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South Dakota County
Grant County, South Dakota
Milbank's granite quarries and Big Stone Lake - from Milbank's Cold Spring Granite quarries (the granite quarried from the Milbank area - a distinctive pink and gray stone known as Cold Spring granite - has been used in monuments, buildings, and memorials across the United States, including significant Washington DC installations - the quarries around Milbank represent one of the most productive dimensional granite operations in the upper Midwest) to Big Stone Lake (the long, narrow glacial lake on the South Dakota-Minnesota border that gives Big Stone City its name and provides fishing, boating, and wildlife habitat on the northeast South Dakota edge).
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Office: Grant County Emergency Management – 210 E 5th Ave, Milbank, SD 57252 | (605) 432-4637 | Email: [email protected]
Related: Grant County Sheriff – 222 E 5th Ave, Milbank, SD 57252; Emergency Communication (non-local) – (866) 419-5000; Grant County Courthouse – (605) 432-4752.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-12 serves Milbank, the county seat, in the Whetstone Valley of northeastern South Dakota, about 9 miles from the Minnesota border
Transit: Milbank Community Transit provides local transportation services.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Grant County Planning and Zoning – Grant County Courthouse, 210 E 5th Ave, Milbank, SD 57252
Services: Building permits, ordinances, and zoning administration for unincorporated Grant County
Notes: Cities of Milbank, Big Stone City, and Labolt each handle their own separate in-town building permits.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Grant County Veterans Service Officer – Grant County Courthouse, Milbank, SD
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Grant County Public Library – 207 E Park Avenue, Milbank, SD 57252 | (605) 432-6543 | Hours: Mon/Wed/Fri 9 AM–5 PM, Tue/Thu 10 AM–7 PM, Sat 10 AM–1 PM
Services: Books, ebooks/audiobooks via Libby, extensive adult and children’s programming; consistently ranks among South Dakota’s higher-traffic library systems by annual visits.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Grant County’s seat, Milbank, is genuinely and proudly the birthplace of AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL, one of the largest amateur youth sports organizations in the entire country; the idea was first proposed and adopted at a South Dakota American Legion state convention held in Milbank in 1925, when members voted to sponsor what would become a national amateur baseball tournament for young players; from that single vote in a small northeastern South Dakota town, the program has grown into a genuinely massive national institution – American Legion Baseball today includes more than 5,000 teams and upward of 80,000 youth players across all fifty states each year, and remarkably, roughly half of all Major League Baseball players have come up through the Legion ball system at some point in their development; Milbank’s own Legion Baseball Field still sits today next to scenic Lake Farley, a living connection to the program’s roots; the town’s other genuinely beloved landmark is Holland’s Grist Windmill, originally built in 1884 by an English immigrant named Henry Holland and fully reconstructed in 2009 – standing 44 feet tall with 30-foot blades, the windmill has become Milbank’s defining visual symbol, situated within Grist Mill Park alongside a veterans’ memorial, walking paths, and green space; the town’s history also includes a genuinely contentious 19th-century rivalry with neighboring Big Stone City over the coveted title of county seat, a dispute local histories describe as having involved everything “from shotguns, pitchforks and lawyers” before Milbank ultimately prevailed and built its still-standing 1915 Grant County Courthouse, designed by the same Minneapolis architectural firm, Bell & Bentley, responsible for the South Dakota State Capitol building in Pierre
Notes: Milbank’s genuine, extensively documented status as the birthplace of American Legion Baseball – a program that has since touched roughly half of all MLB players – is one of the most far-reaching local legacies found anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Grant County GIS – accessible via grantcounty.sd.gov
Parcel Search: Grant County Director of Equalization
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Grant County Emergency Management
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Grant County Humane Society – Milbank, SD | gchumsoc.org | Hours: Mon–Wed 1–5 PM, Fri 1–5 PM, Sat 10 AM–3 PM (closed Sun and holidays; appointments possible outside normal hours)
Services: Provides a safe environment for domestic dogs and cats until forever homes are found; a tax-deductible 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded entirely by memberships, donations, grants, fundraisers, and adoption fees
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Complaints: South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) – danr.sd.gov
Notes: Contact your specific municipality directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Grant County’s seat, Milbank, is genuinely the birthplace of American Legion Baseball, founded there in 1925 and now touching roughly half of all MLB players’ developmental years. 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 Grant County
Grant County is northeast South Dakota’s granite quarry and glacial lake county – the Cold Spring granite from Milbank’s quarries has built monuments across America, and Big Stone Lake’s narrow glacial expanse marks the South Dakota-Minnesota border.
Milbank (the county seat, population ~3,300) is the hub for northeast South Dakota’s granite industry and the surrounding agricultural communities.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Grant County Director of Equalization at 210 E. 5th Avenue, Milbank, SD 57252, phone 605-432-6532. SD residential owner-occupied exemptions apply.
Courts & Legal
Grant County Circuit Court at 210 E. 5th Avenue, Milbank, SD 57252, phone 605-432-6500, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF COURTS
210 East 5th Ave, Milbank, SD 57252
(605) 432-5911
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Grant County Clerk of Courts, Milbank (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
The 1915 Grant County Courthouse, NRHP-listed, is a significant local landmark.
Local societies
No dedicated Grant 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
Clerk of Courts, Grant County 210 East 5th Avenue, Milbank, SD 57252 (605) 432-5482
Grant County was created in 1873 and organized January 8, 1878, named for Ulysses S. Grant, in northeastern South Dakota, seated in Milbank. The 1915 Grant County Courthouse, Classical Revival in style, designed by architects Bell & Bentley (who also designed the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre), is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
South Dakota HAS adopted the Uniform Probate Code (Articles I, II, III, IV, and VIII, effective July 1, 1995). Probate proceedings are handled by the Circuit Court in the county where the decedent lived, generally administered under the supervision of the Clerk of Courts.
Small Estate Affidavit – Collection of Personal Property (SDCL § 29A-3-1201) – available when the total gross value of the entire estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $50,000. At least 30 days must have passed since death, no petition for appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted anywhere, and the decedent had no outstanding debts to the Department of Social Services for medical assistance or institutional/nursing home care. A separate affidavit exists for South Dakota real estate under $50,000, which must also be filed with the Register of Deeds where the property sits.
Informal Probate – the most common track in South Dakota, used when heirs and beneficiaries are getting along and no disputes are expected.
Unsupervised Formal Probate and Supervised Formal Probate – for more complex or contested situations.
Step 2: filing for administration
The personal representative (or an interested party) files an application or petition with the Clerk of Courts in Grant County, along with the original will if one exists.
For informal probate, the clerk reviews the application administratively and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration without a hearing in most cases.
Formal proceedings require notice to interested parties and, if contested, a hearing before the circuit judge.
The personal representative gathers and inventories assets, notifies creditors, and pays valid debts and expenses.
After debts and taxes are satisfied, remaining assets are distributed according to the will or South Dakota’s intestacy statutes (SDCL Chapter 29A-2).
The estate is formally closed by filing a sworn closing statement or a petition for formal order of discharge (SDCL § 29A-3-1003).
What it costs
Court costs are set by law and paid to the Clerk of Courts; confirm current fees with Grant County directly.
South Dakota has NO state estate tax and NO state inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax may apply, and only to very large estates.
A surviving spouse cannot be disinherited in South Dakota unless the spouse agrees.
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 East 5th Ave, Milbank, SD 57252
(605) 432-4471
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
AUDITOR (ELECTIONS)
210 East 5th Ave, Milbank, SD 57252
(605) 432-5591
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Public Health
210 East 5th Ave, Milbank, SD 57252
(605) 432-5591
Social Services
210 East 5th Ave, Milbank, SD 57252
(605) 432-5591
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Grant County Community Health Nurse – Milbank, SD
Services: Immunizations, WIC, environmental health, vital records
Related: Grant County Food Pantry – (605) 432-6571, please call for an appointment.
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