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Office: Maries County Emergency Management – confirm current phone via mariescountymo.gov.
Dispatch: Maries County Sheriff’s Office Communications Division – dispatches for the Sheriff’s Office, Vienna and Belle Police Departments, Maries-Osage Ambulance District, and rural fire departments (Vichy, Vienna, Dixon); staffed 24/7 by MULES-certified telecommunicators.
Sheriff: Maries County Sheriff’s Office – 211 4th St, Vienna, MO 65582 | Non-emergency (573) 422-3381 | Fax: (573) 422-3393; drug tip line (800) 351-TIPS.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: MO-28 and MO-63/89 serve Vienna, the county seat, on the watershed divide between the Osage and Gasconade Rivers; Belle is the county’s largest city.
Notes: Maries County, organized March 2, 1855, is named for the Maries and Little Maries Rivers, themselves named by early French trappers from the French word “marais” (marsh, lake, or pond). Roughly 8,400 residents across 530 square miles in the central Ozarks, on land ceded by the Osage Nation in 1808. German and Irish immigration shaped the county in the 1850s.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Maries County Courthouse – Vienna, MO 65582 | Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-Noon & 1-4 PM; the county’s third courthouse, built in 1943.
Notes: Vienna was laid out in 1855 by Reuben Terrill on 70 acres donated by William Shockley, and incorporated in 1856. Local folklore holds that County Judge V.G. Latham wanted the town named “Vie Anna” in memory of a deceased relative, and “Vienna” resulted as a compromise – though the more conventional explanation is that it was named directly for Vienna, Austria. The Maries County Jail and Sheriff’s House, built 1856-1858 of rough-cut native limestone, is NRHP-listed and now operates as the Old Jail Museum, preserving pioneer relics alongside the separate Felker Log House Museum. An Indian pictograph of a deer survives on a bluff above the Gasconade River near Paydown Spring, a site with a measured daily flow of 11.6 million gallons that once powered early grist and woolen mills.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Maries County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via mariescountymo.gov. A Veterans Memorial Committee is active locally.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a Jefferson City or Rolla VA clinic; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Maries County Library – confirm current address/phone via mariescountymo.gov; supported locally by the Friends of the Maries County Library.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Old Jail Museum and Felker Log House Museum, Paydown Spring, the Gasconade River Access and Clifty Creek Conservation & Natural Area, and Spring Creek Gap State Forest are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine “Vie Anna” naming folklore and the historic Old Jail Museum are distinctive local facts.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Maries County Assessor – confirm current contact via mariescountymo.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
No dedicated Maries County animal shelter was confirmed – flagged honestly rather than smoothed over. Confirm current options via mariescountymo.gov or the Sheriff’s Office, (573) 422-3381.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Maries County – confirm current contact via mariescountymo.gov.
NOTES: Maries County is the first county in the tenth batch of the Missouri v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine “Vie Anna” naming folklore behind Vienna, Missouri is a distinctive local fact. 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 Maries County County
Maries County is south-central Missouri’s Maries River and Ozarks agricultural county – the clear Ozarks stream that gives the county its name and the rolling forested landscape of the Missouri Ozarks interior define a small community where Vienna serves the surrounding cattle farming and timber communities in the south-central Missouri hills.
Vienna (the county seat, population ~600) is Maries County’s governmental hub, a small south-central Missouri Ozarks community on US 63 serving the county’s agricultural and timber communities in the Maries River watershed.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Maries County Assessor at 211 4th Street, Vienna, MO 65582, phone 573-422-3388. MO residential assessed at 19% of true value.
Courts & Legal
Maries County Circuit Court at 211 4th Street, Vienna, MO 65582, phone 573-422-3338, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
4 N. Garden St., Vienna, MO 65582
(573) 422-3388
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Maries County Circuit Court, Probate Division (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Maries 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
Maries County Circuit Court, Probate Division 211 Fourth Street, 2nd Floor, Vienna, MO 65582 (573) 422-3338 Maries County is in central Missouri, seated in Vienna.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Missouri probate is governed by Title XXXI of the Missouri Revised Statutes (Chapters 470-475), the Probate Code.
Small Estate Affidavit (RSMo § 473.097) – available when the entire estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $40,000. A 30-day waiting period after death applies, and only if no application for letters is pending. If the property listed is worth more than $15,000, the clerk must publish a notice to creditors in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. A bond may be required. Once the court issues a certified small estate certificate, the affiant presents it directly to whoever holds the property to collect and distribute assets – avoiding full probate. Typical timeline: about two months to close, versus six months to a year or more for full probate.
Formal Administration – required for larger or more complex estates. A petition for Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (without one) is filed with the probate division. After review, the court appoints the personal representative and issues the letters. Missouri offers both supervised and independent administration. Missouri requires an attorney to represent the personal representative in both types of administration.
Step 2: filing for formal probate
File a petition with the Probate Division of the Circuit Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled.
The court appoints the personal representative and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
The personal representative publishes a notice to creditors in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, and gives direct notice to known creditors. Creditors have 6 months from the date of first publication to file claims.
Within 30 days of appointment (unless the court extends the deadline), the personal representative files an inventory and appraisement of all estate assets.
After debts are paid and the creditor claim period expires, the personal representative distributes the remaining assets and files a final settlement with the court to close the estate.
What it costs
Missouri sets statutory minimum fees for attorneys and personal representatives based on a percentage of the estate’s value, though additional fees may be allowed for extraordinary services.
Missouri has no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax could apply, and only to very large estates.
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
4 N. Garden St., Vienna, MO 65582
(573) 422-3541
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
4 N. Garden St., Vienna, MO 65582
(573) 422-3388
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
MO Dept of Social Services — Maries
(573) 422-3521
Phelps Health
phelpshealth.org (Rolla — accessible; major regional hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Maries County Health Department – confirm current phone via mariescountymo.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Vienna
Population: 9,000
Area: 528 sq mi
Established: 1855
Public Records
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