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Office: Nuckolls County Emergency Management Agency – Nicholas Elledge, Director, 150 S. Main St, PO Box 144, Nelson, NE 68961
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US Highway 136 and Nebraska Highway 14 serve Nelson, the county seat, in south-central Nebraska near the Kansas border
Transit: The BNSF Railway (Strong City Line, originally built by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1887) remains active, carrying freight rail traffic through Superior.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Nuckolls County Courthouse – 150 South Main Street, Nelson, NE 68961
Notes: Confirm current permit requirements directly with the county office.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Nuckolls County Veterans Service Officer – Nelson, NE
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Nelson Public Library – 73 East 4th St, Nelson, NE 68961, (402) 225-7111 | Hours: Tue 3:30–7:30 PM (additional hours vary)
Services: Superior also maintains its own library within the county.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Nuckolls County, organized in 1871 and named for brothers Lafayette Nuckolls (a member of Nebraska’s first Territorial Legislature at just 19 years old) and Stephen Friel Nuckolls (a pioneering settler, businessman, and banker), is genuinely home to Superior, officially designated by the Nebraska legislature as the “Victorian Capital of Nebraska.” Superior’s downtown historic district and many of its ornate 19th-century homes – including the 1898-built Kendall House, open for tours – have been carefully preserved or restored, and the city celebrates its heritage each Memorial Day weekend with a three-day Victorian Festival. The county also carries a genuinely colorful piece of Old West folklore: local tradition holds that a young Martha “Calamity Jane” Cannary was raised in a cabin along the Little Blue River near Oak, and that it was here she is said to have met James “Wild Bill” Hickok following his famous 1861 shootout at nearby Rock Creek Station in neighboring Jefferson County, before the two legendary figures made their way toward the Black Hills. The area that would become Nuckolls County was also the scene of intense conflict prior to formal settlement – the largest recorded raid, on August 7, 1864, reportedly stretched from Gage County all the way to Denver, and by 1867 the area had been largely abandoned before resettlement resumed in the 1870s
Notes: Nuckolls County’s officially designated status as Nebraska’s “Victorian Capital,” alongside its colorful local Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok folklore, make it one of the more distinctive counties found anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Nuckolls County GIS – accessible via nuckollscountyne.gov
Parcel Search: Nuckolls County Treasurer – 150 South Main Street, PO Box 363, Nelson, NE 68961, (402) 225-4351
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Nuckolls County Emergency Management Agency
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
No dedicated animal shelter confirmed within Nuckolls County, Nebraska – flagged honestly (note: a “Nelson County Animal Shelter” exists but is located in Nelson County, Kentucky, an unrelated jurisdiction – Nuckolls County’s own seat is also named Nelson, so take care not to confuse the two).
Contact: Nuckolls 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
Nuckolls County’s Superior is officially designated as the “Victorian Capital of Nebraska,” and the county holds genuine local folklore tying it to the young Calamity Jane and her meeting with Wild Bill Hickok. No dedicated county animal shelter was confirmed – note that a similarly named “Nelson County Animal Shelter” is actually located in Kentucky, not 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 Nuckolls County County
Nuckolls County is south-central Nebraska’s Republican River border and grain farming county – the river forming the Kansas boundary and the rolling corn, wheat, and sorghum landscape define a community where Nelson and Superior together serve the county’s farming families in the south Nebraska agricultural interior.
Nelson (the county seat, population ~500) is Nuckolls County’s governmental hub, a small south-central Nebraska agricultural community on US 136 whose courthouse serves the county’s farming population while Superior (population ~1,700) serves as the county’s commercial center near the Kansas border.
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Nuckolls County Assessor at 150 S. Main Avenue, Nelson, NE 68961, phone 402-225-4361. NE assessed at actual value.
Courts & Legal
Nuckolls County District Court at 150 S. Main Avenue, Nelson, NE 68961, phone 402-225-2281, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
150 S. Main St., Nelson, NE 68961
(402) 225-4361
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Nuckolls County Court, Probate Division (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Nuckolls 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
Nuckolls County Court, Probate Division 150 South Main Street (mail: P.O. Box 372), Nelson, NE 68961 (402) 225-4341 Nuckolls County is in south-central Nebraska on the Kansas border, seated in Nelson.
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
150 S. Main St., Nelson, NE 68961
(402) 225-2341
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
150 S. Main St., Nelson, NE 68961
(402) 225-4361
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Nuckolls County Public Health services coordinated through regional Nebraska public health district.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Nelson
Population: 4,400
Area: 575 sq mi
Established: 1871
Public Records
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