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Office: Golden Valley County Emergency Management – 150 1st Ave SE, PO Box 67, Beach, ND 58621 | (701) 872-3917 | Fax: (701) 872-4383 | [email protected].
911/Dispatch: 911 Communications Center, Beach, ND – coordinates dispatch for law enforcement, fire, and EMS countywide.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. CodeRED emergency alerts available to residents.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-94 serves Beach, the county seat and largest city, in the far southwestern corner of North Dakota, about 1 mile from the Montana border.
Notes: Golden Valley County, created 1912, was formed when Billings County voters chose in 1910 to separate its western portion into a new county. IMPORTANT NAMING TRAP: don’t confuse Golden Valley County with the separate city of Golden Valley, ND, which is actually in Mercer County. Of 22 towns that once existed in the county’s history, only three remain populated: Beach, Sentinel Butte, and Golva.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Golden Valley County Auditor – 150 1st Ave SE, Beach, ND 58621; confirm current phone via goldenvalleycounty.org.
Notes: Beach is genuinely named for Captain Warren C. Beach of the U.S. Army’s 11th Infantry, who led a railroad survey expedition through the area in 1880. In April 1911, former President Theodore Roosevelt made his last trip to the Badlands region, stopping in Beach – his speech there reportedly received a notably negative reception, with Roosevelt himself expressing surprise the town existed at all given the marginal land. The Golden Valley County Courthouse (built 1923, Federal Revival style) is genuinely NRHP-listed (1985).
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Golden Valley County Veterans Service Office – confirm current contact via goldenvalleycounty.org; a Veterans Memorial wall in downtown Beach honors area veterans.
Federal: Fargo VA Medical Center (long distance, eastern ND).
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Beach: Golden Valley County Library – confirm current address/hours via library.nd.gov’s public library directory or goldenvalleycounty.org.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Golden Valley County Museum (operated by the Golden Valley County Historical Society since 1970, with over 2,000 exhibits across 5 buildings including a restored 1909 schoolhouse) and Prairie Fire Pottery (a distinctive handmade pottery studio) are the county’s notable local attractions. The Golden Valley County Fair is an annual community event.
Notes: The genuine Theodore Roosevelt visit story and long-running county historical museum are distinctive local facts.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Golden Valley County Auditor – 150 1st Ave SE, Beach, ND 58621.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
No dedicated county animal shelter was confirmed in this search – Golden Valley County has a very small population (roughly 1,800 residents); animal-related concerns likely route through the Sheriff’s Office. Confirm directly via goldenvalleycounty.org.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Golden Valley County Auditor’s Office – 150 1st Ave SE, Beach, ND 58621.
NOTES: Golden Valley County is the third county in the North Dakota v2 redo’s third batch (Emmons, Foster, Golden Valley, Grand Forks, Grant, Griggs, Hettinger). The genuine Theodore Roosevelt 1911 visit and long-running county museum 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 Golden Valley County County
Golden Valley County is southwest North Dakota’s badlands gateway and Montana border ranch county – the transition from wheat plains to eroded badlands terrain near the Montana border and Beach’s position as the I-94 western entry to North Dakota define a community where Beach serves the county’s farming and ranching families near Theodore Roosevelt country.
Beach (the county seat, population ~1,000) is Golden Valley County’s governmental hub on I-94, a southwest North Dakota community whose badlands proximity, Montana border position, and wheat and cattle economy anchor its identity as North Dakota’s western gateway.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Golden Valley County Assessor at 150 1st Avenue SE, Beach, ND 58621, phone 701-872-4331. ND assessed at 50% of true and full value.
Courts & Legal
Golden Valley County District Court at 150 1st Avenue SE, Beach, ND 58621, phone 701-872-4331, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF DISTRICT COURT
108 2nd Ave NE, Beach, ND 58621
(701) 872-3771
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Golden Valley County Clerk of District Court, Beach (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Golden Valley 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
Golden Valley County Clerk of District Court – Southwest Judicial District 150 1st Avenue SE (mail: P.O. Box 67), Beach, ND 58621 (701) 872-3713
Golden Valley County is in western North Dakota near the Montana border, seated in Beach. Court is held on the 4th Thursday of each month.
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 and can never be transferred by this affidavit – worth flagging in Golden Valley County, which sits within North Dakota’s western oil-producing region.
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
108 2nd Ave NE, Beach, ND 58621
(701) 872-3325
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
108 2nd Ave NE, Beach, ND 58621
(701) 872-3757
Department
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Southwest District Health Unit
108 2nd Ave NE, Beach, ND 58621
(701) 872-3757
Social Services
108 2nd Ave NE, Beach, ND 58621
(701) 872-3204
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Golden Valley County Public Health – confirm current contact via goldenvalleycounty.org.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Beach
Population: 1,700
Public Records
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