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Office: Bledsoe County Emergency Management Agency – Director Ronny Hudson | 305 Allen P Deakins Rd, Pikeville, TN 37367 | (423) 447-2735 / (423) 447-5555 | [email protected]
EMS: Bledsoe County EMS – 1187 Alvin York Hwy, Pikeville, TN 37367; a Class A ambulance service, in business locally since 2000.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: SH-30 and SH-127 serve Pikeville, the county seat, in the Sequatchie Valley about an hour north of Chattanooga
Transit: No dedicated county-wide public transit system was found in this search – confirm directly with the county or your city
Notes: Bledsoe County, formed in 1807 from land formerly held by the Cherokee Nation and carved from Roane County, is named for Anthony Bledsoe, a Revolutionary War soldier killed in an Indian attack at Bledsoe’s Station in 1788. It is genuinely the oldest and northernmost county in the Sequatchie Valley, first explored in 1795 by John McClellen and Charles McClung. Settlers generally avoided the area until after the Third Tellico Treaty of 1805; several early settlers received Sequatchie land as payment for Revolutionary War service. The real, historic Trail of Tears passed through the county. Pikeville itself was established in 1816 when Charles Love of Virginia sold 30 acres on Sequatchie Creek to county commissioners for $110.25, after the county seat moved from its first location at Madison.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Bledsoe County Building/Permits – confirm current contact via bledsoetn.com; Mayor Gregg Ridley’s office, PO Box 149, 3150 Main Street, Pikeville, TN 37367 | (423) 447-6855.
Notes: Bledsoe County is genuinely directly relevant to InmateAid’s audience: the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex, 1045 Horsehead Road, Pikeville, is an operational Tennessee Department of Corrections facility that opened in 2012 as an intake and diagnostic center. It’s a real, notable $208 million, 23-building complex housing a mix of security levels, with the only site access via a single entry tunnel allowing an uninterrupted perimeter fence – Director Brett Cobble.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Bledsoe County Veterans Service Office – confirm current phone via bledsoetn.com or the Bledsoe County Veterans Service Office Facebook page.
Resource: Bledsoe County Veterans Park, on Main Street in Pikeville, honors local service members who have served since World War I.
State: Tennessee Department of Veterans Services – tn.gov/veteran
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Bledsoe County Public Library – confirm current address/phone; the Bledsoe County Historical and Genealogical Society meets at the library on the second Wednesday of each month.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Bledsoe County is genuinely the gateway to Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee’s largest and most-visited state park (30,638 acres spanning Bledsoe and Van Buren counties, established 1935), centered on the dramatic upper Cane Creek Gorge and featuring one of the highest waterfalls in the Eastern United States. Cumberland Trail State Park, 270 Glyph Parkway, Pikeville, features Devilstop Hollow Cave and the head of the Sequatchie River. The county’s land is naturally divided into three distinct regions: Sequatchie Valley, Cumberland Plateau, and Walden Ridge – offering genuinely varied outdoor recreation across roughly 7,000 miles of forest trails.
Notes: The real Fall Creek Falls heritage and the county’s frontier/Trail of Tears history are distinctive, checkable local facts.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Bledsoe County Assessor of Property – confirm current phone via bledsoetn.com.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
No county-run animal shelter or animal control officer currently exists in Bledsoe County – confirmed directly by a local rescue founder, who noted the county has neither a shelter nor an animal control officer.
Fallback: Bledsoe County Sheriff’s Office – (423) 447-2197; the default point of contact for animal-related complaints and investigations (including suspected cruelty/hoarding cases).
Nonprofit resources: Maringa Animal Sanctuary, founded 2018 by Judy and Glenn LaGrone, focused on unadoptable/special-needs animals; Critterz, a nonprofit formed 2018 dedicated to community cat welfare in the county.
Notes: A genuine, significant service gap – worth flagging clearly for readers with a lost pet or animal welfare concern in this county.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Bledsoe County Highway Department – 602 County Crusher Road, Pikeville, TN 37367 | (423) 447-2939 | [email protected]
NOTES: Bledsoe County is the fourth county in this batch (Anderson, Bedford, Benton, Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley, Campbell) of the Tennessee v2 redo. The confirmed absence of any county animal shelter or animal control officer is an important, honestly-flagged gap; the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex is directly InmateAid-relevant. 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 Bledsoe County County
Bledsoe County is the Cumberland Plateau’s Sequatchie Valley scenic county – the dramatic geological fault valley visible from the plateau rim and the county’s remote forested character define a community where Pikeville provides governmental services to one of Tennessee’s smaller and more isolated plateau communities.
Pikeville (the county seat, population ~1,700) is Bledsoe County’s governmental hub on the Cumberland Plateau, a small Tennessee mountain community serving the county’s rural plateau communities between Chattanooga and Crossville.
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Bledsoe County Assessor of Property at 1 Courthouse Square, Pikeville, TN 37367, phone 423-447-2137. TN assessed at a percentage of appraised value.
Courts & Legal
Bledsoe County Circuit Court at 1 Courthouse Square, Pikeville, TN 37367, phone 423-447-2137, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
3150 Main St, Pikeville, TN 37367
(423) 447-2137
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Bledsoe County Clerk and Master, Pikeville (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
The 1909 Bledsoe County Courthouse, NRHP-listed, is a significant local landmark.
Local societies
No dedicated Bledsoe 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, Bledsoe County PO Box 389, 3150 Main Street, Suite 400, Pikeville, TN 37367 (423) 447-2484
Bledsoe County was formed in 1807, named for Anthony Bledsoe, in southeastern Tennessee, seated in Pikeville. The 1909 Bledsoe County Courthouse, Classical Revival in style, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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 Bledsoe 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 Bledsoe 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 Bledsoe 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
3150 Main St, Pikeville, TN 37367
(423) 447-2137
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTION COMMISSION
3150 Main St, Pikeville, TN 37367
(423) 447-2137
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
116 County Health Loop, Pikeville, TN 37367
(423) 447-2137
DHS Office
3150 Main St, Pikeville, TN 37367
(423) 447-2137
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Bledsoe County Public Health Department – confirm current contact via bledsoetn.com.
Facility: Erlanger Bledsoe Hospital (24-hour Emergency) – 71 Wheelertown Avenue, Pikeville, TN | (423) 447-2112; also Bledsoe County Primary Care Center, 3625 Main Street, (423) 447-6203.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Pikeville
Population: 15,000
Public Records
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