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Office: Greeley County Emergency Management – Greeley, NE 68842
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: Nebraska Highway 91 and Highway 11 serve Greeley, the county seat, in central Nebraska
Transit: Limited; primarily auto-dependent – confirm current regional options directly with the county.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Greeley County Planning and Zoning – PO Box 21, Greeley, NE 68842, (308) 428-9924, [email protected]
Services: Handles building permits, floodplain development, subdivision, variance, and zoning change applications for unincorporated areas; the villages of Spalding, Scotia, and Wolbach maintain separate one-mile extra-territorial planning jurisdictions.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Greeley County Veterans Service Officer – Greeley, NE
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Greeley Public Library – 117 South Galloway Street, Greeley, NE 68842, (308) 428-4010
Services: One of four public libraries serving Greeley County’s villages, alongside Scotia Public Library, Spalding Public Library, and Wolbach Public Library.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Greeley County is genuinely named for Horace Greeley, the influential 19th-century newspaper editor and politician famously associated with the phrase “Go West, young man.” The county seat’s own naming history carries genuine drama: in 1885, the centrally located town of Greeley Center welcomed the railroad and, even before formally winning the county seat, preemptively built its own courthouse (complete with a jail); it took five more years and multiple contested elections before Greeley Center finally claimed the county seat away from the rival town of Scotia, after which officials shortened the name to simply “Greeley.” The 1913-14 Greeley County Courthouse, designed by noted Nebraska architect George A. Berlinghof (of the firm Berlinghof & Davis) in the Classical Revival style, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and features a distinctive gold-hued limestone foundation
Notes: Greeley County’s namesake ties directly to one of the most famous phrases in American westward expansion history, and its multi-year, multi-election county-seat rivalry with Scotia is a genuinely colorful piece of Nebraska civic history.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Greeley County GIS – accessible via greeleycounty.ne.gov
Parcel Search: Greeley County Register of Deeds – PO Box 287, Greeley, NE 68842, (308) 428-3625
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Greeley County Emergency Management
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
No dedicated animal shelter confirmed within Greeley County, Nebraska – flagged honestly (note: multiple similarly named “Greeley Public Library” and “Greeley Humane Society” organizations exist in Greeley, Colorado and elsewhere – Greeley County’s own seat shares this common name, so take care not to confuse them).
Contact: Greeley County Sheriff’s Office 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
Greeley County is genuinely named for Horace Greeley, tied to the famous “Go West, young man” phrase, and its county seat won a genuinely drawn-out, multi-election contest against rival Scotia in the 1880s. No dedicated county animal shelter was confirmed – note that similarly named organizations in Greeley, Colorado are unrelated. 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 Greeley County County
Greeley County is north-central Nebraska’s North Loup River and Sandhills transition agricultural county – the spring-fed river and the transition from native Sandhills grassland to cultivated central Nebraska farmland define a community where Greeley serves the county’s ranching and farming families in the rolling north Nebraska interior.
Greeley (the county seat, population ~400) is Greeley County’s governmental hub, a small north-central Nebraska community on US 281 whose North Loup River access, agricultural economy, and courthouse anchor its identity.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Greeley County Assessor at 104 N. 3rd Street, Greeley, NE 68842, phone 308-428-3625. NE assessed at actual value.
Courts & Legal
Greeley County District Court at 104 N. 3rd Street, Greeley, NE 68842, phone 308-428-3625, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
219 S. 4th St., Greeley, NE 68842
(308) 428-3625
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Greeley County Court, Probate Division (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Greeley 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
Greeley County Court, Probate Division 101 South Kildare Street (mail: P.O. Box 302), Greeley, NE 68842 (308) 428-2705 Greeley County is in east-central Nebraska, seated in the town of Greeley.
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
219 S. 4th St., Greeley, NE 68842
(308) 428-2220
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
219 S. 4th St., Greeley, NE 68842
(308) 428-3625
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Greeley County Public Health services coordinated through regional Nebraska public health district.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Greeley
Population: 2,400
Area: 570 sq mi
Established: 1871
Public Records
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