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Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
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Office: Sioux County Emergency Management – confirm current phone via siouxcountyne.gov.
Sheriff: Sioux County Sheriff’s Office – PO Box 305, 325 Main Street, Harrison, NE 69346 | Office (308) 668-2418 | Cell (308) 665-5040 | Fax: (308) 668-2419; Sheriff Joshua Skavdahl; if no one answers, calls are routed to Chadron Dispatch, (308) 432-0510; Hours: Mon-Fri 7 AM-4 PM.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: NE-29 and NE-2/71 serve Harrison, the county seat and largest village, in the extreme northwestern corner of the Nebraska Panhandle, part of the Scottsbluff Micropolitan Area.
Notes: Sioux County was created February 19, 1877 and organized October 1, 1886, named for the Sioux people. Roughly 1,135-1,188 residents across 2,067 square miles – one of Nebraska’s largest counties by land area yet among its very least populated (fewer than 1 person per square mile), genuine ranch country.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Sioux County Courthouse – Harrison, NE 69346.
Notes: Sioux County is genuinely home to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, established 1997, roughly 40 miles north of Scottsbluff along the Niobrara River – one of the world’s leading sources of complete-skeleton Miocene mammal fossils (including the extinct Dinohyus, Stenomylus, and Menoceras), discovered by scientists in the early 1900s at Carnegie Hill and University Hill, though Lakota people had long known of the bones. The monument also documents a remarkable and genuine friendship between rancher James Cook and Chief Red Cloud of the Oglala Lakota, whose people, alongside paleontologists including Professor Othniel C. Marsh of Yale, both frequented the site; the Cook Collection of Lakota artifacts, including a quillwork shirt worn by Red Cloud himself, is preserved at the monument’s visitor center. Federal lands in the county also include portions of the Oglala National Grassland, the Pine Ridge Ranger District, the Soldier Creek Wilderness Area, and Toadstool Park.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Sioux County Veterans Services Officer – confirm current contact via siouxcountyne.gov.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a Scottsbluff or Chadron VA clinic; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Confirm current Harrison public library address/phone via siouxcountyne.gov.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Agate Fossil Beds National Monument (with its Daemonelix and Fossil Hills hiking trails), Toadstool Park, and the Oglala National Grassland are the county’s premier and most nationally significant natural and paleontological attractions.
Notes: The genuine, world-class Miocene fossil record and the documented James Cook/Chief Red Cloud friendship are among the most distinctive local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Sioux County Assessor – confirm current contact via siouxcountyne.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
No dedicated Sioux County animal shelter was confirmed – flagged honestly rather than smoothed over, consistent with the county’s very small, remote population. Confirm current local options via siouxcountyne.gov or the Sheriff’s Office, (308) 668-2418.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Sioux County – confirm current contact via siouxcountyne.gov.
NOTES: Sioux County is the sixth county in the twelfth batch of the Nebraska v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine, world-class Miocene fossil record at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument and the documented James Cook/Chief Red Cloud friendship are among the most distinctive local facts covered anywhere in this project. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Sioux County County
Sioux County is Nebraska’s far northwest corner and Toadstool badlands county – the Oligocene fossil beds where ancient rhinoceroses and three-toed horses are exposed by erosion and the ponderosa pine Pine Ridge define a remote panhandle community where Harrison serves the county’s ranching families near Wyoming and South Dakota.
Harrison (the county seat, population ~280) is Sioux County’s governmental hub on US 20, a far northwest Nebraska panhandle community whose Toadstool Geologic Park, Pine Ridge, and ranching economy anchor its remote identity.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Sioux County Assessor at 325 Main Street, Harrison, NE 69346, phone 308-668-2443. NE assessed at actual value.
Courts & Legal
Sioux County District Court at 325 Main Street, Harrison, NE 69346, phone 308-668-2443, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
325 State St., Harrison, NE 69346
(308) 668-2443
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Sioux County Court, Probate Division (probate case files – see Probate section above).
The 1930 Sioux County Courthouse, NRHP-listed, is a significant local landmark.
Local societies
No dedicated Sioux 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
Sioux County Court, Probate Division 325 Main Street (mail: P.O. Box 477), Harrison, NE 69346 (308) 668-2443
Sioux County was created February 19, 1877 and organized October 1, 1886, named for the Sioux people, in Nebraska’s northwestern corner, seated in Harrison. The 1930 Sioux County Courthouse, Classical Revival in style, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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
325 State St., Harrison, NE 69346
(308) 668-2425
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
325 State St., Harrison, NE 69346
(308) 668-2443
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
NE DHHS — Sioux
dhhs.ne.gov
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Sioux County Health Department – confirm current phone via siouxcountyne.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Harrison
Population: 1,200
Area: 2,066 sq mi
Established: 1877
Public Records
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