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Ohio · Columbus Metro East · #816
Licking County, Ohio
East of Columbus where the Licking River flows through a landscape shaped by ancient Hopewell earthwork builders, Licking County has become ground zero for American semiconductor manufacturing - Intel's New Albany chip plant, one of the largest foreign direct investment projects in American history, is being built in the county's western townships in a bet-the-farm commitment to domestic chip production.
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Office: Licking County Emergency Management Agency – 285 Wilson St, Newark, OH 43055; Director Sean Grady, MS, MSEM, OCEM, (740) 670-5431; Deputy Director John Wieber, (740) 404-5034; maintains a tornado siren network of 50+ sirens countywide.
911: Licking County Regional Communications Center (LCRCC) – the sole Public Safety Answering Point for the entire county; uses Tyler Technologies CAD, Motorola Vesta next-gen 911 call handling, and the statewide Ohio MARCS radio system; can surge to 20+ staffed positions during large-scale emergencies. Licking County spans 682.4 square miles, the third-largest county in Ohio by land area.
Roads: SR-16, SR-79, and I-70 serve Newark, the county seat, at the forks of the Licking River in central Ohio, just east of Columbus
Transit: No dedicated county-wide public transit system was found in this search – confirm directly with the county or your city
Notes: Licking County recently won a major economic development project with Intel Corporation’s planned facility.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Licking County Building/Permits – confirm current contact via lickingcounty.gov.
Notes: Licking County is genuinely, remarkably home to Ohio’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site. In September 2023, the Newark Earthworks – including the Great Circle Earthworks (a 30-acre circular enclosure with an interior ditch) and the Octagon Earthworks – were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List alongside six other Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks sites in Ross and Warren counties, joining company with the Pyramids of Giza, the Great Wall of China, and Stonehenge. Built by the Hopewell culture roughly 2,000 years ago (between AD 1 and 400), the earthworks display sophisticated understanding of geometry and astronomy and once spanned 4 square miles. The Octagon Earthworks site, long leased to Moundbuilders Country Club, was fully reacquired by the Ohio History Connection via eminent domain starting in 2025 following a Ohio Supreme Court ruling. This is Ohio’s first UNESCO site and the 25th in the United States.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Licking County Veterans Service Commission – 935 Buckeye Avenue, Newark, OH 43055 | (740) 670-5430 | Fax: (740) 670-5434 | Transportation: (740) 345-0353; closed for lunch 12-1 PM; the Commission meets the 4th Wednesday of each month (3rd Wednesday in December) at 4:30 PM.
State: Ohio Department of Veterans Services – dvs.ohio.gov
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Licking County Library System – main location in downtown Newark; offers free lunches for kids 18 and under, live daily tutoring, home delivery of library materials, and lifelong-learning classes for retirement-age community members; confirm current branch address/phone via lickingcountylibrary.org.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Newark Earthworks (Great Circle, Octagon Earthworks, and Wright Earthworks) – Ohio’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site – is the county’s premier, world-class attraction.
Notes: The genuine UNESCO World Heritage designation of the Newark Earthworks is one of the most significant facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Licking County Auditor – confirm current phone via lickingcounty.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Licking County Dog Shelter and Adoption Center – 544 Dog Leg Road, Heath, OH 43056 | (740) 349-6563 | Fax: (740) 323-0126 | [email protected]; Chief Dog Warden Larry Williams; Saturday hours 12-4 PM by appointment; walk-in lost-pet identification service available 7 days/week (except holidays); adoption fee typically $130, sometimes reduced (e.g., to $50) during overcrowding periods. City of Newark also runs its own Animal Control Division, (740) 670-7277, for domestic/wild animal issues and abuse reports within city limits.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Licking County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via lickingcounty.gov.
NOTES: Licking County is the third county in this batch (Lake, Lawrence, Licking, Logan, Lorain, Lucas, Madison) of the Ohio v2 redo. The genuine UNESCO World Heritage designation of the Newark Earthworks – Ohio’s only such site – is one of the most significant 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 Licking County
Licking County’s Intel investment – announced in 2022 as a $20 billion initial commitment for two chip fabrication facilities in New Albany, with potential expansion to $100 billion over a decade – is the largest economic development project in Ohio history and one of the largest in the United States. The CHIPS and Science Act’s incentives combined with Ohio’s central location, water resources, and workforce programs drove the selection. Construction has reshaped the county’s northwestern townships and is drawing semiconductor supply chain employers to the region.
The Hopewell Culture’s Newark Earthworks – geometric earthen enclosures built roughly 2,000 years ago that once covered four square miles – are among the most remarkable surviving examples of ancient American earthwork construction. The Great Circle, Octagon Earthworks (partially occupied by a golf course, generating ongoing preservation controversy), and Wright Earthworks are managed as a World Heritage Site. Denison University in Granville, a selective liberal arts institution, anchors the county’s educational economy.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Ohio assesses property at 35% of true market value, reappraised every six years with triennial updates. Property owners may appeal to the County Board of Revision. Ohio offers a homestead exemption for qualifying homeowners 65 or older. Ohio has no state estate or inheritance tax.
Courts & Legal
Courts & Legal
SENIOR SERVICES
Licking County Aging Program
676 East Main Street, Newark, OH 43055
Phone: (740) 670-5460
Senior Services
Licking County Aging Program
676 East Main Street, Newark, OH 43055
Phone: (740) 670-5460
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
PROBATE COURT
20 South 2nd St, Newark, OH 43055
(740) 670-5230
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Licking County Probate Court, Newark (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Licking 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
Licking County Probate Court 1 North Park Place, Newark, OH 43055 (740) 670-5624 Licking County is in central Ohio, seated in Newark.
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 Licking 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
20 South 2nd St, Newark, OH 43055
(740) 670-5230
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
155 East Main St, Newark, OH 43055
(740) 670-5555
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
BOARD OF ELECTIONS
20 South 2nd St, Newark, OH 43055
(740) 670-5111
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
675 Price Rd, Newark, OH 43055
(740) 349-6535
Job and Family Services
933 East Main St, Newark, OH 43055
(740) 670-8010
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Licking County Health Department – confirm current contact via lickingcounty.gov.
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Editorial Trust
5 official sources cited
Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Newark
Population: 190,000
Tier: 2
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Licking County facilities via Amazon.
