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Nebraska County
Furnas County, Nebraska
Beaver City and Republican River valley - from Beaver City's role as the governmental hub of south-central Nebraska's Furnas County to the Republican River corridor running along the county's southern edge (the Republican River valley's fertile bottomlands support irrigated corn and sorghum production while the surrounding uplands sustain dryland farming and cattle ranching across Furnas County's south-central Nebraska landscape near the Kansas border).
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Office: Furnas County Emergency Management – 912 R Street, Beaver City, NE 68926 | (308) 268-3105
Services: Part of the Region 15 Emergency Management Agency, jointly serving Phelps, Gosper, Hitchcock, and Frontier Counties for regional public awareness and responder training.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-6/US-34 and US-283 serve Beaver City, the county seat, in south-central Nebraska near the Kansas border
Transit: Limited; primarily auto-dependent – confirm current regional options directly with the county.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Furnas County Clerk – 912 R Street, Beaver City, NE 68926, (308) 268-4145
Notes: Furnas County may administer permits in unincorporated territory; confirm current zoning authority with the County Clerk. Incorporated municipalities including Beaver City, Cambridge, and Arapahoe maintain their own separate permitting.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Furnas County Veterans Service Officer – Beaver City, NE
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Beaver City Public Library – Beaver City, NE
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Furnas County, named for Robert Wilkinson Furnas, the second governor of Nebraska, genuinely holds a wonderfully colorful history of place-naming – the county’s largest city, Cambridge, was originally platted as “Pickletown” (after founder J.A. Pickle), with locals seriously proposing the alternate names “Scratchpot City” and “Lickskillet” before the town was ultimately renamed Cambridge when the railroad arrived; nearby Wilsonville was originally called “Wild Turkey.” Beaver City, the county seat, genuinely launched the legal career of future U.S. Senator George W. Norris, the influential Nebraska statesman who began practicing law there after graduating from Valparaiso University before later moving to McCook. The county is also genuinely home to Harry Strunk Lake (Medicine Creek Reservoir), a 1,850-acre reservoir with 29 miles of shoreline formed by the Medicine Creek Dam near Cambridge, built 1948-49 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in the wake of the devastating 1935 Republican River flood; the lake, popular for walleye and catfish fishing alongside pheasant and deer hunting on surrounding public land, honors Harry D. Strunk, the newspaperman-turned-conservationist who championed the construction of six regional dams and reservoirs after the flood claimed over 100 lives
Notes: Furnas County’s colorful frontier-era place-naming history, combined with its genuine role in launching Senator George W. Norris’s career, gives it a distinctive character among Nebraska’s south-central counties.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Furnas County GIS – accessible via furnascounty.ne.gov
Parcel Search: Furnas County Assessor – Beaver City, NE, (308) 268-2195
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Furnas County Emergency Management
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
No dedicated animal shelter confirmed within Furnas County, Nebraska – flagged honestly (note: a “Beaver County Humane Society” exists but is located in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, an unrelated jurisdiction – Furnas County’s own seat is named Beaver City, so take care not to confuse the two).
Contact: Furnas County Sheriff’s Office handles animal-related calls; nearest dedicated shelters are in larger surrounding communities such as McCook.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Complaints: Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy – dee.nebraska.gov; groundwater, flood control, and soil conservation matters fall under the Furnas County Natural Resources District, a separate political subdivision, within the Republican River watershed.
Notes: Contact your specific municipality directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Furnas County genuinely carries a colorful frontier place-naming history (Cambridge was almost named “Scratchpot City” or “Lickskillet”) and launched the legal career of U.S. Senator George W. Norris in Beaver City. No dedicated county animal shelter was confirmed – note that a similarly named “Beaver County Humane Society” is actually located in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, not Beaver City, Nebraska. 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 Furnas County
Furnas County is south-central Nebraska’s Republican River agricultural county – irrigated bottomland corn and dryland upland farming define a county where Beaver City and Cambridge provide the governmental and commercial services to rural communities along the Nebraska-Kansas border corridor.
Beaver City (the county seat, population ~600) is Furnas County’s governmental hub, with Cambridge serving as a secondary commercial center for county residents in south-central Nebraska.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Furnas County Assessor at 912 R Street, Beaver City, NE 68926, phone 308-268-4105. NE assessed at actual value.
Courts & Legal
Furnas County District Court at 912 R Street, Beaver City, NE 68926, phone 308-268-4045, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
912 R St., Beaver City, NE 68926
(308) 268-4145
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Furnas County Court, Probate Division (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Furnas 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
Furnas County Court, Probate Division 912 R Street (mail: P.O. Box 373), Beaver City, NE 68926 (308) 268-4145
Furnas County was founded in 1873, named for Robert Wilkinson Furnas, in south-central Nebraska on the Kansas border, seated in Beaver City.
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
912 R St., Beaver City, NE 68926
(308) 268-4511
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
912 R St., Beaver City, NE 68926
(308) 268-4145
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
NE DHHS — Furnas
dhhs.ne.gov
Furnas County Hospital
furnascountyhospital.org (Beaver City — quality critical access hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Furnas County Public Health services coordinated through regional Nebraska public health district.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Beaver City
Population: 4,600
Area: 716 sq mi
Established: 1873
Tier: 4
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Furnas County residents.
