collecting.
The personal representative pays valid debts, files the required Inventory and/or Account (or Final Report under Modified Administration), pays any inheritance tax due, and distributes the remaining assets – the surviving spouse or domestic partner is entitled to a $10,000 family allowance, and $5,000 for each unmarried minor child.
What it costs
No filing fee for small estates opened on or after October 1, 2022.
Regular estates pay a probate fee based on the total gross estate value, per a published fee schedule.
Maryland imposes both a state estate tax (threshold around $5 million) and a separate inheritance tax.
Maryland does not require an attorney for probate, but complex or contested estates commonly benefit from one.
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
30512 Prince William St., Princess Anne, MD 21853
(410) 651-1696
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
11916 Somerset Ave., Princess Anne, MD 21853
(410) 651-1015
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Somerset County Health Dept
(410) 651-0384
Dept of Social Services
(410) 651-0777
MD Medicaid
(800) 492-5231
PRMC — Peninsula Regional Medical Center
peninsula.org (Salisbury, Wicomico County — major regional hospital; accessible)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Somerset County Health Department – 7920 Crisfield Highway, Westover, MD 21871 | (410) 651-5600.
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Editorial Trust
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Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Princess Anne
Population: 25,000
Area: 327 sq mi
Established: 1666
Tier: 3
Public Records
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Search public records for Somerset County residents.
