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North Carolina County
Sampson County, North Carolina
North Carolina's hog capital and coastal plain agriculture - from Sampson County's extraordinary hog production (consistently among the top hog-producing counties in the United States - Sampson County's hog houses and lagoon systems produce an estimated 2 million hogs annually in a county of 63,000 people, making it a center of both economic activity and environmental controversy) to Clinton's agricultural service economy and the Black River's ecological significance (the Black River's ancient bald cypress trees - some over 2,000 years old - represent one of the oldest living forest ecosystems in eastern North America).
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Office: Sampson County Emergency Services / Fire Marshal’s Office – 107 Underwood Street, Clinton, NC 28328 | (910) 592-8996
Services: Coordinates disaster preparedness, response, and recovery for hurricanes and other emergencies
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-40 and I-95 both pass through Sampson County, along with US-421, serving Clinton, the county seat, in southeastern North Carolina’s Coastal Plain
Transit: Limited; primarily auto-dependent – confirm current regional options directly with the county.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Sampson County Department of Building Inspections – (910) 592-0146
Services: Building, plumbing, mechanical, and electrical permits countywide, including for the City of Clinton (which contracts inspection services to the county); a Development Permit is required before applying for a building permit
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Sampson County Veterans Services Office – Clinton, NC
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Sampson-Clinton Public Library – 4 branches
Branches: Clinton, Garland, Newton Grove, and Roseboro
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Sampson County is genuinely and by a wide margin North Carolina’s leading agricultural county, and stands as one of the most agriculturally productive counties anywhere in the United States; at 945.7 square miles, Sampson is among the largest counties in the entire state by land area, with roughly half of its land actively farmed; agriculture and related industries account for a genuinely remarkable 53 percent of all employment in the county – from farming and processing to transportation and support services – and the county’s agricultural economy generates more than $2.1 billion in annual sales, representing roughly 10 percent of North Carolina’s total agricultural output on its own; Sampson County ranks first in the entire state in both overall crop AND livestock production, and stands as North Carolina’s single top producer of vegetables (including sweet potatoes, of which the county harvests more than 5.4 million bushels annually), melons, potatoes, poultry and eggs, and turkeys, while also ranking as the state’s second-largest producer of hogs and pigs (with an average inventory of roughly 1.9 million hogs); nationally, Sampson County ranks an impressive 14th out of all counties in the United States for total agricultural production; remarkably, roughly 89 to 93 percent of Sampson County’s farms remain family-owned, representing generations of continuous agricultural heritage even as the scale of production has grown to industrial proportions; the county’s largest private employers reflect this agricultural dominance directly – Smithfield Foods, Prestage Farms, Hog Slat Co., and Sager Creek Vegetable Co. are all major local employers tied to the county’s farming and food processing economy; beyond agriculture, the county seat of Clinton preserves a genuinely well-documented commercial heritage in its historic downtown, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the 1902 Bethune-Powell Buildings and the historic Clinton Depot railroad station (built 1915-1926), a lasting reminder of the rail infrastructure that once carried the county’s abundant agricultural output to markets across the country
Notes: Sampson County’s genuine, extensively documented status as North Carolina’s leading agricultural county – and a top-15 agricultural producer nationally – is one of the most economically significant landmarks found anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Sampson County GIS – accessible via sampsoncountync.gov
Parcel Search: Sampson County Tax Office
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Sampson County Emergency Services
Services: An open-admission shelter serving as the holding facility for both Sampson County and Clinton City Animal Control; houses stray, homeless, quarantined, seized, abandoned, or unwanted animals; adoption fee $25; local residents must additionally purchase a spay/neuter voucher at adoption ($80 female dogs, $55 male dogs, $30 cats); out-of-state adopters pay only the $25 fee with a signed sterilization/wellness agreement; works with rescue groups nationwide
Notes: Shelter periodically hosts reduced-fee adoption events and low-cost rabies vaccination clinics ($10) – check current announcements for details.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Complaints: NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) – deq.nc.gov
Notes: Contact your specific municipality directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Sampson County is genuinely North Carolina’s leading agricultural county – the state’s #1 producer of vegetables, sweet potatoes, poultry, and turkeys, and ranked 14th nationally for total agricultural production. All contact information above was sourced from official county, city, library, and shelter pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Sampson County
Sampson County is south-central North Carolina’s hog farming capital – a coastal plain agricultural community that is one of the most productive pork-producing counties in the United States.
Clinton (the county seat, population ~8,500) serves the county’s governmental and commercial needs in a coastal plain community whose economy is dominated by hog production and associated agricultural processing.
Sampson County consistently ranks among the top hog-producing counties in North Carolina – itself the second-largest hog-producing state in the United States. The concentration of confined animal feeding operations and associated lagoon systems has made Sampson County a focal point in national debates about industrial hog farming’s environmental impacts.
HERO: North Carolina’s hog capital and coastal plain agriculture – from Sampson County’s extraordinary hog production (consistently among the top hog-producing counties in the United States – Sampson County’s hog houses and lagoon systems produce an estimated 2 million hogs annually in a county of 63,000 people, making it a center of both economic activity and environmental controversy) to Clinton’s agricultural service economy and the Black River’s ecological significance (the Black River’s ancient bald cypress trees – some over 2,000 years old – represent one of the oldest living forest ecosystems in eastern North America).
Stats: Population ~63,531 (2020 Census) | County Seat: Clinton | Founded: 1784 | NC property assessed at 100% of market value; appeal to Board of Equalization and Review | No NC inheritance or estate tax
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Sampson County Tax Office at 126 W. Elizabeth Street, Clinton, NC 28328, phone 910-592-8146. NC property assessed at 100% of market value. Appeal to Board of Equalization and Review.
Courts & Legal
Sampson County Clerk of Superior Court at 126 W. Elizabeth Street, Clinton, NC 28328, phone 910-592-5141, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF SUPERIOR COURT
435 County Complex Rd, Clinton, NC 28328
(910) 592-1932
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Sampson County Clerk of Superior Court, Clinton (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
The Clinton Commercial Historic District, NRHP-listed, is a significant local landmark.
Local societies
No dedicated Sampson 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
Sampson County Clerk of Superior Court – Estates Division 101 East Main Street, Clinton, NC 28328 (910) 596-6600
Sampson County was founded in April 1784, named for John Sampson, in southeastern North Carolina, seated in Clinton. Downtown Clinton’s Commercial Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
North Carolina has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code. Probate is handled by the Clerk of Superior Court – an elected official who serves as the ex officio judge of probate – in the county where the decedent was domiciled, under Chapter 28A of the North Carolina General Statutes. Unlike most states, North Carolina does not have a separate probate court; the Clerk’s Estates Division handles all wills, estates, and guardianship matters.
Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property of Decedent (“collection by affidavit,” N.C. Gen. Stat. § 28A-25-1 and § 28A-25-1.1) – available when the decedent’s personal property, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $20,000, or $30,000 if the surviving spouse is the sole heir and receives all property covered by the statute. Filed at least 30 days after death, using Form AOC-E-203B. Real property CANNOT be transferred through this process. If the decedent left a will, the will must first be admitted to probate and a certified copy attached to the affidavit.
Summary Administration – an abbreviated procedure available only when the surviving spouse is the sole heir.
Full Estate Administration – required for larger or more complex estates; the personal representative (called “executor” if named in a will, “administrator” if intestate) is appointed by the Clerk and receives Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
Step 2: filing for administration
File the will (if any) and a petition with the Clerk of Superior Court, Estates Division, in the county where the decedent was domiciled.
The Clerk appoints the personal representative and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
The personal representative publishes notice to creditors; North Carolina’s creditor claim period is typically at least three months from first publication.
The personal representative inventories the estate’s assets, pays debts and expenses, and distributes the remaining assets according to the will or North Carolina’s intestacy law, reporting back to the Clerk at key stages.
The estate is closed once a final accounting is filed and approved by the Clerk.
What it costs
Filing fees for full estate administration generally follow the statewide statutory schedule, which scales with the estate’s value.
North Carolina repealed its state estate tax in 2013. There is 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
411 County Complex Rd, Clinton, NC 28328
(910) 592-8384
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
435 County Complex Rd, Clinton, NC 28328
(910) 592-4302
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
803 East Elizabeth St, Clinton, NC 28328
(910) 592-1131
Social Services
435 Rowan Rd, Clinton, NC 28328
(910) 592-8146
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Sampson County Health Department – Clinton, NC
Services: Immunizations, WIC, environmental health, vital records
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Clinton
Population: 63,000
Established: 1784
Tier: 3
Public Records
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