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Missouri County
Pemiscot County, Missouri
Caruthersville and the Missouri Bootheel Delta - from Caruthersville's position on the Mississippi River as the hub of Missouri's southernmost county to Pemiscot County's deep Delta agricultural heritage (the county is at the heart of the Missouri Bootheel, the distinctive geographic extension of Missouri into the Deep South - the flat, fertile alluvial soils of the Mississippi River Delta support cotton, soybean, and rice production that culturally and economically aligns Missouri's southernmost tip more with Arkansas and the Deep South than with the rest of Missouri).
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Office: Pemiscot County Emergency Management – 800 Ward Avenue, Caruthersville, MO 63830 | (573) 333-4101.
Sheriff: Pemiscot County Sheriff’s Office – 800 Ward Avenue, PO Box 1031, Caruthersville, MO 63830 | Non-emergency (573) 333-4101; Sheriff Joe Bryant; a full-service agency with 24-hour road patrol, Criminal Investigations, Warrants/Records, Civil Process, K-9, School Resource, Court Security, and a jail housing local, state, and federal inmates.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-55 (north-south) and I-155 (east to Tennessee) serve Caruthersville, the county seat and largest city, on the Mississippi River in Missouri’s southeastern Bootheel; a Missouri Welcome Center is located at mile marker 21, just north of the Hayti exit.
Notes: Pemiscot County, organized February 19, 1851, is named for the local bayou, from “pemiskaw” – a Meskwaki (Fox) word meaning “liquid mud.” Roughly 14,500-15,700 residents across 513 square miles. Caruthersville, incorporated 1874, is named for U.S. Congressman Samuel Caruthers.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Pemiscot County Courthouse – 610 Ward Avenue, Caruthersville, MO 63830 | (573) 333-4203.
Notes: Frequent Mississippi River flooding has historically created rich alluvial farmland across the county, sustaining a long agricultural history in cotton and other commodity crops. The Pemiscot County Historical Society, founded 1970, is housed at the Caruthersville Public Library and preserves the region’s Bootheel history through publications, archives, and digital collections; membership includes a quarterly historical newsletter.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Pemiscot County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via pemiscotcounty.org.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center (Poplar Bluff); confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Caruthersville Public Library – 707 W 13th St, Caruthersville, MO 63830 | (573) 333-2480; features the Kaye Norton Gill Genealogy Room, with microfilm covering Pemiscot County marriage records (1882-1996), real estate records (1882-1930), swamp land patent records, and bound volumes of the historic Democrat-Argus newspaper (1891-1940).
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Mississippi River waterfront in Caruthersville, the Pemiscot County Historical Society archives, and the county’s Bootheel agricultural landscape are the county’s primary points of local interest.
Notes: The genuine “liquid mud” Meskwaki-language origin of the county’s name is a distinctive local fact.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Pemiscot County Assessor – confirm current contact via pemiscotcounty.org.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Pemiscot County Animal Welfare Organization (formerly Caruthersville Humane Society) – 204 South 4th Street, Hayti, MO 63851 | (573) 359-0113; founded 1979, operates independently of any municipality or other organization, sheltering and finding homes for surrendered or abandoned animals.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Pemiscot County – confirm current contact via pemiscotcounty.org.
NOTES: Pemiscot County is the second county in the twelfth batch of the Missouri v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine “liquid mud” Meskwaki-language origin of the county’s name 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 Pemiscot County
Pemiscot County is Missouri’s southernmost Mississippi River Bootheel county – the flat Delta cotton and soybean landscape and the county’s Deep South agricultural character define the most southern point of Missouri, where the Bootheel’s cultural and economic connections to Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta are stronger than those to the rest of the state.
Caruthersville (the county seat, population ~5,500) is Pemiscot County’s governmental and commercial hub, a Mississippi River Bootheel city serving the surrounding Delta farming communities near the Arkansas border.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Pemiscot County Assessor at 610 Ward Avenue, Caruthersville, MO 63830, phone 573-333-4203. MO assessed at percentage of true value.
Courts & Legal
Pemiscot County Circuit Court at 610 Ward Avenue, Caruthersville, MO 63830, phone 573-333-4203, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
610 Ward Ave., Caruthersville, MO 63830
(573) 333-4203
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Pemiscot County Circuit Court, Probate Division (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Pemiscot 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
Pemiscot County Circuit Court, Probate Division 610 Ward Avenue (mail: P.O. Box 34), Caruthersville, MO 63830 (573) 333-0187
Pemiscot County is in Missouri’s Bootheel region, at the state’s southeastern tip, seated in Caruthersville.
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
610 Ward Ave., Caruthersville, MO 63830
(573) 333-4122
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
610 Ward Ave., Caruthersville, MO 63830
(573) 333-4203
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
MO Dept of Social Services — Pemiscot
(573) 333-4961
Pemiscot County Memorial Hospital
pemiscotmemorial.com (Hayti — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Pemiscot County Health Department – confirm current phone via pemiscotcounty.org.
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Editorial Trust
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Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Caruthersville
Population: 15,000
Area: 494 sq mi
Established: 1851
Tier: 3
Public Records
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