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Office: Garfield County Emergency Management – Burwell, NE
Services: Coordinated through the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, (308) 346-5150.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: Nebraska Highway 11 and Highway 91 serve Burwell, the county seat, in the Nebraska Sandhills along the North Loup River
Transit: Limited; primarily auto-dependent – confirm current regional options directly with the county.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Garfield County Planning and Zoning – PO Box 712, Burwell, NE 68823, (308) 346-4367, [email protected]
Notes: Handles zoning permits for unincorporated areas; includes a general permit form and floodplain regulations.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Garfield County Veterans Service Officer – Burwell, NE
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Garfield County Library (Burwell Carnegie Library) – 110 S 7th Avenue, Burwell, NE 68823
Services: Genuinely established in 1914 with a $5,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie, a project initiated by the Burwell Woman’s Literary Club (organized with 11 charter members in 1907); listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006; offers Nebraska statewide database access to all cardholders.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Garfield County, named for President James A. Garfield, is genuinely home to one of the crown jewels of American rodeo – Nebraska’s Big Rodeo, held annually in Burwell since 1921, when local real estate man Homer C. Stokes, inspired by a rodeo he attended in Kansas, organized what became an enduring institution; the event has drawn crowds of up to 20,000 people a day – far exceeding the entire county’s population – and became a major stop on the national rodeo circuit by the 1930s, hosting legendary champions like Jim Shoulders and Casey Tibbs over the decades; still held on its original 40-acre grounds (the Garfield County Frontier Fairgrounds, listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1985), the rodeo features one of the world’s largest outdoor rodeo arenas and the original 1922 wood-covered grandstands; in 2010 it was named the “Outdoor Rodeo Capital of Nebraska,” and in July 2022 Nebraska’s Big Rodeo was genuinely inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs. The county is also genuinely home to Calamus Reservoir and State Recreation Area, created by the Virginia Smith Dam in the 1980s and a major regional destination for fishing, boating, and camping
Notes: Garfield County’s Nebraska’s Big Rodeo, the oldest continuous rodeo in the state and a Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame inductee, makes it one of the most nationally significant rodeo destinations found anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Garfield County GIS – accessible via garfieldcountyne.gov
Parcel Search: Garfield County Register of Deeds – 250 South 8th St, Burwell, NE, (308) 346-4161
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Garfield County Sheriff’s Office
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
No dedicated animal shelter confirmed within Garfield County, Nebraska – flagged honestly given the county’s extremely small, rural population.
Contact: Garfield County Sheriff’s Office – (308) 346-5150, handles animal-related calls; 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 your specific municipality directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Garfield County’s Burwell is genuinely home to Nebraska’s Big Rodeo, the oldest continuous rodeo in the state and a 2022 Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame inductee. 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 Garfield County County
Garfield County is north-central Nebraska’s Sandhills ranching county – one of the state’s most sparsely populated, centered on Burwell along the North Loup River where the Calamus Reservoir draws anglers, boaters, and wildlife watchers to the region. The county’s rolling Sandhills terrain supports cattle ranching as the dominant economy, and Burwell hosts the Nebraska State Big Rodeo each summer, one of the state’s oldest and most celebrated rodeo events.
Burwell (county seat, population ~1,200) sits along the North Loup River in the heart of the Sandhills, a classic Nebraska ranch town where the rodeo grounds, county courthouse, and agricultural heritage define the community’s identity.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Garfield County Assessor at 250 South 8th Street, Burwell, NE 68823, phone 308-346-4161. Nebraska property is assessed at 100% of actual market value; agricultural land is assessed at 75% of its special valuation.
Courts & Legal
Garfield County District Court at 250 South 8th Street, Burwell, NE 68823, handles civil and criminal matters for Garfield County residents.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
250 S. 8th St., Burwell, NE 68823
(308) 346-4161
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Garfield County Court, Probate Division (probate case files – see Probate section above).
The Burwell Carnegie Library (Garfield County Library), NRHP-listed, is a notable local landmark.
Local societies
No dedicated Garfield 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
Garfield County Court, Probate Division 250 South 8th Avenue (mail: P.O. Box 431), Burwell, NE 68823 (308) 346-4123
Garfield County was organized in 1884, named for President James A. Garfield, in central Nebraska, seated in Burwell – home of Nebraska’s Big Rodeo at the Garfield County Frontier Fairgrounds, an NRHP-listed historic district.
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
250 S. 8th St., Burwell, NE 68823
(308) 346-4440
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
250 S. 8th St., Burwell, NE 68823
(308) 346-4161
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Garfield County Public Health services coordinated through regional Nebraska public health district.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Burwell
Population: 2,000
Area: 570 sq mi
Established: 1884
Public Records
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