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Office: St. Mary’s County Emergency Services – 23090 Leonard Hall Drive, Leonardtown, MD 20650 | (301) 475-4200 | Email: [email protected]; provides 911/police dispatch, Emergency Medical Services, and emergency management strategy for the county.
Sheriff: St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office (SMCSO) – 23150 Leonard Hall Drive, Leonardtown, MD 20650 | Non-emergency (301) 475-8008 | (301) 475-4200; Sheriff Steven A. Hall (biographical note: a prior source lists a different name – verify current officeholder before publishing); genuinely the oldest continuously operating Sheriff’s Office in the United States, established in 1637 with James Baldridge as the first documented Sheriff (the county itself was founded in 1634, so an earlier unrecorded Sheriff likely existed); Sheriffs elected by voters since 1776; Joseph Lee Somerville, appointed in 1977, was the first African American Sheriff in St. Mary’s County and in Maryland, and only the sixth in the entire country; serves roughly 367-764 square miles (sources vary) and 105,000+ residents.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: MD-235 and MD-5 serve Leonardtown, the county seat, at the southern tip of Maryland’s Western Shore.
Notes: St. Mary’s County is genuinely known as the “Mother County of Maryland” – the birthplace of the entire state.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: St. Mary’s County Circuit Court – Leonardtown, MD.
Notes: St. Mary’s County is home to Historic St. Mary’s City, Maryland’s first capital and the fourth-oldest permanent English settlement in the United States. Colonists led by Leonard Calvert arrived aboard the ships Ark and Dove in March 1634, first landing at St. Clement’s Island (where Father Andrew White celebrated the first Roman Catholic Mass in the English-speaking colonies) before settling St. Mary’s City, which served as Maryland’s capital from 1634 until Annapolis took over in 1694-95. The colony was founded explicitly as a haven for English Catholics fleeing religious persecution. St. Mary’s City is also notable as the home of Margaret Brent, who in 1648 became the first woman in America to petition for the right to vote (though her petition was denied).
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: St. Mary’s County Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via stmaryscountymd.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
St. Mary’s County Library – confirm current address/phone via stmalib.org.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Historic St. Mary’s City (reconstructed 1676 statehouse, living-history museum), St. Clement’s Island Museum, and St. Mary’s College of Maryland are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine “birthplace of Maryland” status of St. Mary’s City is one of the most historically foundational local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: St. Mary’s County Department of Land Use and Growth Management – confirm current contact via stmaryscountymd.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
St. Mary’s County Animal Adoption & Resource Center – 41770 Baldridge Street, Leonardtown, MD 20650 | Daytime (301) 475-8018 | After Hours (301) 475-8016; a county shelter offering adoption, licensing, education, and cruelty investigation services, with a livestreamed “Kitty Cam” community cat room. Hours: Tue/Wed/Fri 12-6 PM, Sat/Sun 12-4 PM, closed Mon/Thu.
St. Mary’s Animal Welfare League (SMAWL) – P.O. Box 1232, Leonardtown, MD 20650 | (301) 373-5659; an all-volunteer nonprofit running the region’s only Pet Food Pantry alongside rescue and adoption programs.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: St. Mary’s County Department of Public Works – confirm current contact via stmaryscountymd.gov.
NOTES: St. Mary’s County is the first county in the fourth and final batch of the Maryland v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine “birthplace of Maryland” status of St. Mary’s City is one of the most historically foundational 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 St. Marys County County
St. Mary’s County’s dual heritage of first settlement and military aviation testing is one of the more unusual combinations in Maryland history. Historic St. Mary’s City – where Maryland’s colonists established their capital in 1634 under a charter that granted religious toleration unusually broad for the era – is an active archaeological site and living history museum that preserves the physical record of the colony’s earliest years. The Maryland Dove, a replica of one of the original ships that brought the colonists, sails from the historic site.
Naval Air Station Patuxent River is the Navy’s primary flight test and evaluation center – every aircraft, weapons system, and electronic system the Navy procures is tested here before deployment. The base employs approximately 22,000 military and civilian personnel and is the county’s dominant economic force. The technology sector that has grown around Pax River’s testing mission – defense contractors, engineering firms – gives the county an unusually high educational attainment and income profile for a rural Maryland peninsula.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Maryland assesses property at 100% of full market value on a three-year cycle. Property owners may appeal to the Property Tax Assessment Appeal Board within 45 days of notice. Maryland has an estate tax above $5 million; no Maryland inheritance tax.
Courts & Legal
Courts & Legal
SENIOR SERVICES
St. Mary’s County Department of Aging and Human Services
P.O. Box 653, Leonardtown, MD 20650
Phone: (301) 475-4200
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)
23110 Leonard Hall Dr., Leonardtown, MD 20650
(301) 475-7844
Genealogy
County-level record sources
St. Mary’s County Register of Wills (estate/probate case files – see Probate section above).
“General Index of Wills of St. Mary’s County, Maryland, 1633-1900” and “Index to St. Mary’s County, Maryland, Wills, 1634-1777” reflect the county’s deep colonial-era record base as Maryland’s oldest county.
Local societies
No dedicated St. Mary’s 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
St. Mary’s County Register of Wills Courthouse, 41605 Courthouse Drive (P.O. Box 602), Leonardtown, MD 20650 (301) 475-5566 St. Mary’s County is Maryland’s oldest county, in southern Maryland, seated in Leonardtown.
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
23190 Leonard Hall Dr., Leonardtown, MD 20650
(301) 475-8008
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
23115 Leonard Hall Dr., Leonardtown, MD 20650
(301) 475-4375
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: St. Mary’s County Health Department – (301) 475-4330.
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Editorial Trust
5 official sources cited
Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Leonardtown
Population: 115,000
Area: 373 sq mi
Established: 1637 (oldest county in Maryland)
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in St. Marys County County facilities via Amazon.
