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Office: Worth County Emergency Management – PO Box 141, Grant City, MO 64456.
Sheriff: Worth County Sheriff’s Office – PO Box 36, Grant City, MO 64456 | 24-hour (660) 564-2222 | Office (660) 564-7168 | Fax: (660) 564-2225.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-169 and MO-46 intersect at Grant City, the county seat, in the far northwest corner of Missouri near the Iowa border, about a mile west of the Middle Fork of the Grand River.
Notes: Worth County, organized February 8, 1861 as the last of Missouri’s 114 counties, split off from Gentry County, is named for General William J. Worth. Grant City, laid out in 1864, is named for General (later President) Ulysses S. Grant. Worth County is genuinely, notably Missouri’s smallest county both by population (roughly 1,900-2,000 residents) and by land area (267 square miles) – excluding the independent city of St. Louis. The county has attracted national attention: U.S. News & World Report once dubbed it “Widowville, U.S.A.” for having the nation’s highest proportion of widows, with nearly one in six residents a widow.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Worth County Courthouse – Public Square, Grant City, MO 64456 | (660) 564-3363 / (660) 564-2219; built 1898-1899, a 2½-story brown-brick building in Classical Revival/Renaissance Revival style with a clock tower on each facade, NRHP-listed (1983); the county’s third courthouse, following an earlier one that burned in 1866.
Notes: The genuine “Widowville, U.S.A.” distinction and Worth County’s status as Missouri’s smallest county are among the most distinctive demographic facts covered anywhere in this project.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Worth County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via worthcounty.us.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a St. Joseph or Maryville VA clinic; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Worth County Partnership Library – 510 East Avenue, Grant City, MO 64456 | (660) 564-2655 | Email: [email protected]; a joint school/public library serving the whole county; offers Missouri Libraries 2 Go digital resources and also functions as an extreme-weather warming center.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The historic 1898 Worth County Courthouse, the Grand River, and the county’s rural farmland are the primary points of local interest.
Notes: The genuine “smallest county” and “Widowville, U.S.A.” distinctions are unique local facts.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Worth County Assessor – confirm current contact via worthcounty.us.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
No dedicated Worth County animal shelter was confirmed – flagged honestly rather than smoothed over. Confirm current local options via worthcounty.us or the Sheriff’s Office, (660) 564-2222.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Worth County – confirm current contact via worthcounty.us.
NOTES: Worth County is the fourth county in the sixteenth (final) batch of the Missouri v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine “Widowville, U.S.A.” distinction and status as Missouri’s smallest county in both population and area are among the most distinctive demographic 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 Worth County County
Worth County is Missouri’s least populous county – a Grand River headwaters cattle farming community where Grant City’s courthouse serves fewer than 2,000 residents in the remote northwest Missouri rolling farmland near Iowa, maintaining one of the state’s most authentically rural and least-changed agricultural communities.
Grant City (the county seat, population ~800) is Worth County’s governmental hub, a small northwest Missouri agricultural community near the Iowa border whose cattle economy and courthouse anchor its identity in Missouri’s most sparsely populated county.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Worth County Assessor at 10 Court Street, Grant City, MO 64456, phone 660-564-2219. MO residential assessed at 19% of true value.
Courts & Legal
Worth County Circuit Court at 10 Court Street, Grant City, MO 64456, phone 660-564-2219, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
200 N. 2nd St., Grant City, MO 64456
(660) 564-2219
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Worth County Circuit Court, Probate Division (probate case files – see Probate section above).
The 1898-99 Worth County Courthouse, NRHP-listed, is a significant local landmark. Worth County is Missouri’s least populous county.
Local societies
No dedicated Worth 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
Worth County Circuit Court, Probate Division 11 West 4th Street (mail: P.O. Box 350), Grant City, MO 64456 (660) 564-2210
Worth County is in Missouri’s northwestern corner, seated in Grant City – named for Ulysses S. Grant. The 1898-99 Worth County Courthouse, blending Classical and Renaissance Revival styles, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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
200 N. 2nd St., Grant City, MO 64456
(660) 564-2264
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
200 N. 2nd St., Grant City, MO 64456
(660) 564-2219
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
MO Dept of Social Services — Worth
(660) 564-2371
Mosaic Life Care — St. Joseph
mosaiclifecare.org (accessible)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Worth County Health Department – confirm current phone via tricountyhd.com.
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Editorial Trust
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Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Grant City
Population: 2,000
Area: 267 sq mi (one of Missouri's smallest counties by area)
Established: 1861
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Worth County County residents.
