Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
North Dakota County
McHenry County, North Dakota
McHenry County's prairie pothole lakes and Eric Sevareid's Velva birthplace - from Eric Sevareid's Velva (the legendary CBS News correspondent and commentator - one of the most respected journalists of the 20th century - was born and grew up in Velva, McHenry County, and his 1946 memoir Not So Wild a Dream documented his North Dakota upbringing and his journey from the Great Plains to a career as one of Edward R. Murrow's celebrated war correspondents) to McHenry County's prairie pothole landscape (the glacial depressions and shallow lakes of north-central North Dakota support exceptional waterfowl populations and make the county a destination for duck and goose hunters each fall).
Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
What do you need to do?
Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
Office: McHenry County Emergency Management – 407 Main Street S, Room 201, Towner, ND 58788; coordinates a Local Emergency Resource Council, maintains a Hazard Mitigation Plan and Emergency Operations Plan, administers State Homeland Security Program grant funds.
Sheriff: McHenry County Sheriff’s Office – 407 Main St S, Rm 303, Towner, ND 58788 | (701) 537-5633.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. NAMING TRAP: the town of Towner, ND (McHenry County’s seat) is entirely separate from Towner County, ND, which has its own seat, Cando – don’t conflate the two.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-2 and US-52 serve Towner, the county seat, in north-central North Dakota; Velva is the county’s largest city and part of the Minot metropolitan area.
Notes: McHenry County, created 1873 and organized 1884, is named for James McHenry, an early settler of Vermillion, South Dakota.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: McHenry County Auditor – 407 Main St S, Rm 201, Towner, ND 58788 | (701) 537-5724.
Notes: McHenry County is genuinely home to the Denbigh Experimental Forest, a 636-acre arboretum and research site established in 1931 by the U.S. Forest Service during the Dust Bowl to test drought-tolerant tree species for Northern Plains shelterbelts – over 40 species from the U.S., Europe, and Asia were planted, with roughly 30 surviving; it supplied seedlings to the adjacent Towner State Nursery for decades and remains an active USDA Forest Service site 13-15 miles west of Towner. Velva, the county’s largest city, is genuinely the birthplace of Eric Sevareid (1912-1992), the pioneering CBS News correspondent and one of Edward R. Murrow’s original “Murrow Boys” war correspondents.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: McHenry County Veterans Service Office – Courthouse, 407 Main Street South, Room 201, Towner, ND 58788; confirm current phone via veterans.nd.gov.
Federal: Fargo VA Medical Center (long distance, eastern ND).
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Velva: Velva Public & School Library – 101 West 4th Street, Velva, ND 58790; roughly 19,400-volume collection.
Towner: confirm current library address/hours via townernd.com.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Denbigh Experimental Forest and the Towner State Nursery are the county’s premier, historically significant attractions.
Notes: The genuine Dust Bowl-era forestry research heritage and Eric Sevareid’s birthplace are distinctive local facts.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: McHenry County Auditor – 407 Main St S, Rm 201, Towner, ND 58788 | (701) 537-5724.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
No dedicated county animal shelter was confirmed in this search – animal-related concerns likely route through the Sheriff’s Office. Confirm directly via mchenrycountynd.com.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: McHenry County Extension Service (NDSU Extension) – confirm current contact via mchenrycountynd.com.
NOTES: McHenry County is the fourth county in the North Dakota v2 redo’s fourth batch (Kidder, LaMoure, Logan, McHenry, McIntosh, McKenzie, McLean). The genuine Dust Bowl-era Denbigh Experimental Forest and Eric Sevareid’s birthplace in Velva are distinctive local facts. IMPORTANT: don’t confuse the town of Towner (McHenry Co. seat) with Towner County (seat: Cando). 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 McHenry County
McHenry County is north-central North Dakota’s prairie pothole and Eric Sevareid county – the CBS legend who covered World War II for Murrow grew up in Velva, and the glacial lake landscape that shaped his imagination still supports exceptional waterfowl hunting.
Towner (the county seat, population ~450) and Velva (population ~1,000) serve the county’s grain farming and hunting communities in the north-central North Dakota prairie.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
McHenry County Tax Director at 407 Main Street S., Towner, ND 58788, phone 701-537-5724. ND residential assessed at 50% of true value.
Courts & Legal
McHenry County District Court at 407 Main Street S., Towner, ND 58788, phone 701-537-5724, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF DISTRICT COURT
407 Main St, Towner, ND 58788
(701) 537-5731
Genealogy
County-level record sources
McHenry County Clerk of District Court, Towner (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated McHenry 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
McHenry County Clerk of District Court – Northeast Judicial District 407 Main Street South, Room 203 (mail: P.O. Box 117), Towner, ND 58788 (701) 537-5729 McHenry County is in north-central North Dakota, seated in Towner.
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.
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
407 Main St, Towner, ND 58788
(701) 537-5735
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
407 Main St, Towner, ND 58788
(701) 537-5731
Department
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Public Health
407 Main St, Towner, ND 58788
(701) 537-5731
Social Services
407 Main St, Towner, ND 58788
(701) 537-5731
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: McHenry County Public Health – confirm current contact via mchenrycountynd.com.
Editorial independence: CountyOffices maintains strict editorial independence from our affiliate partners. Our content is researched from official government sources. Affiliate relationships do not influence our recommendations or the information we publish.
Editorial Trust
5 official sources cited
Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Towner
Population: 5,400
Established: 1883
Tier: 3
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for McHenry County residents.
