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Ohio County
Darke County, Ohio
Annie Oakley's homeland and Ohio's most productive agricultural county - from Greenville's Annie Oakley birthplace (the world-famous sharpshooter and star of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show was born Phoebe Ann Mosey in a log cabin in Darke County in 1860, and Greenville honors her with a statue, museum, and the annual Annie Oakley Days festival) to the Garst Farm Resorts and Darke County's extraordinary agricultural productivity (consistently among Ohio's top counties for corn and soybean production per acre) and the 1794 Treaty of Greenville (signed at Fort Greenville, one of the most significant treaties in early American history, ending the Northwest Indian War and opening Ohio to American settlement).
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Office: Darke County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management – 5183 County Home Road, Greenville, OH 45331 | Office: (937) 548-1444 | 24-Hour Contact: (937) 548-2020 | Fax: (937) 547-4617 | darkecountyema.org; originally organized as Disaster Services (Civil Defense) in February 1978; maintains the county’s Emergency Operations Center at the Sheriff’s Office complex. Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) meets quarterly, third Tuesday of March/June/September/December, open to the public.
Sheriff: Darke County Sheriff’s Office – non-emergency: (937) 548-2020.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-127 and SR-49/121 serve Greenville, the county seat, in western Ohio near the Indiana border
Transit: No dedicated county-wide public transit system was found in this search – confirm directly with the county or your city
Notes: The Darke County Garage, under the County Engineer, maintains 521 miles of roadway and 530 bridges.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Darke County Building/Permits – confirm current contact via mydarkecounty.com.
Notes: Darke County is genuinely the birthplace of Annie Oakley (born Phoebe Ann Mosey, August 13, 1860), the legendary sharpshooter and star of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, famous for feats like shooting a cigar from her husband’s hand and splitting a playing card edge-on at 30 paces. She died in Greenville in 1926 and her ashes are buried at nearby Brock Cemetery. While Darke County was never formally on the Underground Railroad route, local volunteers historically assisted escaped slaves moving toward free states.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Darke County Veterans Services – 611 Wagner Ave, Greenville, OH 45331 | (937) 548-5305 | Fax: (937) 548-0579 | Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-4:30 PM; Director/CVSO Thomas A. Pitman, VSO Var D. Gehron, Financial Assistance Specialist Krisann Franck; provides emergency financial assistance to eligible veterans and family members demonstrating need, plus help filing claims for federal and state veteran benefits.
State: Ohio Department of Veterans Services – dvs.ohio.gov
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Darke County has multiple independent public libraries: Greenville Public Library, 520 Sycamore Street, Greenville, OH 45331 | (937) 548-3915; Arcanum Public Library, 101 North Street, Arcanum, OH 45304 | (937) 692-8484; Bradford Public Library, 138 E. Main Street, Bradford, OH 45308 | (937) 448-2612; New Madison Public Library, 142 S. Main Street, New Madison, OH 45346 | (937) 996-1741.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Garst Museum in Greenville honors Annie Oakley’s legacy alongside broader county history, including ties to the 1795 Treaty of Greenville (which ended the Northwest Indian War).
Notes: The genuine Annie Oakley birthplace heritage is one of the most nationally recognizable facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Darke County Auditor – confirm current phone via mydarkecounty.com.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Darke County Animal Shelter – 5066 County Home Road, Greenville, OH 45331 | (937) 547-1645 | Fax: (937) 548-7946 | [email protected]; Chief Dog Warden Robert Blair.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Darke County Solid Waste District – policy committee includes county commissioner, township, general interest, largest-municipality, health district, public sector, and industrial generator representatives; confirm current contact via mydarkecounty.com.
NOTES: Darke County is the fifth county in this batch (Columbiana, Coshocton, Crawford, Cuyahoga, Darke, Defiance, Delaware) of the Ohio v2 redo. The genuine Annie Oakley birthplace heritage is one of the most nationally recognizable facts covered anywhere in this project. 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 Darke County
Darke County is western Ohio’s most historically significant agricultural county – birthplace of America’s most famous sharpshooter and site of the treaty that opened the Northwest Territory to American settlement.
Greenville (the county seat, population ~13,000) has two distinct historical claims. The Treaty of Greenville (August 3, 1795) – signed at Fort Greenville by General Anthony Wayne and leaders of 12 Native American nations after Wayne’s victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers – ceded most of Ohio to the United States and was the foundational document of American westward expansion in the Northwest Territory. Annie Oakley – born in a log cabin in Darke County in 1860 – became the most famous female performer in American entertainment history, and Greenville’s Garst Museum houses the world’s largest Annie Oakley collection.
Darke County’s flat, glacially deposited soils produce exceptional corn and soybean yields, making it one of Ohio’s most productive farming counties.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Darke County Auditor at 520 S. Broadway, Suite 1000, Greenville, OH 45331, phone 937-547-7318. Appeal to County Board of Revision by April 1.
Courts & Legal
Darke County Probate Court at 504 S. Broadway, Greenville, OH 45331, phone 937-547-7340, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
PROBATE COURT
504 South Broadway St, Greenville, OH 45331
(937) 547-7370
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Darke County Probate Court, Greenville (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Darke 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
Darke County Probate Court 300 Garst Avenue, Suite 2, Greenville, OH 45331 (937) 547-7345 Darke County is in western Ohio along the Indiana border, seated in Greenville.
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 Darke 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
504 South Broadway St, Greenville, OH 45331
(937) 547-7370
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
300 Garst Ave, Greenville, OH 45331
(937) 548-2586
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
BOARD OF ELECTIONS
604 Wagner Ave, Greenville, OH 45331
(937) 548-1653
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
300 Garst Ave, Greenville, OH 45331
(937) 548-4196
Job and Family Services
604 Wagner Ave, Greenville, OH 45331
(937) 548-2154
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Darke County Health Department – confirm current contact via mydarkecounty.com.
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