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Office: Arthur County Emergency Management – Courthouse, 205 Fir St, Arthur, NE 69121 | (308) 764-9011
Services: Local emergency management director coordinates disaster preparedness for the county.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: Nebraska Highway 61 and Nebraska Highway 92 serve Arthur, the county seat, in the heart of the Nebraska Sandhills
Transit: None; extremely remote and rural – no public transit.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Arthur County Clerk – 205 Fir St, Arthur, NE 69121, (308) 764-2203
Notes: Extremely small rural county; confirm current permit requirements directly with the County Clerk’s office.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Arthur County Veterans Service Officer – Arthur, NE
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Arthur County Library – 205 Fir Street (located inside the Courthouse), Arthur, NE 69121 | (308) 764-2219 / (308) 764-2216 | Hours: Mon–Fri 2–5 PM
Services: A small county library housed within the courthouse building itself.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Arthur County is genuinely home to two extraordinary pieces of small-town Americana. The First Arthur County Courthouse and Jail, built in 1914-1915, is widely believed to be the smallest courthouse ever built in the United States – a modest 26-by-28-foot building that now serves as a museum, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. The Pilgrim Holiness Church, built in 1928 by a group of local Congregationalists, is genuinely constructed of baled rye straw – two-feet-thick load-bearing walls made of straw “bricks” clad in plaster and stucco – and is recognized as the oldest, and only known, church of its kind in the United States; between 1896 and 1945 roughly 70 straw-bale buildings were constructed across the treeless Sandhills, but only a handful survive today, and the Pilgrim Holiness Church remains the best-preserved example, now maintained as a museum by the Arthur County Historical Society and open to the public by appointment
Notes: Arthur County’s tiny courthouse and its remarkable straw-bale church are genuinely two of the most distinctive small-town heritage landmarks found anywhere in this project, reflecting the resourcefulness of Nebraska Sandhills settlers who built with what the treeless prairie provided.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Arthur County GIS – accessible via arthurcounty.nebraska.gov
Parcel Search: Arthur County Assessor – Arthur, NE
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Arthur County Emergency Management
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: No dedicated animal shelter confirmed in Arthur County – flagged honestly given the extremely small population.
Contact: Arthur County Sheriff’s Office – (308) 764-2225, handles animal-related calls and cruelty/neglect complaints; the nearest dedicated shelters are in larger surrounding communities.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Complaints: Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy – dee.nebraska.gov
Notes: Contact the County Clerk’s office directly for current refuse collection details in this rural county.
NOTES
Arthur County is genuinely one of the least populous counties in the US and home to both the smallest courthouse in the country and the nation’s only known straw-bale church. No dedicated county animal shelter was confirmed – residents should contact the Sheriff’s Office or nearby regional shelters. All contact information above was sourced from official county and library pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Arthur County County
Arthur County is one of the least populous counties in the United States – the Nebraska Sandhills cattle ranching culture and the only remaining sod structure on the National Register of Historic Places define a county where Arthur’s courthouse serves fewer than 500 residents in the vast grass-stabilized dune landscape of the central Nebraska interior.
Arthur (the county seat, population ~120) is Arthur County’s governmental hub, one of the smallest county seats in America – a tiny Sandhills community whose sod church, cattle ranching economy, and remote setting anchor its identity.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Arthur County Assessor at 205 Fir Street, Arthur, NE 69121, phone 308-764-2203. NE assessed at actual value.
Courts & Legal
Arthur County District Court at 205 Fir Street, Arthur, NE 69121, phone 308-764-2203, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
205 Fir St., Arthur, NE 69121
(308) 764-2203
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Arthur County Court, Probate Division (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Arthur 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
Arthur County Court, Probate Division 205 Fir Street (mail: P.O. Box 146), Arthur, NE 69121 (308) 764-2203
Arthur County is in Nebraska’s Sandhills region, seated in Arthur. Arthur County’s probate matters are administered jointly with Keith County Court (511 North Spruce Street, Room 105, Ogallala, NE 69153, (308) 284-3693) as part of the same county judge district – check with the Arthur County Court first to confirm current filing location for probate matters.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Nebraska adopted the Uniform Probate Code, codified as the Nebraska Probate Code (Neb. Rev. Stat. Chapter 30). In Nebraska, the COUNTY COURT has exclusive original jurisdiction over probate matters.
Small Estate Affidavit (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-24,125 for personal property; § 30-24,129 for real property) – as of a July 2024 statutory amendment, available when personal property does not exceed $100,000 and real property does not exceed $100,000 (both thresholds raised from $50,000). At least 30 days must have passed since death, and no application or petition for a personal representative may be pending. For personal property, the affiant presents a notarized affidavit directly to the institution holding the property along with a certified death certificate. For real property, the affidavit is filed with the register of deeds in the county where the property is located.
Informal Probate – the most common path for uncontested estates, handled by the county court registrar with minimal judicial involvement.
Formal Probate – required when there’s no will, when a will’s validity is contested, or when there’s disagreement over the personal representative or how assets should be distributed. Handled by a county judge.
Step 2: filing for formal or informal probate
File an application (informal) or petition (formal) with the County Court in the county where the decedent resided.
The court appoints the personal representative and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
The personal representative publishes notice to creditors and gives direct notice to known creditors, who have a limited window from the date of first publication to file claims.
The personal representative inventories the estate’s assets and completes the required Probate Inventory Worksheet.
The personal representative completes and files any required Nebraska inheritance tax paperwork before the estate can be closed.
After debts, taxes, and expenses are paid, the personal representative distributes the remaining assets and closes the estate.
What it costs
Nebraska does not set statutory percentage-based fees; personal representative and attorney fees are generally based on reasonable compensation for time and services.
UNIQUE TO NEBRASKA: Nebraska is one of only six states with an inheritance tax, collected at the COUNTY level. Transfers to a surviving spouse are exempt; close relatives get reduced rates; more distant relatives and unrelated beneficiaries are taxed at higher rates.
No separate state estate tax.
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
205 Fir St., Arthur, NE 69121
(308) 764-2305
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
205 Fir St., Arthur, NE 69121
(308) 764-2203
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
NE DHHS — Arthur
(308) 764-2203
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Public health services coordinated through regional Nebraska public health department; no dedicated county health office confirmed.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Arthur
Population: 440
Area: 714 sq mi
Established: 1913
Public Records
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