Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
What do you need to do?
Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
Office: Frontier County Emergency Management / Dispatch – Curtis, NE | (308) 367-4411 | [email protected]
Services: Frontier County Sheriff’s Office is responsible for law enforcement across roughly 1,000 square miles of the county.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-283 and Nebraska Highway 23 serve Curtis, the county’s largest city, in south-central Nebraska
Transit: Limited; primarily auto-dependent – confirm current regional options directly with the county.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Frontier County Courthouse – 1 Wellington St, Stockville, NE 69042, (308) 367-4525
Notes: Confirm current permit requirements directly with the county office; the City of Curtis issues its own separate municipal permits.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Frontier County Veterans Service Officer – Stockville, NE
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Curtis Public Library – 316 Center Ave, Curtis, NE 69025, (308) 367-4148
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Frontier County genuinely defies the typical pattern of Nebraska county-seat history – while railroad towns usually captured the county seat away from earlier settlements, Curtis grew to triple the size of Stockville within three decades of its 1886 founding (as a booming railroad town) while Stockville actually lost population, yet Stockville has survived numerous subsequent efforts to move the county seat and still holds it today, along with the county’s original 1888 courthouse. Curtis is genuinely home to the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture (NCTA), a two-year institution of the University of Nebraska system founded in 1965 (building on the earlier Nebraska School of Agriculture, established 1895), occupying a 72-acre campus recognized as a State Arboretum; NCTA is nationally ranked among two-year colleges and known for its student teams in crops judging, livestock judging, ranch horse events, and rodeo. Curtis also genuinely bills itself as “Nebraska’s Easter City,” hosting an annual community pageant every Palm Sunday
Notes: Frontier County’s Stockville, one of the smallest functioning county seats in the country, alongside Curtis’s genuine status as home to the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture and “Nebraska’s Easter City,” gives the county a distinctive character among Nebraska’s south-central counties.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Frontier County GIS – accessible via frontiercounty.ne.gov
Parcel Search: Frontier County Assessor – Stockville, NE
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Frontier County Dispatch
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
No dedicated animal shelter confirmed within Frontier County, Nebraska – flagged honestly.
Contact: Frontier County Sheriff’s Office handles animal-related calls; nearest dedicated shelters are in larger surrounding communities such as North Platte and McCook.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Complaints: Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy – dee.nebraska.gov
Notes: Contact your specific municipality directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Frontier County’s Curtis is genuinely home to the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture and bills itself as “Nebraska’s Easter City,” while tiny Stockville remains the county seat despite having only around 25 residents. No dedicated county animal shelter was confirmed. All contact information above was sourced from official county, city, and library pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Frontier County County
Frontier County is southwest Nebraska’s Medicine Creek reservoir and rolling agricultural county – Harry D. Strunk Lake’s fishing and the wheat and cattle farming landscape define a community where Stockville serves the county’s farming families in the Republican River watershed interior.
Stockville (the county seat, population ~50) is Frontier County’s governmental hub, one of Nebraska’s smallest county seats – a tiny southwest Nebraska community serving the county’s agricultural population in the Medicine Creek valley.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Frontier County Assessor at 1 Wellington Street, Stockville, NE 69042, phone 308-367-4641. NE assessed at actual value.
Courts & Legal
Frontier County District Court at 1 Wellington Street, Stockville, NE 69042, phone 308-367-4641, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
1 Court St., Stockville, NE 69042
(308) 367-8641
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Frontier County Court, Probate Division (probate case files – see Probate section above).
The Frontier County Courthouse is Nebraska’s only surviving wood-frame courthouse.
Local societies
No dedicated Frontier 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
Frontier County Court, Probate Division 1 Wellington Street (mail: P.O. Box 38), Stockville, NE 69042 (308) 367-8629
Frontier County was founded in 1872, in southwestern Nebraska, seated in Stockville (though Curtis is the county’s largest city). The Frontier County Courthouse is the only wood-frame courthouse still standing in Nebraska.
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
1 Court St., Stockville, NE 69042
(308) 367-4202
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
1 Court St., Stockville, NE 69042
(308) 367-8641
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
NE DHHS — Frontier
dhhs.ne.gov
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Frontier County Public Health services coordinated through regional Nebraska public health district.
Editorial independence: CountyOffices maintains strict editorial independence from our affiliate partners. Our content is researched from official government sources. Affiliate relationships do not influence our recommendations or the information we publish.
Editorial Trust
5 official sources cited
Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Stockville
Population: 2,500
Area: 972 sq mi
Established: 1872
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Frontier County County residents.
