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Michigan County
Tuscola County, Michigan
Michigan Thumb sugar beet and dry bean capital - from Tuscola County's position as one of Michigan's premier sugar beet and dry bean producing counties (the county's flat, heavy clay soils of the Saginaw Valley lakebed are ideal for sugar beet cultivation, and Tuscola County's sugar beet harvest feeds the Michigan Sugar Company's processing operations that produce a significant share of American beet sugar) to the broader Michigan Thumb agricultural character (the county's intensive row crop farming of sugar beets, dry edible beans, corn, and soybeans defines a classic Michigan Thumb agricultural landscape that has shaped the county's working-class farm community identity for generations).
Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
What do you need to do?
Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
Office: Tuscola County Office of Emergency Management – Coordinator Deputy Steven Anderson | (989) 673-5181 | Fax (989) 673-5182 | Email: [email protected]; CodeRED emergency alert system available. The county also offers a “Community Connections” mobile app connecting residents with local services (basic needs, healthcare, mental health, food assistance).
Tuscola County Central Dispatch (911) – non-emergency (989) 673-8738.
Sheriff: Tuscola County Sheriff’s Office – 420 Court St, Caro, MI 48723 | (989) 673-8161; Sheriff Ryan Robinson (Saginaw Valley State University Criminal Justice graduate, Delta College police academy).
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: M-24 and M-81 serve Caro, the county seat, in Michigan’s Thumb region; Tuscola County was created April 1, 1840 (carved from Sanilac County, initially attached to Saginaw County for administration) and organized in 1850.
Notes: The Caro area’s Indianfields Township takes its name from the many Native American gardens historically located there; the local Cass River region was represented at the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw by Chief Otusson, whose reservation lands (near present-day Frankenmuth) were sold in the Treaty of 1837.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Tuscola County Courthouse – 440 N. State St, Caro, MI 48723; built 1932 in Art Deco style, on the National Register of Historic Places (1996) and a Michigan State Historic Site.
Notes: Caro genuinely grew as a multi-purpose Thumb-region hub – serving over the decades as a sugar-beet processing town (home to the historic Peninsular Sugar Refining Company), a railroad town, a county-fair town, and a hospital town. Today, Tuscola County is a significant hub for wind energy in Michigan’s Thumb, home to wind farms including the Tuscola Bay Wind Energy Center (75 turbines, 120 MW capacity, operational since 2012) and the planned Crosswinds Energy Park (150 MW).
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Tuscola County Veterans Affairs Office – confirm current contact via tuscolacounty.org.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Confirm current Caro-area public library address/phone via tuscolacounty.org.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Vanderbilt Park, the historic Tuscola County Courthouse, and the Thumb-region wind farms (Tuscola Bay Wind Energy Center) are the county’s premier points of interest.
Notes: The genuine multi-industry heritage of Caro (sugar, rail, fair, hospital) and the county’s modern role as a Thumb-region wind energy hub are among the most distinctive local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Tuscola County Equalization Department – confirm current contact via tuscolacounty.org.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Tuscola County Animal Control & Shelter – 2738 W Caro Rd, Caro, MI 48723 | (989) 672-3863 | Email: [email protected]; a rural county-funded shelter (16 dog kennels, 9 cat cages) with one full-time animal control officer and one kennel attendant; works to adopt out or transfer animals to rescues, though not all can be placed due to limited space/funding.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Tuscola County Recycling Center – confirm current contact via tuscolacounty.org.
NOTES: Tuscola County is the fourth county in the twelfth and final batch of the Michigan v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine multi-industry heritage of Caro (sugar, rail, fair, hospital) and the county’s modern role as a Thumb-region wind energy hub are among the most distinctive 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 Tuscola County
Tuscola County is the Michigan Thumb’s sugar beet and dry bean farming county – the county’s flat, fertile lakebed soils produce sugar beets that feed Michigan’s beet sugar industry and dry edible beans that supply markets nationwide, making Tuscola County one of Michigan’s most productively agricultural Thumb-region counties.
Caro (the county seat, population ~4,000) is Tuscola County’s governmental and commercial hub, a Michigan Thumb agricultural town serving the surrounding farming communities of the Saginaw Valley.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Tuscola County Assessor at 125 W. Lincoln Street, Caro, MI 48723, phone 989-672-3840. MI assessed at 50% of true cash value.
Courts & Legal
Tuscola County Probate Court at 125 W. Lincoln Street, Caro, MI 48723, phone 989-672-3850, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
440 N. State St., Caro, MI 48723
(989) 672-3700
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Tuscola County Probate Court (estate/probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Tuscola 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
Tuscola County Probate Court Tuscola County Courthouse, 440 N. State Street, Caro, MI 48723 Tuscola County is in Michigan’s Thumb region, seated in Caro.
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 $50,000-$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
420 Court St., Caro, MI 48723
(989) 673-8161
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
440 N. State St., Caro, MI 48723
(989) 672-3700
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
MI DHHS — East Region
(989) 673-6804
Caro Medical Center
caromedicalcenter.com (Caro — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Tuscola County Health Department – confirm current phone via tuscolacounty.org.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Caro
Population: 53,000
Area: 813 sq mi
Established: 1850
Tier: 2
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Tuscola County residents.
