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Office: Monroe County Emergency Management – 300 N. Main, Paris, MO 65275 | (660) 327-5106.
Dispatch: Monroe County Joint Communications – provides emergency services communication to Monroe County as well as parts of Marion, Ralls, and Shelby Counties.
Sheriff: Monroe County Sheriff’s Office – 300 North Main Street, Paris, MO 65275 | Non-emergency (660) 327-4060 | Fax: (660) 327-5188 | Email: [email protected].
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-24 and MO-15 serve Paris, the county seat, in northeastern Missouri; the Middle Fork of the Salt River forms the city’s northern border and flows into Mark Twain Lake three miles east.
Notes: Monroe County offices are centered in Paris, MO 65275. Paris was platted in 1831 and named for Paris, Kentucky, the hometown of early settler Mrs. James C. Fox.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Monroe County Courthouse – 300 N. Main Street, Paris, MO 65275.
Notes: Monroe County is genuinely, remarkably the birthplace of Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens), born November 30, 1835 in the nearby village of Florida, Missouri, in a small two-room rented cabin – a direct companion fact to the county’s boyhood-home connection covered in the neighboring Marion County file (Hannibal). The cabin, now preserved inside the modern Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Site (established 1924, transferred to the state in 1960), holds first editions of Twain’s works, the original handwritten manuscript of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” and furnishings from Twain’s Connecticut home. The adjacent 2,788-acre Mark Twain State Park on Mark Twain Lake includes an NRHP-listed 1941 CCC-built stone picnic shelter at Buzzard’s Roost, notably constructed by an all-African-American CCC company. Also NRHP-listed in the county are the Paris Male Academy and the Union Covered Bridge State Historic Site.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Monroe County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via monroecountymo.gov.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a Hannibal or Columbia VA clinic; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Confirm current Monroe County library branch address/phone via monroecountymo.gov.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Site, Mark Twain State Park and Mark Twain Lake, the Union Covered Bridge State Historic Site, and the Paris Male Academy are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine Mark Twain birthplace connection – paired with the Marion County boyhood home just to the north – is one of the most nationally significant local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Monroe County Assessor – confirm current contact via monroecountymo.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
No dedicated Monroe County, Missouri animal shelter was confirmed – flagged honestly rather than smoothed over. The Northeast Missouri Humane Society, based in Hannibal (Marion County), lists Monroe County among the five counties it serves – see the Marion County file for details. NAMING TRAP: “Monroe County Animal Shelter” search results primarily return an unrelated shelter in Monroe County, Michigan – do not conflate with Monroe County, Missouri. Confirm current local options via monroecountymo.gov or the Sheriff’s Office, (660) 327-4060.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Monroe County – confirm current contact via monroecountymo.gov.
NOTES: Monroe County is the seventh and final county in the tenth batch of the Missouri v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine Mark Twain birthplace connection – paired with the Marion County boyhood home just to the north – is one of the most nationally significant 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 Monroe County County
Monroe County is north-central Missouri’s Mark Twain Lake and Salt River agricultural county – the large reservoir on the river that flows through the landscape that shaped Mark Twain’s literary imagination and the rolling northeast Missouri farming country define a county whose natural assets and literary heritage give it a profile beyond its modest rural character.
Paris (the county seat, population ~1,100) is Monroe County’s governmental hub, a small north-central Missouri agricultural community on US 24 serving the county’s farming communities and Mark Twain Lake visitors.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Monroe County Assessor at 300 N. Main Street, Paris, MO 65275, phone 660-327-5101. MO residential assessed at 19% of true value.
Courts & Legal
Monroe County Circuit Court at 300 N. Main Street, Paris, MO 65275, phone 660-327-5101, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
300 N. Main St., Paris, MO 65275
(660) 327-5106
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Monroe County Circuit Court, Probate Division (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Monroe 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
Monroe County Circuit Court, Probate Division 300 North Main Street, Suite 201, Paris, MO 65275 (660) 327-5204 Monroe County is in northeastern Missouri, seated in Paris.
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
300 N. Main St., Paris, MO 65275
(660) 327-5481
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
300 N. Main St., Paris, MO 65275
(660) 327-5106
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
MO Dept of Social Services — Monroe
(660) 327-5221
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Monroe County Health Department – confirm current phone via monroecountymo.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Paris
Population: 8,500
Area: 648 sq mi
Established: 1831
Public Records
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