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Nevada County
Nye County, Nevada
Nye County - the Nevada Test Site and America's nuclear proving ground - from the Nevada Test Site (the 1,375-square-mile federal complex in southern Nye County where the United States detonated 928 nuclear weapons between 1951 and 1992 - the atmospheric tests visible from Las Vegas in the 1950s created a mushroom cloud tourism industry and left a permanently altered landscape of craters, bunkers, and radioactive ground zero markers that constitute one of the most extraordinary Cold War heritage sites in the world) to Yucca Mountain (the proposed national nuclear waste repository in Nye County that has been at the center of America's most contentious energy policy debate for 40 years) and Pahrump's Las Vegas exurb growth.
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What do you need to do?
Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
Office: Nye County Emergency Management Services – 101 Radar Road, PO Box 153, Tonopah, NV 89049 | (775) 482-8191 | Hours: Mon-Thu 6:30 AM-6 PM.
Sheriff: Nye County Sheriff’s Office – Northern Area Command, 101 Radar Road, Tonopah, NV 89049 | Administration (775) 482-8110 | Non-emergency (775) 482-8101; Central Area Command, 426 C Avenue, Beatty, NV 89003 | (775) 553-2345; Southern Area Command, 1520 E. Basin Ave, Pahrump, NV 89060 | Non-emergency (775) 751-7000.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-95 serves Tonopah, the county seat; NV-160 connects Las Vegas to Pahrump, the county’s largest community.
Notes: Nye County, established 1864 and named for James W. Nye (first governor of Nevada Territory, later a U.S. Senator), is Nevada’s third-largest county by area (over 18,000 square miles). The county seat moved from Ione (1864) to Belmont (1867) to Tonopah (1905). Pahrump, roughly 160 miles from Tonopah, holds about 86% of the county’s population as a growing Las Vegas exurb. Nye County has no incorporated cities.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Nye County Building Department – confirm current phone via nyecountynv.gov.
Notes: Tonopah is genuinely home to the Nye County Courthouse (1905), a Romanesque Revival stone building with a pointed dome unique in Nevada, NRHP-listed. Nye County also contains the Nevada National Security Site (Nevada Test Site), where 928 nuclear weapons tests were conducted between 1951 and 1992, and the Rhyolite ghost town near Beatty, a 1905-1911 gold boomtown whose ruins include the Tom Kelly Bottle House and the Goldwell Open Air Museum’s large-scale outdoor sculptures. Death Valley National Park is accessible from Pahrump.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Nye County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via nyecountynv.gov.
Federal: VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System (Las Vegas, accessible southeast).
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Tonopah Public Library – 171 Central, Tonopah, NV 89049; genuinely the third public library established in Nevada, built 1906, NRHP-listed (1982), designed by John J. Hill, founded by local residents Grace R. Moore and Marjorie Moore Brown to house a donated 200-book collection.
Amargosa Valley, Beatty, and other branch libraries also serve the county.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Death Valley National Park (accessible from Pahrump), Rhyolite Ghost Town and the Goldwell Open Air Museum, and Tonopah’s designation as one of Nevada’s finest dark-sky stargazing communities are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine third-oldest-library-in-Nevada status of the Tonopah Public Library and the county’s Nevada Test Site history are distinctive local facts.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Nye County Assessor – confirm current contact via nyecountynv.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Nye County Animal Control Services – (775) 751-6315.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Nye County – confirm current contact via nyecountynv.gov.
NOTES: Nye County is the sixth jurisdiction in the Nevada v2 A+ sourced redo’s second batch (Humboldt, Lander, Lincoln, Lyon, Mineral, Nye, Pershing). The genuine third-oldest library in Nevada and the Nevada Test Site are distinctive local facts. 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 Nye County
Nye County is America’s nuclear proving ground – 928 nuclear weapons were detonated here between 1951 and 1992, and the Nevada Test Site’s Cold War landscape of craters and ground zeros constitutes one of the most extraordinary and sobering historic sites in the United States.
Tonopah (the county seat, population ~2,500) is a classic Nevada silver boomtown – the 1900 discovery of silver created one of Nevada’s richest mining districts, and the Tonopah Historic Mining Park and Mizpah Hotel preserve the boomtown character. Pahrump (population ~36,000) is a rapidly growing Las Vegas exurb.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Nye County Assessor at 101 Radar Road, Tonopah, NV 89049, phone 775-482-8174. NV assessed at 35% of taxable value.
Courts & Legal
Nye County District Court at 101 Radar Road, Tonopah, NV 89049, phone 775-482-8127, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
101 Radar Rd., Tonopah, NV 89049
(775) 482-8127
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Fifth Judicial District Court, Nye County (probate case files – see Probate section above). This district also covers Esmeralda County.
Local societies
No dedicated Nye 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
Fifth Judicial District Court, Nye County 1520 East Basin Avenue #105, Pahrump, NV 89060 (775) 751-7050
Nye County was founded in 1864, named for territorial governor James W. Nye, in south-central Nevada, seated in Tonopah – though Pahrump is the county’s largest community and where the primary District Court department sits. At 18,199 square miles, Nye is Nevada’s largest county by area and among the largest in the U.S.
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
101 Radar Rd., Tonopah, NV 89049
(775) 482-8181
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
101 Radar Rd., Tonopah, NV 89049
(775) 482-8127
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
NV DHHS — Nye
(775) 482-8191
Desert View Hospital
desertviewhospital.com (Pahrump — quality community hospital; serves the large Pahrump Valley population)
Office: Nye County Health Department – confirm current contact via nyecountynv.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Tonopah
Population: 47,000
Area: 18,159 sq mi (one of the largest counties by area in the US)
