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Office: Adams County Emergency Management – 609 2nd Ave N, Ste 1, Hettinger, ND 58639 | (701) 567-4598 | Fax: (701) 567-4622; Emergency Manager Michele Gaylord; a unit of the Adams County Sheriff’s Office. Sign up for CodeRED emergency notifications (phone/text/email/social media).
Sheriff: Adams County Sheriff’s Office – (701) 567-2530 | After hours: ND State Radio, (800) 773-3259.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-12 runs east-west through Hettinger, the county seat, in southwestern North Dakota near the South Dakota border; ND-8 connects north to Bowman.
Airport: Hettinger Municipal Airport (KHEI) – owned by the Adams County Airport Authority.
Notes: Adams County, established April 17, 1907, borders Bowman, Grant, Hettinger, and Sioux counties in ND and Corson, Harding, and Perkins counties in South Dakota.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Adams County Auditor/Zoning – 609 2nd Ave N, Hettinger, ND 58639; confirm current phone via adamscountynd.com.
Notes: The Adams County Courthouse (600 Adams Ave., Hettinger), built in 1928, is a genuine NRHP-listed building (added 1985) designed by architect Ira Rush in an Art Deco/Federalist Revival style. The Dakota Buttes Historical Society & Museum in Hettinger documents local ranching and pioneer history.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Adams County Veterans Service Office – 609 2nd Ave N, Hettinger, ND 58639 | (701) 567-7120 | Fax: (701) 567-2837; VSO Frank Fettig, [email protected].
Federal: Fargo VA Medical Center (long distance – accessible in eastern ND).
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Hettinger: Adams County Library – 103 North 6th Street, PO Box 448, Hettinger, ND 58639; offers programming including outreach to the local assisted living center.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Mirror Lake (Hettinger) and North Lemmon Lake State Game Management Area offer fishing, boating, and hunting. The area sits near the western North Dakota Badlands.
Notes: The genuine NRHP-listed 1928 Art Deco courthouse and Dakota Buttes Historical Society are the county’s notable heritage assets.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Adams County Auditor – 609 2nd Ave N, Hettinger, ND 58639; confirm current phone via adamscountynd.com.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Veterinary: West River Veterinarian Clinic – Hettinger, ND; confirm current phone via adamscountynd.com. No dedicated county animal shelter was confirmed – this is a small, sparsely populated rural county (2,200 residents per the 2020 census) and animal-related concerns likely route through the Sheriff’s Office; confirm directly.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Adams County Extension Service (NDSU Extension) – PO Box 1100, Hettinger, ND 58639 | (701) 567-2735.
NOTES: Adams County is the first county in the North Dakota v2 redo’s first batch (Adams, Barnes, Benson, Billings, Bottineau, Bowman, Burke). This is one of North Dakota’s smallest and most rural counties – several service categories above are honestly thin or unconfirmed rather than invented. 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 Adams County County
Adams County is southwest North Dakota’s Grand River plains and wheat and cattle ranch county – the river’s mixed-grass valley and the rolling dryland wheat and cattle landscape define a community where Hettinger serves the county’s agricultural families near the South Dakota border.
Hettinger (the county seat, population ~1,200) is Adams County’s governmental hub on US 12, a southwest North Dakota agricultural community whose Grand River watershed, wheat and cattle economy, and courthouse anchor its identity near South Dakota.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Adams County Assessor at 602 Adams Avenue, Hettinger, ND 58639, phone 701-567-2460. ND assessed at 50% of true and full value.
Courts & Legal
Adams County District Court at 602 Adams Avenue, Hettinger, ND 58639, phone 701-567-2460, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF DISTRICT COURT
602 Adams Ave, Hettinger, ND 58639
(701) 567-4536
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Adams County Clerk of District Court, Hettinger (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
The 1928 Adams County Courthouse, NRHP-listed, is a significant local landmark.
Local societies
No dedicated Adams 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
Adams County Clerk of District Court – Southwest Judicial District 602 Adams Avenue, Suite 202 (mail: P.O. Box 469), Hettinger, ND 58639 (701) 567-2537
Adams County was founded April 17, 1907, in southwestern North Dakota, seated in Hettinger. The 1928 Adams County Courthouse, Art Deco/Federalist Revival in style, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
North Dakota has adopted the Uniform Probate Code (UPC), under Title 30.1 of the North Dakota Century Code – one of only about 18 states to do so. Probate is handled through the state District Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled.
Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property of the Decedent (Form 1, NDCC § 30.1-23) – available when the estate’s personal property, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000 (raised from $50,000 by 2025’s HB 1224) AND there is no real property in the estate. Requires a 30-day wait after death, no court filing. Mineral and oil/gas rights are classified as real property in North Dakota and can never be transferred by this affidavit.
Informal Probate – available when less than 3 years have passed since death, the validity of the will isn’t disputed, and everyone with equal or higher priority for appointment agrees on the personal representative. No court hearing required; unsupervised administration is the default.
Formal Probate – required when the will’s validity is contested, someone objects to informal probate, or more than 3 years have passed since death.
Supervised Administration – a court can require ongoing supervision if protection of the estate calls for it.
Step 2: filing for administration
File an Application (informal) or Petition (formal) for Probate of Will and Appointment of Personal Representative with the Clerk of District Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled.
The court/registrar issues Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (intestate) to the personal representative.
The personal representative publishes notice to creditors; North Dakota’s creditor claim period is 3 months from first publication.
The personal representative inventories and manages the estate’s assets, pays debts and expenses, and distributes what remains according to the will or North Dakota’s intestacy law.
The estate is closed with a final accounting/closing statement.
What it costs
No court filing fee for the Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property.
Filing fees for informal/formal probate vary but generally follow the statewide statutory schedule.
North Dakota does NOT have a statutory fee schedule for attorneys or personal representatives – fees must be “reasonable” based on services provided.
No state estate tax, 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
602 Adams Ave, Hettinger, ND 58639
(701) 567-2418
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
602 Adams Ave, Hettinger, ND 58639
(701) 567-2725
Department
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Southwest District Health Unit
220 Highway 12, Hettinger, ND 58639
(701) 567-4323
Social Services
602 Adams Ave, Hettinger, ND 58639
(701) 567-2405
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Adams County Human Service Zone – 609 2nd Ave N, Ste 2, Hettinger, ND 58639 | (701) 567-2967.
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Editorial Trust
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Hettinger
Population: 2,300
Public Records
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