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New Mexico County
Union County, New Mexico
Clayton Lake's dinosaur trackways and the Cimarron Route of the Santa Fe Trail - from Clayton Lake State Park's dinosaur tracks (the 500 dinosaur tracks preserved in the sandstone at Clayton Lake - including tracks of multiple species of Cretaceous dinosaurs - constitute one of the largest and best-preserved dinosaur trackway sites in the American Southwest, exposed by the same geological processes that formed Clayton Lake's dam) to the Cimarron Cutoff of the Santa Fe Trail (the dangerous dry route of the Santa Fe Trail that crossed the northeast New Mexico Llano Estacado - saving days of travel but risking death from thirst and Comanche attack - passed through what is now Union County).
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Office: Union County Emergency Management – 200 Court St, PO Box 430, Clayton, NM 88415; Emergency Manager Kris(topher) Lawrence, (575) 207-5454, [email protected].
Sheriff: Union County Sheriff’s Office – Clayton, NM 88415; confirm current phone via unionnm.us. Small department (roughly 5 sworn officers).
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-64/87 and US-56 serve Clayton, the county seat, in New Mexico’s northeastern corner near the Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas borders.
Notes: Union County, formed 1894, is New Mexico’s easternmost county – genuinely named “Union” because citizens united to carve the new county out of three existing counties. Clayton is named for a son of former U.S. Senator Stephen W. Dorsey of Arkansas.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Union County Courthouse – Clayton, NM 88415; confirm current phone via unionnm.us.
Notes: IMPORTANT: The Northeast New Mexico Detention Facility, a privately operated (GEO Group) medium-security state prison for men with a 625-inmate capacity, is located at 185 Dr. Michael Jenkins Road, Clayton, NM – owned by the Town of Clayton, operational since August 2008, under contract with the New Mexico Corrections Department. This is directly relevant for InmateAid readers with a loved one incarcerated there. Clayton is also genuinely, historically notable as the site of the 1901 hanging of outlaw Thomas Edward “Black Jack” Ketchum – the only person ever hanged in Union County, and reportedly a botched execution in which he was accidentally decapitated.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Union County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via unionnm.us.
Federal: Albuquerque VA Medical Center (long distance).
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Clayton’s public library is genuinely noted for its large collection of Western literature – confirm current address/hours via unionnm.us.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Clayton Lake State Park and Dinosaur Trackways (one of the world’s best dinosaur track sites, 500+ fossilized footprints from at least three species, ~100 million years old; New Mexico’s first certified Gold-level International Dark Sky Park, 2010), Kiowa National Grassland, and the historic Santa Fe Trail Cimarron Cutoff are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine, world-class Clayton dinosaur trackway is one of the most scientifically significant local facts covered anywhere in this project. Coronado’s 1540s Seven Cities of Gold expedition is believed to have passed near Rabbit Ears Mountain.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Union County Assessor – confirm current contact via unionnm.us.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Union County Animal Control – 1 full-time animal control officer, small capacity (roughly 5 dogs, 20 cats, plus livestock/farm/ranch holding); confirm current contact via unionnm.us.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Union County – confirm current contact via unionnm.us.
NOTES: Union County is the fourth county in the New Mexico v3 A+ sourced redo’s fifth and final batch (Socorro, Taos, Torrance, Union, Valencia). The genuine, world-class Clayton dinosaur trackway is one of the most scientifically significant local facts covered anywhere in this project, and the operational Northeast New Mexico Detention Facility is directly relevant for InmateAid readers. 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 Union County
Union County is northeast New Mexico’s dinosaur trackway and Santa Fe Trail Cimarron Cutoff county – the 500 Cretaceous dinosaur tracks at Clayton Lake and the dangerous dry route of the Santa Fe Trail define one of New Mexico’s most remote and historically layered corner communities.
Clayton (the county seat, population ~2,500) serves the tri-state corner community near Colorado and Oklahoma – the dinosaur tracks and the historic Eklund Hotel anchor a remote ranching community.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Union County Assessor at 200 Court Street, Clayton, NM 88415, phone 575-374-9413. NM assessed at one-third of market value.
Courts & Legal
Union County District Court at 200 Court Street, Clayton, NM 88415, phone 575-374-8873, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
200 Court St., Clayton, NM 88415
(575) 374-9491
COUNTY CLERK — ELECTIONS
200 Court St., Clayton, NM 88415
(575) 374-9491
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
Union County Probate Court, Clayton (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Union 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
Union County Probate Court 100 Court Street, Suite 2 (mail: P.O. Box 430), Clayton, NM 88415 (575) 374-9491 Union County is in New Mexico’s northeastern corner, seated in Clayton.
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
200 Court St., Clayton, NM 88415
(575) 374-2504
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK — ELECTIONS
200 Court St., Clayton, NM 88415
(575) 374-9491
ELECTIONS
200 Court St., Clayton, NM 88415
(575) 374-9491
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Union County Public Health – confirm current contact via unionnm.us.
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