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Office: Reynolds County Emergency Management – 2323 Green St, Centerville, MO 63633 | (573) 648-2498.
Sheriff: Reynolds County Sheriff’s Office – 2319 Green Street, Centerville, MO 63633 | Non-emergency (573) 648-2491 | Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-4 PM; operates the county detention facility and provides patrol, investigations, civil process, and court security countywide.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: MO-21 and MO-72 serve Centerville, the county seat, and Ellington, the county’s largest city, in the Ozark Foothills region of southeast Missouri.
Notes: Reynolds County, organized February 25, 1845, is named for Thomas Reynolds, a former Governor of Missouri. Roughly 5,990-6,100 residents across 814 square miles in the rugged, scenic Ozark Highland near its geologic center, within Missouri’s historic Lead Belt. In 1925, the infamous Tri-State Tornado – the deadliest tornado in U.S. history – began just northwest of Ellington.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Reynolds County Courthouse – Centerville, MO 63633; an antebellum courthouse building.
Notes: Reynolds County is home to Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park, a 9,432-acre park on the East Fork Black River renowned for its “shut-in” rock formations, where the river cascades over erosion-resistant igneous rock creating a natural water park. Jointly administered with adjoining Taum Sauk Mountain State Park (home to Missouri’s highest point and Mina Sauk Falls, the state’s tallest waterfall), the two parks together cover more than 16,000 acres in the St. Francois Mountains. On December 14, 2005, Johnson’s Shut-Ins was devastated when the neighboring Taum Sauk pumped-storage reservoir catastrophically failed, releasing roughly a billion gallons of water; the park superintendent’s family, the only people present, survived with injuries, and the park’s campground was destroyed. The park reopened in 2010 following extensive rebuilding.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Reynolds County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via reynoldscounty-mo.gov.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a Poplar Bluff VA clinic; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Reynolds County Library District (Centerville headquarters) – PO Box 175, Centerville, MO 63633; Hours: Mon/Wed/Fri 8 AM-4:30 PM, closed Tue/Thu/Sat/Sun; located across from the Reynolds County Courthouse. The district operates 5 branches total, serving Centerville, Bunker, Ellington, Lesterville, and Oates, with genealogy resources, large print books, and internet-connected computers.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park, Taum Sauk Mountain State Park (Missouri’s highest point and tallest waterfall), and Clearwater Lake are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine 2005 Taum Sauk reservoir breach – one of the most significant infrastructure-failure disasters in Missouri history – is a notable local fact, presented factually.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Reynolds County Assessor – confirm current contact via reynoldscounty-mo.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
No dedicated Reynolds County animal shelter was confirmed – flagged honestly rather than smoothed over. Confirm current local options via reynoldscounty-mo.gov or the Sheriff’s Office, (573) 648-2491.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Reynolds County – confirm current contact via reynoldscounty-mo.gov.
NOTES: Reynolds County is the seventh and final county in the thirteenth batch of the Missouri v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine Johnson’s Shut-Ins/Taum Sauk 2005 reservoir breach and 1925 Tri-State Tornado origin point are notable local facts, presented factually rather than dramatized. 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 Reynolds County County
Reynolds County is Missouri’s Current River headwaters and Ozarks wilderness county – the spring-fed streams that feed one of Missouri’s most celebrated float rivers and the vast Mark Twain National Forest that covers much of the county define one of the most remote and authentically Ozarkian communities in the state.
Centerville (the county seat, population ~200) is Reynolds County’s governmental hub, one of Missouri’s smallest county seats – a tiny Ozarks community whose courthouse serves the county’s scattered forest and farming population in one of the most remote corners of south-central Missouri.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Reynolds County Assessor at 100 W. Main Street, Centerville, MO 63633, phone 573-648-2494. MO residential assessed at 19% of true value.
Courts & Legal
Reynolds County Circuit Court at 100 W. Main Street, Centerville, MO 63633, phone 573-648-2494, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
1 Main St., Centerville, MO 63633
(573) 648-2494
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Reynolds County Circuit Court, Probate Division (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Reynolds 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
Reynolds County Circuit Court, Probate Division 2319 Green Street (mail: P.O. Box 76), Centerville, MO 63633 (573) 648-2494 Reynolds County is in southeastern Missouri, seated in Centerville.
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
1 Main St., Centerville, MO 63633
(573) 648-2455
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
1 Main St., Centerville, MO 63633
(573) 648-2494
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
MO Dept of Social Services — Reynolds
(573) 648-2461
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Reynolds County Health Center – 2319 Green St, Centerville, MO 63633 | (573) 648-2490 | Toll-free (866) 579-3861.
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Editorial Trust
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Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Centerville
Population: 6,300
Area: 818 sq mi
Established: 1845
Public Records
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