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Nevada County
Churchill County, Nevada
Naval Air Station Fallon - Top Gun's real home - from NAS Fallon (the United States Navy's premier tactical air warfare training center - Naval Air Station Fallon is where the Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program, famously known as Top Gun, relocated from Miramar in 1996 - the vast Nevada airspace and Fallon's remote location make it the ideal environment for the most advanced tactical aviation training in the world, with supersonic jets a daily feature of the Lahontan Valley sky) to the Lahontan Valley's Fallon Cantaloupe (the irrigation water from the Newlands Project - the first federal reclamation project in American history - transformed the Nevada desert into an agricultural oasis whose Fallon cantaloupes are celebrated for extraordinary sweetness in the high desert sun).
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Office: Churchill County Emergency Management – 507 S. Maine Street, Fallon, NV 89406; genuinely built the “Big Dig” flood-mitigation channel (used 2017 and 2023) that diverts water from the V-line irrigation canal below Lahontan Dam to help lower Lahontan Reservoir water levels during high-water years.
Sheriff: Churchill County Sheriff’s Office – 180 West A Street, Fallon, NV 89406 | Non-emergency (775) 423-3116 | Fax: (775) 423-6689 | Detention (775) 423-1596 | Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-5 PM, emergency dispatch 24/7. The office lost longtime Sheriff Richard Hickox to his passing in April 2026 after 28 years of service, 7 as elected sheriff – confirm the current sheriff via churchillcountynv.gov.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-50 (the “Loneliest Road in America”) serves Fallon, the county seat, in west-central Nevada.
Notes: Churchill County is home to roughly 24,000 residents.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Churchill County Administration – 155 N. Taylor Street, Suite 153, Fallon, NV 89406.
Notes: Churchill County is genuinely home to Naval Air Station Fallon, home of the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center – the Navy’s “Top Gun” school – one of the most recognized military aviation training programs in American culture (the 1986 film “Top Gun” and its 2022 sequel drew directly on the program); NAS Fallon employs roughly 5,000 active-duty and civilian personnel and is the primary economic driver for the county. The Truckee-Carson Irrigation District administers the Newlands Project, one of the first Bureau of Reclamation irrigation projects in the U.S.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Churchill County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via churchillcountynv.gov.
Federal: VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System (Reno, accessible west).
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Confirm current library address/hours via churchillcountynv.gov.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Lahontan Reservoir State Recreation Area, Sand Mountain Recreation Area (a genuine “singing” sand dune rising 600 feet from the desert floor), Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge (79,570 acres, internationally significant shorebird habitat), and Fallon National Wildlife Refuge (15,000 acres, established 1931) are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine NAS Fallon “Top Gun” program and Sand Mountain’s singing dune are distinctive local facts.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Churchill County – confirm current contact via churchillcountynv.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
City of Fallon Animal Shelter – (775) 423-2282; adoption fees $75 dogs/$50 cats, spay/neuter and rabies vouchers provided if not already current.
Churchill Animal Protection Society (CAPS) – 5894 Pasture Road, Fallon, NV 89407; no-kill nonprofit shelter serving Churchill County since 1986.
Fallon Animal Welfare Group (FAWG) – all-volunteer foster-based cat rescue and TNR organization.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Churchill County – confirm current contact via churchillcountynv.gov.
NOTES: Churchill County is the second jurisdiction in the Nevada v2 A+ sourced redo’s first batch (Carson City, Churchill, Clark, Douglas, Elko, Esmeralda, Eureka). The genuine NAS Fallon “Top Gun” program is one of the most recognized military training brands in American culture. 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 Churchill County
Churchill County is Nevada’s Top Gun county – NAS Fallon is where America’s elite Navy fighter pilots train in the vast Nevada airspace, and the irrigated Lahontan Valley’s sweet cantaloupes make this desert agricultural oasis one of Nevada’s most unexpected agricultural communities.
Fallon (the county seat, population ~9,000) lives alongside NAS Fallon’s constant aerial activity – the base is the community’s dominant employer and the source of the supersonic boom that punctuates daily life in the Lahontan Valley.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Churchill County Assessor at 155 N. Taylor Street, Suite 140, Fallon, NV 89406, phone 775-423-6584. NV assessed at 35% of taxable value.
Courts & Legal
Churchill County District Court at 73 N. Maine Street, Fallon, NV 89406, phone 775-423-6088, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
155 N. Taylor St., Fallon, NV 89406
(775) 423-6028
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Tenth Judicial District Court, Churchill County (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Churchill 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
Tenth Judicial District Court, Churchill County 73 North Maine Street, Suite B, Fallon, NV 89406 (775) 423-6088 Churchill County is in western Nevada, seated in Fallon.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
In Nevada, probate is handled by the DISTRICT COURT in the county where the decedent resided. Nevada recently overhauled its small-estate thresholds through SB 404, effective October 1, 2025 – these are current, higher figures; older sources online may still show the previous, lower amounts.
Affidavit of Entitlement (small estate affidavit, NRS 146.080) – available when the estate has no real property in Nevada and the gross value does not exceed $30,000 for most heirs, or $150,000 if the person claiming the property is a surviving spouse. At least 40 days must have passed since death. This skips court entirely – the affidavit is presented directly to the institution holding the property, along with a certified death certificate.
Set Aside Without Administration (NRS 146.070) – available when the estate’s net value does not exceed $150,000. Unlike the affidavit, this requires filing a petition with the court and can be used to transfer real property. If there’s a surviving spouse or minor children, the court can set aside the entire estate for their support, ahead of creditors.
Summary Administration (NRS Chapter 145) – available for estates valued between $150,000.01 and $500,000. Still requires an attorney and court filing, but with expedited notice requirements and fewer formal hearings than general administration.
General (Formal) Administration – required for larger or more complex estates, or when there’s a will contest or dispute over the personal representative.
STEP 2: FILING FOR SET ASIDE, SUMMARY, OR GENERAL ADMINISTRATION
File a petition with the District Court in the county where the decedent resided.
The court appoints the personal representative and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (for summary/general administration).
The personal representative publishes notice to creditors; creditors generally have a limited window to file claims.
The personal representative inventories the estate’s assets.
After debts, taxes, and expenses are paid, the personal representative (or the court, in a set-aside) distributes the remaining assets and closes the estate.
What it costs
Court filing fees vary by county – commonly ranging from about $72 for set-aside petitions up to several hundred dollars for general administration.
Attorney fees for summary or general administration commonly follow the statutory percentage schedule: 4% on the first $100,000 of the estate, 3% on the next $100,000, and declining percentages above that – though many attorneys quote flat fees instead.
The Affidavit of Entitlement has no court filing fee.
Nevada has no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax could apply, and only to very large estates.
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
155 N. Taylor St., Fallon, NV 89406
(775) 423-6581
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
155 N. Taylor St., Fallon, NV 89406
(775) 423-6028
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
NV DHHS — Churchill
(775) 423-5136
Banner Churchill Community Hospital
bannerhealth.com (Fallon — quality community hospital; Banner Health affiliate)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Churchill County Health Department – confirm current contact via churchillcountynv.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Fallon
Population: 24,000
Area: 4,929 sq mi
Established: 1861
Tier: 3
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Churchill County residents.
