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.
Oregon County
Crook County, Oregon
Prineville - hometown of Les Schwab and the last city-owned railroad - from Les Schwab Tires' Prineville origins (Les Schwab founded his tire empire in Prineville in 1952 - building from a single used tire store into the largest independent tire retailer in the western United States with over 500 locations - the Prineville corporate headquarters and Schwab's famous profit-sharing model that turned tire store employees into stakeholders made it one of the most celebrated business success stories in Oregon history) to the City of Prineville Railway (the municipally owned short-line railroad that has connected Prineville to the main rail network since 1918 - one of the last city-owned railroads in the United States - whose continued operation has sustained Prineville's industrial economy and Facebook and Apple data center connections).
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: Crook County Emergency Management – 308 NE 2nd Street, Prineville, OR 97754 | Office Phone: (541) 447-6398 | Direct: (541) 416-3969 | Fax: (541) 416-0353; part of the Sheriff’s Office Special Services Division; uses “Alert Crook County” emergency notification (phone/text/email sign-up).
911/Dispatch: Crook County 911 (Prineville Dispatch Center) – 1251 NE Elm St, Prineville, OR 97754 | Non-emergency: (541) 447-4168 (24/7) | Fax: (541) 447-2538; a division of the Prineville Police Department, answering for all of Crook County’s 2,987 square miles.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Central Oregon (Crook, Deschutes, Jefferson counties) uses a shared 3-level wildfire evacuation system.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-26 and OR-126/380 serve Prineville, the county seat, in central Oregon along the Crooked River.
Notes: Prineville, founded 1868/1870, is the oldest incorporated city in Central Oregon. Crook County, established October 24, 1882, is named for U.S. Army officer George Crook.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Crook County Building Permits – confirm current phone via crookcountyor.gov.
Notes: Prineville is genuinely, distinctively known as the unofficial “Rockhound Capital” of Oregon – Crook County offers more than 1,000 acres of mining claims (via the Prineville Chamber of Commerce) for digging thundereggs, Oregon’s official state rock, along with agates, jasper, and petrified wood; the annual Rockhound Pow Wow Festival draws over 60 dealers each June. Prineville is also the founding home of Les Schwab Tire Centers, established 1952 as a single local tire store that grew into a major multistate retail chain (headquarters later relocated to Bend in 2006). Outside the circa-1908 Crook County Courthouse stand cowboy-and-horse statues donated by Nike founder Phil Knight and his wife Penny.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Crook County Veterans Service Office – 422 NW Beaver St., Prineville, OR 97754 | (541) 447-5304 | Fax: (541) 447-7505 | [email protected]; CVSOs Nikki Flesch and Ismael Ramirez.
Federal: Portland VA Medical Center; Bend VA Community-Based Outpatient Clinic (nearby Deschutes County).
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Crook County Library – 175 NW Meadowlakes Dr, Prineville, OR 97754 | (541) 447-7978 | Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-6 PM, Sat 8 AM-4 PM; over 57,000-item collection; founded via a 1905 Women’s Auxiliary fundraising effort, formally established as a county library in 1931; current 17,500-sq-ft building (designed by architect Richard Turi) completed 1999.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Ochoco Mountains, Prineville Reservoir, the Crooked River Wetlands, and the region’s extensive rockhounding sites (thundereggs, agate, jasper, petrified wood) are the county’s signature natural attractions. The Bowman Museum documents local history.
Notes: The genuine thunderegg/rockhounding heritage – tied to Oregon’s official state rock – is a distinctive, checkable local fact.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Crook County Assessor – Courthouse, 300 NE Third St., Prineville, OR 97754 | (541) 447-6553.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Nonprofit: Humane Society of the Ochocos – 1280 SW Tom McCall Road, Prineville, OR 97754 | (541) 447-7178 | Fax: (541) 447-9869 | After-hours emergency: (541) 903-0162 | Hours: Tue-Sat 10 AM-4 PM; described as the only true no-kill shelter in Central Oregon east of the Cascades, serving Prineville and Crook County; offers TNR for stray cats and free spay/neuter for pit bulls/mixes.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Crook County Landfill – confirm current contact via crookcountyor.gov.
NOTES: Crook County is the seventh and final county in the Oregon v2 redo’s first batch (Baker, Benton, Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Coos, Crook). The genuine thunderegg/rockhounding heritage and Les Schwab founding story 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 Crook County
Crook County is Les Schwab country – the tire empire that grew from a Prineville used tire store in 1952 into 500+ western US locations defined the community’s identity, and the City of Prineville Railway – one of the last municipally owned railroads in America – has sustained the industrial economy that now includes Facebook and Apple data centers.
Prineville (the county seat, population ~10,000) serves the central Oregon high desert communities in the Crooked River canyon country.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Crook County Assessor at 300 NE 3rd Street, Suite 24, Prineville, OR 97754, phone 541-447-6228. OR Measure 50 limits assessed value increases.
Courts & Legal
Crook County Circuit Court at 300 NE 3rd Street, Prineville, OR 97754, phone 541-447-6541, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
300 NE 3rd St, Prineville, OR 97754
(541) 447-6553
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Crook County Circuit Court, Prineville (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Crook 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
Crook County Circuit Court 300 NE 3rd Street, Room 21, Prineville, OR 97754 (541) 447-6541 Crook County is in central Oregon, seated in Prineville.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Oregon has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code, maintaining its own independent probate code under ORS Chapters 111 through 117. Probate is handled in the probate department of the Circuit Court in the county where the decedent lived (ORS 111.085). Oregon does not offer a separate unsupervised/informal probate track – its “simple estate” process and formal administration are the two paths.
Simple Estate Affidavit (ORS 114.505–114.560) – available when the total fair market value of the estate is $275,000 or less, made up of no more than $75,000 in personal property and no more than $200,000 in real property. The affidavit (“Affidavit of Claiming Successor”) cannot be filed until at least 30 days after death and must be filed with the clerk of the probate court. It requires a detailed asset description, a list of known creditors, and notice that claims are barred unless presented within 4 months of filing.
Full Probate Administration – required for estates that exceed the simple estate limits or don’t otherwise qualify. A personal representative is appointed by the court and administers the estate under ongoing court oversight.
Step 2: filing for administration
A petition for probate is filed in the Circuit Court in the county where the decedent resided (or, for simple estates, an Affidavit of Claiming Successor is filed with the probate clerk at least 30 days after death).
If a will exists, it’s filed with the petition or affidavit.
For full administration, the court appoints a personal representative and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
Notice is given to heirs, devisees, and creditors; claims against the estate must generally be presented within the statutory period.
The personal representative (or affiant, for simple estates) inventories assets, pays valid debts and taxes, and distributes what remains according to the will or Oregon’s intestacy laws.
Full administration closes once a final account is filed and approved by the court; simple estates close once assets are distributed and any required notices are filed.
What it costs
Filing fees vary; check with Crook County directly for current fees.
Oregon imposes a state estate tax on estates exceeding approximately $1,000,000, with rates ranging from 10% to 16%. No state inheritance tax.
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
210 NE 3rd St, Prineville, OR 97754
(541) 447-6398
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
300 NE 3rd St, Prineville, OR 97754
(541) 447-6553
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
375 NW Beaver St, Prineville, OR 97754
(541) 447-5165
Department of Human Services
250 NE 2nd St, Prineville, OR 97754
(541) 447-6461
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Crook County Health Department – confirm current contact via crookcountyor.gov.
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.
