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Office: Perkins County Emergency Management – James Brueggeman, Manager, PO Box 668, 200 Lincoln Ave, Grant, NE 69140, (308) 352-7520
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US Highway 6/34 and Nebraska Highway 61 serve Grant, the county seat, in southwest Nebraska near the Colorado border
Transit: Limited; primarily auto-dependent – confirm current regional options directly with the county.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Perkins County Courthouse – 200 Lincoln Avenue, Grant, NE 69140 | Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM–4 PM
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Perkins County Veterans Service Officer – Grant, NE
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Hastings Memorial Library – Grant, NE 69140
Services: Serves the residents of Grant and Perkins County with books, digital resources, job assistance, and creative programming, including an annual Friends of the Library Puzzle Tournament.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Perkins County, organized in 1887, is believed to have been named for Charles E. Perkins, president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad – though local tradition also credits a former Grant resident named Joseph Perkins. The competition to become county seat was genuinely fierce: the townsites of Grant, Madrid, and Lisbon each vied for the honor, and after three separate elections, an investigation found that considerably more votes had been cast than there were actual inhabitants of the county; following a legal challenge, the District Court finally ruled in Grant’s favor in October 1888. The town of Grant itself began with just a store and a newspaper, and celebrated its first Chicago, Burlington and Quincy train arrival with a major Fourth of July celebration the following year. The current three-story stone Perkins County Courthouse, built in 1926-27 by architect J.F. Reynolds in the Classical Revival style, is genuinely the county’s third courthouse and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; before it was built, county offices had operated for years out of a converted old bank building
Notes: Perkins County’s genuinely contested and over-voted county-seat election saga is one of the more colorful pieces of 19th-century Nebraska county-formation history.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Perkins County GIS – accessible via perkinscounty.ne.gov
Parcel Search: Perkins County Clerk – Grant, NE 69140
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Perkins County Emergency Management
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Perkins County Animal Shelter – located inside the Perkins County Veterinary Hospital, 68 S. Central Ave, Grant, NE
Services: Genuinely a low-kill, all-volunteer nonprofit dog shelter operating entirely on donations; all animals are spayed or neutered before adoption to help reduce overpopulation, and adopters receive a health exam, up-to-date vaccinations, and a small transition bag of food. Adoption fees vary, with most dogs around $350.
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
Perkins County’s history includes a genuinely contested 1880s county-seat election in which more votes were cast than there were residents, ultimately settled by court ruling in favor of Grant. A confirmed low-kill dog shelter operates out of the local veterinary hospital. All contact information above was sourced from official county, city, library, and shelter pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Perkins County County
Perkins County is southwest Nebraska’s South Platte watershed and High Plains irrigated farming county – the groundwater and irrigation infrastructure supporting corn and wheat on the Nebraska-Colorado border plains define a community where Grant serves the county’s farming families near Colorado.
Grant (the county seat, population ~1,100) is Perkins County’s governmental hub on US 6, a southwest Nebraska agricultural community near Colorado whose irrigated farming economy and courthouse anchor its identity.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Perkins County Assessor at 200 Lincoln Avenue, Grant, NE 69140, phone 308-352-4643. NE assessed at actual value.
Courts & Legal
Perkins County District Court at 200 Lincoln Avenue, Grant, NE 69140, phone 308-352-4643, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
200 Lincoln Ave., Grant, NE 69140
(308) 352-4643
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Perkins County Court, Probate Division (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Perkins 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
Perkins County Court, Probate Division 200 Lincoln Avenue (mail: P.O. Box 222), Grant, NE 69140 (308) 352-4643 Perkins County is in southwestern Nebraska, seated in Grant.
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
200 Lincoln Ave., Grant, NE 69140
(308) 352-4600
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
200 Lincoln Ave., Grant, NE 69140
(308) 352-4643
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Perkins 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
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Grant
Population: 2,900
Area: 882 sq mi
Established: 1887
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Perkins County County residents.
