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Missouri County
Ray County, Missouri
Excelsior Springs' mineral water resort and Jesse James country - from Excelsior Springs' remarkable mineral water heritage (the city's multiple mineral springs - discovered in 1880 - attracted health seekers from across the country, building one of Missouri's most elaborate resort towns with the Hall of Waters, a 1937 Art Deco masterpiece housing multiple spring baths and fountains still operating today) to Ray County's Jesse James connections (the James-Younger Gang operated throughout Ray County territory, and the landscape of northwest Missouri's Missouri River bluffs and farmlands provided cover for their bank and train robberies) and Richmond's apple orchards.
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Office: Ray County Emergency Management – Ray Co. Courthouse, Suite 16, 100 W. Main St, Richmond, MO 64085 | (816) 776-5398.
Dispatch: Ray County 911 – 102 W. North Main St, Richmond, MO 64085 | (816) 776-2000; dispatches for 17 agencies, first call answered September 1997, funded since April 2018 by a voter-approved 1% sales tax.
Sheriff: Ray County Sheriff’s Department – 200 W. 9th St, Henrietta, MO 64036 | Non-emergency (816) 290-5323.
City Police: Richmond Police Department – 207 Summit St, Richmond, MO 64085 | Administration (816) 776-3575 | Dispatch (816) 776-5826.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-24 and MO-13 serve Richmond, the county seat and largest city, in northwestern Missouri within the Kansas City metropolitan area.
Notes: Ray County, organized November 16, 1820, is named for John Ray, a Missouri state legislator and member of the first state Constitutional Convention. Roughly 23,200-23,400 residents across 574 square miles. Richmond was founded in 1827 as county seat on land donated by John Wollard, W. B. Martin, and Isaac and William Thornton; the original county seat was Bluffton, near the early Missouri River port of Camden, until the river channel shifted in 1915.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Ray County Courthouse – 100 W. Main St, Richmond, MO 64085 | (816) 776-4507.
Notes: Richmond is genuinely a major site in early Latter-day Saint history. David Whitmer, one of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, settled in Richmond in 1838 and lived there until his death in 1888; he is buried in the Richmond City Cemetery alongside Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris, the other two of the Three Witnesses, marked by a monument. Joseph Smith was jailed in Richmond in 1838 during the “Mormon War” prior to being sent to Liberty Jail. General Alexander William Doniphan, a prominent Richmond lawyer credited with helping save Mormon leaders from execution, is honored with a monument on the Ray County Courthouse lawn. The historic Hughes/Wasson Bank building, robbed six times in 1866-67 including reportedly by the James Gang on May 23, 1867, still stands with a commemorative plaque. Missouri Governor Austin A. King (1849-53) is buried in Richmond, and Governor Forrest Smith (1949-53) was born nearby. The 54-room Ray County Museum, rated among Missouri’s top county museums, houses a dedicated Mormon History Room alongside Civil War, coal mining, and Black history exhibits.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Ray County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via raycountymo.com.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a Kansas City VA medical facility; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Confirm current Ray County / Richmond public library address/phone via raycountymo.com. The Ray County Museum maintains an extensive genealogical library alongside the Ray County Genealogical Society.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Ray County Museum (54 rooms, including a dedicated Mormon History Room), the Richmond City Cemetery and Pioneer Cemetery (Three Witnesses monument), the Farris Theatre (built 1901, hosted the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in 1911), and the historic Hughes/Wasson Bank building are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine burial site of David Whitmer and the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon is one of the most historically significant religious-heritage facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Ray County Assessor – (816) 776-2676.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Humane Society of Ray County – 210 S College St, Richmond, MO 64085 | (816) 776-2003 / (816) 206-4289 | Email: [email protected]; a no-kill, all-volunteer, independent 501(c)(3) with no affiliation to Ray County government, operating out of the former Ray County Jail building, provided rent-free by the county; a PetSmart Charities Adoption Prep grantee; adoption fees $100 (cats) / $150 (dogs).
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Ray County – confirm current contact via raycountymo.com.
NOTES: Ray County is the sixth county in the thirteenth batch of the Missouri v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine burial site of David Whitmer and the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, plus the delightful detail that the local humane society now occupies the former Ray County jail, are distinctive local facts. 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 Ray County
Ray County is northwest Missouri’s mineral springs and outlaw history county – a Missouri River community whose Art Deco resort heritage and Jesse James connections define a distinctive identity.
Excelsior Springs (population ~11,000) – technically in Clay County but closely tied to Ray County – grew from mineral spring discoveries in 1880 into one of Missouri’s most elaborate health resort destinations. The Hall of Waters (1937), a stunning Art Deco building housing multiple mineral spring baths, remains operational and is one of Missouri’s finest examples of New Deal-era public architecture.
Richmond (the county seat, population ~5,500) is Ray County’s governmental hub, serving an agricultural community in the Missouri River valley north of Kansas City.
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Ray County Assessor at 100 W. Main Street, Suite 2, Richmond, MO 64085, phone 816-776-2676. MO residential assessed at 19% of true value. Appeal to Board of Equalization.
Courts & Legal
Ray County Circuit Court at 100 W. Main Street, Richmond, MO 64085, phone 816-776-3377, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
100 W. Main St., Richmond, MO 64085
(816) 776-4502
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Ray County Circuit Court, Probate Division (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Ray 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
Ray County Circuit Court, Probate Division 100 West Main Street, Suite 22, Richmond, MO 64085 (816) 776-2335 Ray County is in northwestern Missouri, seated in Richmond.
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
100 W. Main St., Richmond, MO 64085
(816) 776-4669
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
100 W. Main St., Richmond, MO 64085
(816) 776-4502
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
MO Dept of Social Services — Ray
(816) 776-6129
Ray County Memorial Hospital
raycountymemorial.com (Richmond — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Ray County Health Department – 820 W. Lexington St, Richmond, MO 64085 | (816) 776-5413.
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