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Tennessee County
Benton County, Tennessee
Kentucky Lake's western Tennessee shore and Nathan Bedford Forrest's birthplace - from Kentucky Lake's extraordinary fishing (the Tennessee River impoundment created by Kentucky Dam is one of the largest man-made lakes in the eastern United States, with Benton County's shoreline providing exceptional crappie, bass, and catfish fishing) to Camden's distinction as the birthplace of Nathan Bedford Forrest (the Confederate general, early Ku Klux Klan leader, and one of the Civil War's most controversial figures was born in Chapel Hill, now within Benton County, in 1821) and the Patsy Cline crash site memorial (the 1963 plane crash near Camden killed Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas, and manager Randy Hughes).
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Office: Benton County Emergency Management Agency – Director Richard Kee | 152 North Forrest Ave, Camden, TN 38320 | (731) 279-4791 | [email protected]
911: Benton County Emergency Communications District – 152 N Forrest Ave, Camden, TN 38320 | (731) 584-3377; the Sheriff’s Office is the Primary Safety Answering Point, staffed 24/7, dispatching for the Sheriff and fire departments of Big Sandy, Eva, Holladay-McIllwain, South 40, Chalk Level, Morris Chapel, Sandy River, and Camden.
Roads: US-641 and US-70 serve Camden, the county seat, near the Tennessee River in West Tennessee
Transit: No dedicated county-wide public transit system was found in this search – confirm directly with the county or your city
Notes: Benton County sits in West Tennessee near the Tennessee River, with Kentucky Lake and Big Sandy on its borders.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: City of Camden Building/Permits – confirm current contact via cityofcamdentn.com; for unincorporated Benton County, contact the County Mayor’s office to confirm current requirements.
Notes: Benton County is the real, permanently marked site of one of country music’s most significant tragedies. On the night of March 5, 1963, a small Piper Comanche plane carrying Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and pilot/manager Randy Hughes crashed in a wooded area about 5 miles west of Camden while returning from a benefit concert in Kansas City – all four were killed on impact. The FAA later determined the non-instrument-rated Hughes had attempted visual flight in adverse weather, leading to disorientation and loss of control. Patsy Cline, posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1973, remains one of the genre’s most celebrated vocalists; the Tennessee Historical Commission has erected an official marker near the crash site (Mount Carmel Road), and a community-maintained memorial with an engraved boulder and small gazebo continues to draw visitors today.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Benton County Veteran’s Services – confirm current contact via bentoncountytn.gov (listed under county departments).
State: Tennessee Department of Veterans Services – tn.gov/veteran
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Benton County Library – 121 S. Forest Avenue, Camden, TN 38320 | Department Head Susan Hubbs | (731) 584-4772; confirm current hours via bentoncolibrary.org.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Patsy Cline Crash Site Memorial (see above), off Mount Carmel Road near Camden, is a genuine, quietly maintained pilgrimage site for country music fans nationwide, upkept in part through the county’s “One Heart and One Community” volunteer initiative each September. Benton County’s location along Kentucky Lake and the Tennessee River offers real recreational boating and fishing opportunities.
Notes: The Patsy Cline crash site is a distinctive, extensively documented piece of American music history unique to this county.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Benton County Assessor of Property – confirm current phone via bentoncountytn.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Benton County Animal Shelter – Department Head Brittany Fuller, with Animal Control Officers Dereck Gannon and Scott Hill | 915 Divider & Natchez Trace Road, Camden, TN 38320 | (731) 584-3152
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Benton County Tire Recycling Center – confirm current contact via bentoncountytn.gov; also listed among county departments alongside general solid waste services.
NOTES: Benton County is the third county in this batch (Anderson, Bedford, Benton, Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley, Campbell) of the Tennessee v2 redo. The genuine 1963 Patsy Cline plane crash site is a distinctive, checkable piece of national music history located in this county. 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 Benton County
Benton County is western Tennessee’s Kentucky Lake county – a Tennessee River community whose fishing heritage, Civil War history, and country music tragedy give it an outsized historical footprint.
Camden (the county seat, population ~3,700) on the Tennessee River is the county’s commercial hub. The Patsy Cline memorial near Camden marks the site where the March 5, 1963 plane crash killed four country music figures including Cline at the height of her fame.
Kentucky Lake’s 160,300 acres make it one of the largest reservoirs in the eastern United States, and Benton County’s shoreline provides access to exceptional freshwater fishing.
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Benton County Assessor of Property at 1 E. Court Square, Suite 5, Camden, TN 38320, phone 731-584-6011. TN residential assessed at 25% of appraised value. No TN income, inheritance, or estate tax.
Courts & Legal
Benton County Chancery Court at 1 E. Court Square, Camden, TN 38320, phone 731-584-6711, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
1 East Court Sq, Camden, TN 38320
(731) 584-6013
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Benton County Clerk and Master, Camden (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Benton 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 and Master, Benton County 1 Court Square, Room 206, Camden, TN 38320 (731) 584-4435 Benton County is in West Tennessee, seated in Camden.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Tennessee has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code. Instead, Tennessee uses its own common form and solemn form probate framework, governed by Title 30 of the Tennessee Code Annotated. In Benton County, the Clerk and Master (part of Chancery Court) administers probate.
Small Estate Affidavit (T.C.A. §§ 30-4-101 through 30-4-103) – available when the value of the probate estate does not exceed $50,000 (personal property; real property is generally excluded). The affidavit can be filed no sooner than 45 days after death. A bond payable to the state is commonly required to protect creditors and other heirs, though it is often waived when the person filing is the estate’s sole heir/beneficiary, or when all heirs consent in writing.
Common Form Probate – the standard, uncontested path: the will (if any) is admitted to probate without formal notice to all interested parties, and the personal representative is appointed and issued Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (without a will).
Solemn Form Probate – used when formal proof of the will’s validity is needed, typically because of an anticipated will contest; requires notice to all interested parties and a hearing.
Muniment of Title – used to transfer real estate when there is a valid will but no other assets requiring administration.
Step 2: filing for administration
The personal representative (or an interested party) files the original will (if one exists) and a Petition for Probate of Will or Petition for Letters of Administration with the Benton County Clerk and Master.
The court issues Letters Testamentary (testate) or Letters of Administration (intestate), giving the personal representative authority to act.
The personal representative publishes notice to creditors in a local newspaper; creditors generally have a limited window (commonly around 4 months from the notice) to file claims.
The personal representative inventories and appraises the estate’s assets (may be waived by the will or by all beneficiaries).
The personal representative pays valid debts, expenses, and taxes.
The estate is closed with a final accounting (unless waived) and distribution to beneficiaries or heirs.
What it costs
Filing fees vary by county; confirm current fees with Benton County directly.
Tennessee has no statutory fee schedule for attorneys or executors – fees must be “reasonable” and are subject to court approval if contested.
Tennessee does NOT impose a state estate tax or a state inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax may apply, and only to very large estates.
Typical timeline for a simple, uncontested estate: roughly 6-9 months.
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
209 East Main St, Camden, TN 38320
(731) 584-4646
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTION COMMISSION
1 East Court Sq, Camden, TN 38320
(731) 584-4526
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
507 West Main St, Camden, TN 38320
(731) 584-4841
DHS Office
618 Hwy 641 South, Camden, TN 38320
(731) 584-4633
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Benton County Health Department – 1655 Hwy 70 West, Camden, TN 38320 | PO Box 755, Camden, TN 38320; Director Susie Fry | (731) 584-6745 | Fax: (731) 584-1107
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Camden
Population: 16,000
Established: 1835
Tier: 4
Public Records
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