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Office: Deuel County Emergency Management – Chappell, NE 69129
Services: Participates in the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) framework, maintaining a local emergency operations plan coordinated with state resources.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: Interstate 80 and US-385 serve Chappell, the county seat, in the southwestern Nebraska Panhandle near the Colorado border
Transit: Limited; primarily auto-dependent – confirm current regional options directly with the county. The County Board maintains approximately 440 miles of county roads.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Deuel County Planning and Zoning (c/o County Assessor) – PO Box 527, Chappell, NE 69129, (308) 874-2608
Services: Issues building permits ($200 fee), utility permits, and variance/conditional use permits; municipal zoning within Chappell city limits is handled separately by the city, not the county.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Deuel County Veterans Service Officer – Chappell, NE
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Chappell Library & Art Gallery – 289 Babcock, Chappell, NE 69129, (308) 874-2626
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Deuel County’s seat, Chappell, is genuinely the true birthplace of Cabela’s, one of America’s largest outdoor recreation retailers – in 1961, Dick Cabela, working at his family’s furniture store in Chappell, purchased a batch of fishing flies at a trade show in Chicago and placed a classified ad offering “12 hand-tied flies for $1”; he and his wife Mary filled the resulting mail orders from their own kitchen table in their Chappell home, and as the business grew it moved through a series of increasingly larger local spaces – the basement of the family furniture store in 1964, a former American Legion Hall in Chappell in 1967 – before finally relocating to Sidney, Nebraska in 1969, where it grew into the multi-billion-dollar company acquired by Bass Pro Shops in 2017; Dick Cabela grew up hunting and fishing along nearby Lodgepole Creek, an experience that shaped the entire outdoor retail empire that followed. Deuel County was named for Harry Porter Deuel, a superintendent of the Union Pacific Railroad, and its 1915 Classical Revival courthouse, designed by noted Denver architect John J. Huddart, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Notes: Deuel County’s Chappell is genuinely the true birthplace of Cabela’s – the actual kitchen table where the company began – making it one of the more historically significant small towns in American retail history found anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Deuel County GIS – accessible via co.deuel.ne.us
Parcel Search: Deuel County Assessor – Chappell, NE, (308) 874-2608
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Deuel County Emergency Management
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Deuel County Animal Shelter – PO Box 512, Chappell, NE 69129, (308) 874-2558
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Complaints: Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy – dee.nebraska.gov; groundwater and soil conservation matters fall under the Middle Republican Natural Resources District rather than the county.
Notes: Contact your specific municipality directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Deuel County’s Chappell is genuinely the true birthplace of Cabela’s – the actual kitchen table where Dick and Mary Cabela began filling mail orders in 1961, before the company later relocated to nearby Sidney. All contact information above was sourced from official county, city, and shelter pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Deuel County County
Deuel County is southwest Nebraska’s Lodgepole Creek and I-80 agricultural county – the historic trail and railroad corridor creek and the High Plains farming landscape define a community where Chappell serves the county’s agricultural families on the I-80 route to Colorado.
Chappell (the county seat, population ~900) is Deuel County’s governmental hub on I-80, a southwest Nebraska agricultural community whose Lodgepole Creek heritage, irrigated farming, and I-80 position anchor its identity near Colorado.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Deuel County Assessor at 238 2nd Street, Chappell, NE 69129, phone 308-874-3308. NE assessed at actual value.
Courts & Legal
Deuel County District Court at 238 2nd Street, Chappell, NE 69129, phone 308-874-3308, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
738 3rd St., Chappell, NE 69129
(308) 874-3308
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Deuel County Court, Probate Division (probate case files – see Probate section above).
The 1915 Deuel County Courthouse, NRHP-listed, is a significant local landmark.
Local societies
No dedicated Deuel 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
Deuel County Court, Probate Division 718 3rd Street (mail: P.O. Box 514), Chappell, NE 69129 (308) 874-2909
Deuel County was founded in 1889, named for Harry Porter Deuel, in the Nebraska panhandle, seated in Chappell. The 1915 Deuel County Courthouse, Classical Revival in style, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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
738 3rd St., Chappell, NE 69129
(308) 874-2550
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
738 3rd St., Chappell, NE 69129
(308) 874-3308
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Deuel County Public Health services coordinated through regional Nebraska Panhandle public health district.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Chappell
Population: 1,800
Area: 439 sq mi
Established: 1888
Public Records
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