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Ohio County
Belmont County, Ohio
Appalachian Ohio's coal and Marcellus shale energy county - from Bellaire's Ohio River crossing to the Appalachian Ohio energy economy (Belmont County sits atop the Utica and Marcellus shale formations, making it the most productive natural gas county in Ohio during the fracking boom of the 2010s) and Barnesville's Pumpkin Festival (one of Ohio's largest fall festivals, drawing 200,000+ visitors annually to a small southeastern Ohio town for a week-long celebration of Belmont County's agricultural heritage).
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Office: Belmont County Emergency Management Agency – 68329 Bannock Rd, St. Clairsville, OH 43950 | (740) 695-5984 | After-hours emergency: (740) 699-0425 | Fax: (740) 695-6154 | [email protected]; Director Dave Ivan; residents can sign up for CodeRED emergency alerts (note: anyone enrolled before March 31, 2025 must re-enroll following a 2025 security-related system reset).
Sheriff: Belmont County Sheriff’s Department – (740) 695-5124 | Jail: (740) 695-7933 / (740) 695-7934.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-70 and US-40 (the historic National Road) serve St. Clairsville, the county seat, in eastern Ohio’s Ohio Valley across the river from Wheeling, WV
Transit: No dedicated county-wide public transit system was found in this search – confirm directly with the county or your city
Notes: Belmont County was created in 1801 and organized in 1815; the original county seat was Pultney, now called Shadyside, before the seat moved to the more centrally located St. Clairsville, a developing community along the National Road.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Belmont County Building Inspector – (800) 523-3581
Notes: The Belmont County Courthouse, 101 West Main Street, St. Clairsville, was built in 1885 (architect Joseph Warren Yost, Second Empire style) and sits on the highest point in the St. Clairsville area, making it visible from I-70 and many points across the Ohio Valley; it’s a contributing property in the St. Clairsville Historic District (NRHP-listed 1969). Belmont County is also home to the Belmont County Historical Society Museum in Barnesville, a restored 26-room Victorian “Century Home” mansion (furnishings dating 1888-1893) on the National Register of Historic Places. IMPORTANT for InmateAid readers: Belmont County is home to the Belmont Correctional Institution (BeCI), 68518 Bannock Uniontown Road, St. Clairsville, OH | (740) 695-5169 – a state prison for men operated by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, opened 1995, with a capacity of 2,713 inmates at minimum and medium security levels.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Belmont County Veterans Service Office – Main office: 400 Imperial Plaza, Bellaire, OH 43906 (behind Kroger) | (740) 325-1042 | Fax: (740) 325-1246 | Hours: Mon-Fri 8:30 AM-4:30 PM (closed noon-1 PM), appointments requested; Satellite office inside the VA Primary Care Clinic, Ohio Valley Mall, St. Clairsville – open Thursdays 8:30 AM-4:30 PM (same phone number; NOT affiliated with the VA Clinic itself). Provides VA claims assistance, financial assistance for eligible veterans/dependents (90-day county residency required), and daily van transportation to the Pittsburgh VAMC. IMPORTANT: the St. Clairsville VA Clinic’s own direct number is (740) 695-9321 – a different, separate line from the county veterans office.
State: Ohio Department of Veterans Services – dvs.ohio.gov
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Belmont County has multiple library systems: St. Clairsville Public Library, 108 W Main Street, St. Clairsville, OH 43950 | (740) 695-2062; a Neo-Classical Revival building completed 1930, organized 1938 through St. Clairsville Rotary Club efforts, later expanded via the Hunt Memorial Library bequest; serves roughly 25% of the county’s population. Barnesville-Hutton Memorial Library, 308 E. Main St., Barnesville, OH | (740) 425-1651 – also home to the Glenn Rockwell Genealogy Room. Bellaire Public Library, 330 32nd Street, Bellaire, OH 43906 | (740) 676-9421 | Fax: (740) 676-7940 | Hours: Mon-Wed 9 AM-7 PM, Thu varies.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Belmont County Historical Society’s Century Home Museum in Barnesville and the historic St. Clairsville Historic District are the county’s signature heritage attractions.
Notes: The genuine, historically significant Belmont County Courthouse and its commanding hilltop position are distinctive, checkable local facts.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Belmont County Auditor – confirm current phone via co.belmont.oh.us.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Belmont County Animal Shelter – 45244 National Rd W, St. Clairsville, OH 43950 | (740) 695-4708; a nearly 25,000-square-foot facility featuring adoption counseling rooms, dog bonding cubicles, indoor exercise yards, a communal cat playroom, self-serve bathing, a veterinary/spay-neuter clinic, and an equine barn with 10 interior stalls and 10 exterior paddocks.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Belmont County Soil and Water Conservation – (740) 526-0027
NOTES: Belmont County is the seventh and final county in this batch (Adams, Allen, Ashland, Ashtabula, Athens, Auglaize, Belmont) of the Ohio v2 redo. The Belmont Correctional Institution (2,713-inmate state prison) is directly relevant for InmateAid readers; the Belmont County Courthouse’s genuine hilltop prominence is a distinctive local fact. 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 Belmont County
Belmont County is eastern Ohio’s energy county – a coal and natural gas producing community on the West Virginia border whose fortunes have tracked the boom-and-bust cycles of Appalachian energy extraction for two centuries.
St. Clairsville (the county seat, population ~5,000) is a modest I-70 corridor community serving as the county’s governmental and commercial hub. The county’s position directly on the Pennsylvania and West Virginia borders makes it part of the tri-state Wheeling, WV-OH-PA metro area.
The Utica and Marcellus shale formations underlying Belmont County have made it one of the most productive natural gas counties in the United States during the Appalachian shale boom. The gas production has brought significant royalty income and industrial activity to a county that previously depended on declining coal mining.
Barnesville (population ~4,000) hosts the annual Barnesville Pumpkin Festival – one of Ohio’s largest agricultural festivals, drawing an estimated 200,000 visitors over four days each October.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Belmont County Auditor at 101 W. Main Street, St. Clairsville, OH 43950, phone 740-699-2145. Appeal to County Board of Revision by April 1.
Courts & Legal
Belmont County Probate Court at 101 W. Main Street, St. Clairsville, OH 43950, phone 740-699-2169, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
PROBATE COURT
101 West Main St, St. Clairsville, OH 43950
(740) 699-2145
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Belmont County Probate Court, St. Clairsville (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Belmont 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
Belmont County Probate Court 101 West Main Street, St. Clairsville, OH 43950 (740) 699-2144 Belmont County is in eastern Ohio along the West Virginia border, seated in St. Clairsville.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Ohio has not adopted the Uniform Probate Code, but has incorporated some streamlined concepts into its own system under Title 21 of the Ohio Revised Code (ORC Chapters 2101-2131).
Summary Release from Administration (ORC § 2113.03) – available for very small estates valued at $5,000 or less. Lets the court release assets quickly, often to cover funeral expenses and support the surviving family, without a fiduciary being appointed.
Release from Administration (ORC § 2113.03) – Ohio’s broader small-estate shortcut. Available when the gross probate estate is $35,000 or less, OR up to $100,000 if the entire estate passes to a surviving spouse (by will or by Ohio’s intestacy law). No executor/administrator is appointed; the court releases the estate directly to the person(s) entitled to it.
Full Estate Administration – required when the estate exceeds these thresholds or the situation is otherwise contested or complex. The court appoints a fiduciary (Ohio’s term for executor/administrator), issues a Certificate of Appointment once any will is admitted, and the fiduciary inventories assets, publishes notice to creditors, pays debts, and distributes what remains under ongoing court supervision.
Step 2: filing for administration
File the will (if any) and an application with the Probate Court in the county where the decedent resided.
If pursuing Release from Administration or Summary Release, complete the applicable court forms (Form 5.0 for standard Release, Form 5.10 for Summary Release) along with a complete asset inventory and supporting documents.
For full administration, the court issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration to the appointed fiduciary.
The fiduciary publishes notice to creditors; claims generally must be presented within 6 months of the date of death.
The fiduciary inventories and manages estate assets, pays valid debts and expenses, and distributes what remains according to the will or Ohio’s intestacy law, reporting to the court along the way.
The estate is closed once a final account is filed and approved by the court.
What it costs
Filing fees vary by county – check with Belmont County directly for current fees.
No state estate tax, no state inheritance tax (repealed effective January 1, 2013). Only the federal estate tax could apply, and only to very large estates ($15,000,000 per individual as of 2026).
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
PROBATE COURT
101 West Main St, St. Clairsville, OH 43950
(740) 699-2145
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
149 West Main St, St. Clairsville, OH 43950
(740) 695-1444
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
BOARD OF ELECTIONS
101 West Main St, St. Clairsville, OH 43950
(740) 695-1749
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
68501 Bannock Rd, St. Clairsville, OH 43950
(740) 695-1202
Job and Family Services
68347 Hammond Ave, St. Clairsville, OH 43950
(740) 695-1418
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Belmont County Health Department – (740) 695-1202
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: St. Clairsville
Population: 66,000
Established: 1801
Tier: 3
Public Records
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Search public records for Belmont County residents.
