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Michigan County
Barry County, Michigan
Gun Lake and Barry County lake country - from Gun Lake (the 2,680-acre lake in southern Barry County is one of west Michigan's most popular recreational lakes, with the Gun Lake Tribe's FireKeepers Casino and Hotel anchoring the area's tourism economy alongside traditional boating, fishing, and waterfront cottage communities that have attracted summer visitors to the lake for generations) to Barry County's network of inland lakes and Thornapple River corridor (the county's glacially carved landscape contains dozens of inland lakes and the scenic Thornapple River, creating a west Michigan lake country character that defines the county's recreational identity between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo).
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Office: Barry County Emergency Management – 2600 Nashville Rd, Hastings, MI 49058 (co-located with Central Dispatch); funded via dedicated millage.
Barry County Central Dispatch 911 – 2600 Nashville Rd, Hastings, MI 49058; staffed 24/7, dispatches Barry County Sheriff, Michigan State Police, and local police/fire departments.
Sheriff: Barry County Sheriff’s Office – 1212 W. State Street, Hastings, MI 49058 | Primary (269) 948-4801 | Business (269) 948-4805 | Jail (269) 948-4804 | Fax (269) 948-4831 | Animal Control (269) 818-0370; Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-6 PM (business office); 24/7 police services.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: M-37, M-43, and M-79 serve Hastings, the county seat, situated on the banks of the Thornapple River roughly 45 minutes from Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Lansing.
Notes: Barry County, located between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, has roughly 59,000-60,000 residents and a rural character with population density well below the Michigan state average.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Barry County Courthouse – Hastings, MI 49058.
Notes: Barry County is genuinely home to the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, the largest automobile museum in North America and one of the nation’s top five car museums, displaying over 300-400 vintage and collector vehicles and motorcycles across a 90-acre historic campus with more than a dozen vintage buildings, including a 1930s Shell gas station and a functioning 1941 diner; it also hosts the Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame. Historic Charlton Park, a “jewel of Barry County” since 1936, is a 300-acre village, museum, and recreation area along the Thornapple River recreating a turn-of-the-20th-century Michigan village from relocated period structures.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Barry County Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via barrycounty.org.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Confirm current Hastings-area public library address/phone via barrycounty.org.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Yankee Springs Recreation Area (5,200 acres, established 1943, historically the hunting grounds of the Algonquin people and Chief Noonday, with 9-10 lakes including Gun Lake), the Gilmore Car Museum, and Historic Charlton Park are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine “largest automobile museum in North America” distinction at Gilmore Car Museum is one of the most notable cultural facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Barry County Land Information Services/IT – (269) 945-1292.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Barry County Sheriff’s Office Animal Control – (269) 818-0370.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Barry County – confirm current contact via barrycounty.org.
NOTES: Barry County is the first county in the second batch of the Michigan v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine “largest automobile museum in North America” distinction at Gilmore Car Museum is one of the most notable cultural 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 Barry County
Barry County is west-central Michigan’s Gun Lake tribal casino and Thornapple River lake country county – the Gun Lake Tribe’s FireKeepers Casino and the county’s scenic inland lake network define a county whose recreational character and Native American economic presence anchor the community between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo.
Hastings (the county seat, population ~7,500) is Barry County’s governmental and commercial hub, a west Michigan river city providing regional services to the surrounding lake communities.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Barry County Assessor at 220 W. State Street, Hastings, MI 49058, phone 269-945-1285. MI assessed at 50% of true cash value.
Courts & Legal
Barry County Probate Court at 220 W. State Street, Hastings, MI 49058, phone 269-945-1285, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
220 W. State St., Hastings, MI 49058
(269) 945-1285
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Barry County Probate Court (estate/probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Barry 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
Barry County Probate Court Barry County Courts & Law Building, 220 W. Court Street, Suite 102, Hastings, MI 49058 Barry County is in southwestern Michigan, seated in Hastings.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Michigan probate is governed by the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (EPIC), MCL 700.1101 et seq.
Transfer by Affidavit (Small Estate Affidavit) – under MCL 700.3982/700.3983, available when the estate’s gross value (after funeral and burial expenses) doesn’t exceed a threshold that’s adjusted annually for inflation (roughly $51,000-$53,000 in recent years). No real estate can be involved. At least 28 days must pass after death before this affidavit can be used. The affidavit isn’t filed with the court; it’s presented directly to whoever holds the asset (a bank, for instance), along with a death certificate.
Petition and Order for Assignment (PC 556) – a small estate process for estates at or below the same statutory threshold, but this one CAN include real property. An heir or the person who paid the funeral bill files this petition with the probate court; the judge reviews and signs the order, and there’s a filing fee plus a statutory inventory fee based on estate value.
Informal Probate – the standard track for most estates above the small-estate threshold. Filed using Application for Informal Probate and/or Appointment of Personal Representative (PC 558); the court issues Letters of Authority (PC 573) to the personal representative without a hearing when the application is straightforward.
Formal/Supervised Administration – required when the will is contested, there’s a dispute over who should serve as personal representative, or the estate needs ongoing court supervision.
Step 2: filing for probate
Gather the death certificate, the will (if any), and an inventory of the decedent’s assets to determine which path fits.
File the appropriate petition or application with the Probate Court in the county where the decedent lived.
For informal probate, the court reviews the application and issues Letters of Authority appointing the personal representative, typically without a hearing.
The personal representative gathers and inventories assets, notifies and pays valid creditors, and – no earlier than 12 months after appointment – files a Sworn Closing Statement (PC 584) for informal probate, or a Petition for Complete Settlement (PC 585) followed by a court Order of Complete Settlement (PC 586) for formal administration.
What it costs
Michigan probate generally runs 7 to 18 months and costs roughly 3% to 7% of the estate’s value in typical cases.
Filing fees vary by petition type; a statutory inventory fee, set by MCL 600.871, is calculated based on the estate’s total value and applies to most probate filings.
Michigan does not require an attorney for probate, though many people use one for anything beyond a very simple estate.
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
1212 W. State St., Hastings, MI 49058
(269) 945-1313
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
220 W. State St., Hastings, MI 49058
(269) 945-1285
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
MI DHHS — Southwest Region
(269) 945-9561
Spectrum Health Pennock
spectrumhealthpennock.org (Hastings — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Barry County Health Department – confirm current phone via barrycounty.org. Mental Health & Substance Abuse services – (269) 948-8041.
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