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New Mexico County
Eddy County, New Mexico
Carlsbad Caverns and the Permian Basin energy boom - from Carlsbad Caverns National Park (the vast limestone cave system in the Guadalupe Mountains - whose Big Room is the largest natural limestone chamber in North America, and whose nightly flight of up to 400,000 Brazilian free-tailed bats is one of the most spectacular wildlife events in the American Southwest) to the Permian Basin's Eddy County energy production (Eddy County sits atop one of the most productive oil and natural gas formations in the world - the Delaware Basin's Wolfcamp and Bone Spring formations have made Eddy County one of the top energy-producing counties in the United States, driving one of the most dramatic economic booms in New Mexico history).
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Office: Eddy County Office of Emergency Management – 106 S. Main St, Carlsbad, NM 88220; Emergency Manager Jennifer Armendariz, (575) 628-5454 | Cell: (575) 499-5111 | [email protected]. Regional emergency dispatch coordinates 911 response countywide.
Sheriff: Eddy County Sheriff’s Complex – 1502 Corrales Drive, Carlsbad, NM 88220 | (575) 887-7551 | Fax: (575) 887-9276 | Hours: Mon-Fri 7 AM-5 PM; Sheriff Matt Hutchinson. Sub-office: Artesia Public Safety Complex, 3300 W. Main St, Artesia, NM 88210, (575) 746-9888.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Non-emergency dispatch: (575) 616-7155.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-62/180 serves Carlsbad, the county seat and largest city, in southeastern New Mexico near the Texas border.
Notes: Eddy County, created 1891 and organized 1892, is named for Charles Eddy, a local rancher. Carlsbad was originally founded as “Eddy” in 1888, incorporated in 1893, and renamed Carlsbad in 1899.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Eddy County Courthouse – Carlsbad, NM 88220; confirm current phone via co.eddy.nm.us.
Notes: Eddy County is genuinely, world-famously home to Carlsbad Caverns National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (designated 1995) located about 18-20 miles southwest of Carlsbad. The park’s primary attraction, Carlsbad Cavern, drew over 410,000 visitors in 2025, with roughly two-thirds of the park set aside as protected wilderness. The county is also home to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), the nation’s only deep geologic repository for defense-related transuranic radioactive waste. In 1866, cattle drivers Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving passed through the area, establishing the historic Goodnight-Loving Trail.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Eddy County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via co.eddy.nm.us.
Federal: Albuquerque VA Medical Center (long distance); El Paso VA Health Care System (nearby, Texas).
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Carlsbad: Carlsbad Municipal Library – confirm current address/hours via co.eddy.nm.us (listed among county area resources).
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Carlsbad Caverns National Park (UNESCO World Heritage Site), Guadalupe Mountains National Park (nearby), Lincoln National Forest, and the Carlsbad Museum and Art Center are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine UNESCO World Heritage status of Carlsbad Caverns is one of the most nationally and internationally significant local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Eddy County Assessor – confirm current contact via co.eddy.nm.us.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Eddy County Animal Shelter – serves the City of Carlsbad, Village of Loving, and unincorporated Eddy County (excluding a 5-mile radius around Artesia); roughly 40-50 dog and 20-30 cat capacity, plus emergency livestock/wildlife holding.
Noah’s Ark Animal Refuge (nonprofit) – serves Carlsbad and Eddy County, offering spay/neuter certificates and a feral cat TNR program.
Carlsbad Progressive Animal Welfare Society (nonprofit) – supports animal welfare education and shelter partnerships across Eddy County communities.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Eddy County Extension Office – confirm current contact via co.eddy.nm.us. Note: the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a federal facility, also operates in the county.
NOTES: Eddy County is the ninth county in the New Mexico v3 A+ sourced redo’s second batch (Doña Ana, Eddy, Grant, Guadalupe, Harding, Hidalgo, Lea). The genuine UNESCO World Heritage status of Carlsbad Caverns is one of the most significant 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 Eddy County
Eddy County is New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns and Permian Basin oil boom county – the North America’s largest natural limestone chamber and 400,000 nightly bats share the landscape with one of the world’s most productive oil and gas formations, making Eddy County simultaneously one of New Mexico’s most visited and most energy-productive counties.
Carlsbad (the county seat, population ~29,000) balances caverns tourism with the Permian Basin’s energy economy – the WIPP nuclear waste repository and the potash mining operations add to an unusually diverse industrial base.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Eddy County Assessor at 101 W. Greene Street, Suite 200, Carlsbad, NM 88220, phone 575-885-3813. NM assessed at one-third of market value.
Courts & Legal
Eddy County District Court at 102 S. Canal Street, Carlsbad, NM 88220, phone 575-885-4740, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
101 W. Greene St., Carlsbad, NM 88220
(575) 885-3840
COUNTY CLERK — ELECTIONS
101 W. Greene St., Carlsbad, NM 88220
(575) 885-3840
Genealogy
PRIMARY STATEWIDE RESEARCH CENTERS (same across all New Mexico counties)
New Mexico State Records Center and Archives, 1205 Camino Carlos Rey, Santa Fe, NM 87507.
New Mexico Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 8283, Albuquerque, NM 87198.
County-level record sources
Eddy County Probate Court, Carlsbad (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Eddy 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
Eddy County Probate Court 101 West Greene Street, Suite 221, Carlsbad, NM 88220 (575) 885-4008
Eddy County is in southeastern New Mexico, home to Carlsbad Caverns National Park, seated in Carlsbad.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
New Mexico adopted the Uniform Probate Code. New Mexico has a dual court system: the county PROBATE COURT handles informal, uncontested probate matters with minimal court involvement, and has concurrent jurisdiction with the DISTRICT COURT over informal proceedings. The District Court alone handles formal probate – contested cases, determinations of heirship, and trust matters.
Small Estate Affidavit / Affidavit of Successor in Interest (N.M. Stat. § 45-3-1201) – available when the value of the entire estate (after liens and encumbrances) does not exceed $50,000 and does NOT include any real property. At least 30 days must have passed since death. This skips probate court entirely – the affidavit is presented directly to banks, the DMV, or other institutions holding the property.
Homestead Transfer Affidavit for Surviving Spouse (N.M. Stat. § 45-3-1205) – available 6 months after death, when the surviving spouse and decedent owned a homestead as community property valued at $500,000 or less (for property tax purposes). The affidavit is recorded with the county clerk and can avoid formal probate for the residence, but only if funeral expenses, expenses of last illness, and all unsecured debts have already been paid.
Informal Probate – the most common path for uncontested estates, filed with either the Probate Court or the District Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled. No hearing required.
Formal Probate – required for contested cases, disputes over heirship, or trust matters. Only the District Court can hear these.
Step 2: filing for informal or formal probate
File a petition with the Probate Court or District Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled. A probate may be started up to 3 years after death.
The court appoints the personal representative and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
The personal representative notifies creditors; New Mexico’s creditor claim period is 2 months from notice to creditors – one of the shortest in the country.
The personal representative inventories the estate’s assets, pays debts and expenses, and distributes the remaining assets according to the will or New Mexico’s intestacy statute.
The estate is closed, typically within 6 to 12 months for straightforward, uncontested cases.
What it costs
The filing fee for probate in Probate Court is generally around $30 – notably lower than in most states. District Court filing fees run higher, commonly $100–$232 depending on the county and complexity.
New Mexico does not set a fixed statutory percentage for personal representative compensation; courts typically look to a reasonable guideline of about 2–4% of the estate’s value.
New Mexico 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 W. Greene St., Carlsbad, NM 88220
(575) 887-7551
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK — ELECTIONS
101 W. Greene St., Carlsbad, NM 88220
(575) 885-3840
ELECTIONS
101 W. Greene St., Carlsbad, NM 88220
(575) 885-3840
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
NM HSD — Eddy
(575) 887-3636
Carlsbad Medical Center
carlsbadmedicalcenter.com (Carlsbad — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: NM Human Services Department, Carlsbad field office – Hours: Mon/Tue 8 AM-4:30 PM, Wed 8-10:30 AM, Thu 8 AM-12 PM; confirm current phone via senmc.libguides.com or co.eddy.nm.us.
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