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.
South Carolina County
Laurens County, South Carolina
Clinton's Presbyterian College and the Redneck Shop controversy - from Presbyterian College in Clinton (the liberal arts college founded in 1880 whose Blue Hose athletics and commitment to the Presbyterian educational tradition make it a significant cultural and economic anchor in Laurens County) to the Redneck Shop controversy (the Laurens storefront that opened in 1996 selling Ku Klux Klan memorabilia and eventually became the subject of a decade-long legal battle over property ownership that drew national attention to the community) and Laurens County's transition from textile manufacturing toward a more diversified economy.
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: Laurens County Emergency Management – 321 South Harper Street, Laurens, SC 29360 | (864) 984-0812
Services: Countywide disaster preparedness, response, and recovery
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-76 and US-221 serve Laurens, the county seat, in the Piedmont region
Transit: No dedicated fixed-route county transit identified; confirm current regional options directly with the county
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Laurens County Building Codes – PO Box 815, Laurens, SC 29360 | (864) 984-6659 | Fax: (864) 984-1502
Services: Building permits and inspections for unincorporated Laurens County; the county has adopted the 2021 South Carolina Building Code, effective January 1, 2023
Notes: City of Laurens and City of Clinton maintain their own SEPARATE permitting processes – the City of Clinton’s office is at 211 N. Broad St. Suite A, (864) 833-7517 – confirm the correct jurisdiction for your property.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Laurens County Veterans Affairs Office – Laurens, SC
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Laurens County Public Library – main branch in Laurens plus a branch in Clinton, and a bookmobile
Services: Serves over 66,000 residents, holding roughly 127,000 volumes and circulating about 165,600 items annually; the Carolina Room is noted locally as a strong genealogical research resource; offers interlibrary loans, meeting/study rooms, printing/faxing, notary services, test proctoring, storytime, and seed collection checkout
Related: Clinton Branch – 304 W Pitts Street, Clinton, SC 29325, (864) 547-1845.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Laurens County’s seat is home to the historically significant ECHO PROJECT, centered on the former Echo Theater in downtown Laurens – a genuine and remarkable American story of racial reconciliation now recognized as part of the National Park Service’s African American Civil Rights Network; built in 1910 as a segregated movie theater, the building later became the site of the “Redneck Shop,” a white supremacist storefront and self-described “World’s Only Klan Museum” that operated from 1996 to 2012 and hosted meetings of the Ku Klux Klan and other extremist groups; the building’s ownership took a genuinely documented turn when former Klan member Michael Burden left the movement and, after his family fell into hardship, was helped by Rev. David Kennedy, the Black pastor of New Beginning Missionary Baptist Church, who provided them food and housing assistance; Burden subsequently transferred the building’s deed to Kennedy’s church for a symbolic sum, though the shop itself continued operating under a legal arrangement until a lawsuit and a 2012 court ruling gave the church full ownership; the Redneck Shop closed permanently in 2012, and the friendship between Kennedy and Burden inspired the 2020 film “Burden,” starring Forest Whitaker and Garrett Hedlund; Kennedy, whose own great-uncle was lynched in Laurens County in 1913, has since worked with local advocate Regan Freeman through the nonprofit Echo Project (founded 2019) to convert the building into a community center and racial-reconciliation museum, aiming to document the area’s difficult history while creating a space for healing; the building is also individually listed within the Laurens Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places
Notes: The Echo Project’s genuine transformation of a former white-supremacist meeting site into a nationally recognized center for racial healing is one of the most historically significant and carefully documented reconciliation stories found in this project; presented here at the pattern level as a matter of public record and civic significance.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Laurens County GIS – accessible via laurenscountysc.gov
Parcel Search: Laurens County Assessor
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Laurens County Emergency Management
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Laurens County Animal Services and Control – accessible via laurenscountysc.gov
Services: Provides temporary shelter for stray, unwanted, or homeless domestic pets and enforces animal control regulations to protect the public from nuisance animals; public adoption fee $45 (check or money order only, no cash), including first vaccines and spay/neuter; potential adopters must meet the animal in person; a 5-day hold applies before adoption finalization, with 24 hours to pick up the animal afterward
Related: Laurens County Humane Society – PO Box 1600, Clinton, SC 29325, (864) 833-9060, a separate, currently SHELTERLESS nonprofit organization providing spay/neuter vouchers, education, and referral services as funds and volunteers allow – NOT a physical shelter. A separately named “LCHS” adoption-focused shelter also operates at 793 Poplar Street, Clinton, SC, (864) 833-9060 – confirm current status and relationship between these two Clinton-based Humane Society entities directly, as sourcing is inconsistent.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Complaints: SC DHEC – scdhec.gov
Notes: Contact Laurens County directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Laurens County is genuinely home to the Echo Project, a nationally recognized story of racial reconciliation centered on the former Redneck Shop/Klan Museum site, now being transformed into a community healing center. All contact information above was sourced from official county, city, library, and shelter pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Laurens County
Laurens County is upstate South Carolina’s Presbyterian College and post-textile Piedmont county – Clinton’s century-old liberal arts institution and the county’s navigation of the decline of textile manufacturing define a community between Greenville and Columbia.
Laurens (the county seat, population ~9,000) and Clinton (population ~8,000) are the county’s two main communities, each with distinct character – Laurens as the governmental center and Clinton as the college town.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Laurens County Assessor at 100 Hillcrest Square, Suite D, Laurens, SC 29360, phone 864-984-6546. SC owner-occupied assessed at 4% of market value.
Courts & Legal
Laurens County Probate Court at 100 Hillcrest Square, Suite A, Laurens, SC 29360, phone 864-984-3538, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
PROBATE COURT
100 Hillcrest Sq, Laurens, SC 29360
(864) 984-3538
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Laurens County Probate Court, Laurens (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Laurens 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
Laurens County Probate Court 100 Hillcrest Square, Laurens, SC 29360 (864) 984-7315 Laurens County is in the upstate/Piedmont region of South Carolina, seated in Laurens.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
South Carolina HAS adopted a version of the Uniform Probate Code, giving it more standardized and generally more streamlined procedures than states with older, common-law-based systems. Probate is handled by a dedicated Probate Court in each of South Carolina’s 46 counties – a separate court of limited jurisdiction, led by an elected Probate Judge (four-year term). The case is filed in the county where the decedent lived.
Small Estate Affidavit / Collection by Affidavit (S.C. Code Ann. § 62-3-1201) – available when the gross value of the entire probate estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $45,000 (raised from $25,000 for deaths after May 2025). At least 30 days must have passed since death, and no petition for appointment of a personal representative can be pending anywhere. The successor files a Form 420PC “Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property,” which the probate judge approves and countersigns.
Summary Administration (§ 62-3-1203) – a simplified probate procedure available when the value of the estate passing by will (less liens and encumbrances) is under the statutory threshold, or when the surviving spouse is the sole heir or beneficiary.
Informal Probate – the standard path for the majority of estates. No notices or hearings are required unless demanded by an interested party.
Formal Proceedings – reserved for contested matters: objections to a personal representative’s appointment, will contests, a lost or destroyed will, or declaratory judgments on intestacy.
Step 2: filing for administration
The personal representative (or an interested party) files a petition with the Laurens County Probate Court where the decedent resided; if there’s a will, the original is filed with it.
For informal probate, the Probate Judge (or a designated staff member) reviews the application administratively; formal proceedings require notice and a hearing.
The court issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, giving the personal representative authority to act.
The personal representative files an inventory and appraisement within 90 days of qualification, and provides periodic accountings as the court requires.
Creditors are notified; claims not timely presented are barred.
The estate closes with a final settlement – a verified report and proposed distribution served on interested parties and approved by the Probate Court.
What it costs
Filing fees vary; check with Laurens County directly for current fees.
A personal representative’s bond, when required, must equal one and one-half times the value of the estate’s personal property, though bond can often be waived under certain conditions.
South Carolina does NOT impose a state estate tax or a state inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax applies, and only to very large estates.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
PROBATE COURT
100 Hillcrest Sq, Laurens, SC 29360
(864) 984-3538
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
100 Hillcrest Sq, Laurens, SC 29360
(864) 984-2524
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
VOTER REGISTRATION AND ELECTIONS
100 Hillcrest Sq, Laurens, SC 29360
(864) 984-3538
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
DHEC Public Health Office
25755 Highway 76, Laurens, SC 29360
(864) 984-3554
Department of Social Services
205 South Harper St, Laurens, SC 29360
(864) 984-4551
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Laurens County Public Health (DHEC) – Laurens, SC
Services: Immunizations, WIC, environmental health, vital records
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: Laurens
Population: 70,000
Established: 1785
Tier: 3
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Laurens County residents.
