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Office: Haywood County Emergency Management Agency – Director Jeremy Qualls | 1 N. Washington, Brownsville, TN 38012 | (731) 432-3789 | [email protected] | Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-5 PM, Sat 8 AM-12 PM
911: Brownsville-Haywood County Central Dispatch – governed by a 9-member board; confirm current number via brownsvilletn.gov.
EMS: Brownsville-Haywood County Ambulance Authority – 1601 Welch Street, Brownsville, TN 38012 | (731) 772-4979 | Emergency: 911 or (731) 772-4141; a Class A state-certified service with 20 full-time and 12 part-time staff, 4-5 ambulances; call volume exceeds 250/month.
Rescue: Brownsville-Haywood County Rescue Squad – roughly 43 volunteer members, formed 1974, serves as the county’s search-and-rescue team.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-40 serves Brownsville, the county seat, midway between Memphis (55 miles) and Jackson (25 miles)
Transit: No dedicated county-wide public transit system was found in this search – confirm directly with the county or your city
Notes: Haywood County was created from part of Madison County in 1823-24, named for Tennessee judge and historian John Haywood. Brownsville was designated county seat October 16, 1824, incorporated 1826, and named for General Jacob Jennings Brown. Haywood is one of only two Tennessee counties (with Shelby) with a majority African-American population. The county is genuinely home to Ford’s BlueOval City, a massive 4,100-acre electric vehicle assembly complex near Stanton – one of the largest Ford facilities in the world, expected to employ thousands.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Haywood County Code Enforcement & Building Inspector – confirm current contact via haywoodtn.gov.
Notes: Haywood County is genuinely, richly significant musically and historically. Nutbush, an unincorporated community in the county, is the real childhood home of Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock in nearby Brownsville, 1939) – her 1973 song “Nutbush City Limits” put the tiny farming community on the map, and part of State Route 19 was officially renamed “Tina Turner Highway” in 2002. The Tina Turner Museum, housed in the actual one-room Flagg Grove School she attended as a child, is part of the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center in Brownsville. The county is also the real hometown of blues legends “Sleepy” John Estes, Hammie Nixon, and Yank Rachell. Separately, and significantly, Haywood County has a documented, serious civil rights history: Elbert Williams, a local NAACP member, is widely documented as the first known NAACP member murdered for his civil rights activism, killed in 1940 for his voter-registration work – his case remains a recognized landmark in the movement’s history. The historic Temple Adas Israel, roughly 140 years old, is documented as the oldest Jewish synagogue in Tennessee still holding services.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Haywood County Veterans Services – confirm current officer/contact via haywoodtn.gov.
State: Tennessee Department of Veterans Services – tn.gov/veteran
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Elma Ross Public Library – 1011 E. Main St, Brownsville, TN 38012 | (731) 772-9534 | Fax: (731) 772-5416 | [email protected]. NOTE: the earlier Brownsville Carnegie Library (121 W Main St, built 1910-12, NRHP-listed 2018) operated as the town library until 2002 and is now used as a Chamber of Commerce building – do not cite it as the active library.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Tina Turner Museum/West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center and Nutbush’s “Tina Turner Highway” (see above) are the county’s signature heritage draws. The Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge offers real outdoor recreation along one of the last unchannelized rivers in West Tennessee. The Mindfield (a large outdoor sculpture) and the Dunbar-Carver Museum are additional Brownsville cultural sites. The Memorial Day “Exit 56 Blues Festival” and the Hatchie Fall Festival are established annual events.
Notes: The genuine Tina Turner heritage and Elbert Williams civil rights history are both distinctive, historically significant facts covered here.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Haywood County Property Assessor – confirm current phone via haywoodtn.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Brownsville-Haywood County Animal Shelter – 217 South Russell Street, Brownsville, TN 38012 | (731) 772-2908 | Hours: Monday-Friday 8 AM-5 PM, Saturday 8 AM-12 PM; operates under the supervision of the Brownsville Police Department, with roughly 20 indoor cages and 13 outdoor pens. Animal Control Officers: Cari Campbell (Supervisor), plus additional city and county officers.
Nonprofit partner: Brownsville-Haywood County Humane Society – PO Box 565, Brownsville, TN 38012 | (731) 780-0880; has partnered with the shelter since 1999 providing supplies, fencing, and medical support.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Haywood County Solid Waste Department – confirm current contact via haywoodtn.gov.
NOTES: Haywood County is the third county in this batch (Hardin, Hawkins, Haywood, Henderson, Henry, Hickman, Houston) of the Tennessee v2 redo. The genuine Tina Turner heritage and the serious, historically significant Elbert Williams civil rights history are both distinctive facts covered here; BlueOval City is a major, real current economic development. 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 Haywood County County
Haywood County is West Tennessee’s Tina Turner homeland and civil rights heritage county – the birthplace of one of rock music’s greatest performers and the Tent City voting rights struggle give this rural cotton county an outsized place in American cultural and civil rights history along the West Tennessee flatlands.
Brownsville (the county seat, population ~9,500) is Haywood County’s governmental and cultural hub, a West Tennessee city whose Tina Turner Museum, blues heritage, and cotton farming economy anchor a community of deep historical significance.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Haywood County Assessor of Property at 1 N. Washington Avenue, Brownsville, TN 38012, phone 731-772-0042. TN assessed at a percentage of appraised value.
Courts & Legal
Haywood County Circuit Court at 1 N. Washington Avenue, Brownsville, TN 38012, phone 731-772-0042, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
1 North Washington Ave, Brownsville, TN 38012
(731) 772-0170
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Haywood County Chancery Court Clerk, Brownsville (probate/estate case files since 1982 – see Probate section above).
Haywood County Clerk holds marriage records from 1859 and probate records from 1826-1982.
Haywood County Archives, 4110 US 70 Highway, PO Box 207, Brownsville, TN 38012, (731) 772-0380.
Local societies
Haywood County TnGenWeb, maintained by local volunteer genealogists, is a confirmed local resource.
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
Chancery Court Clerk, Haywood County Haywood County Justice Complex, 100 South Dupree Street, Brownsville, TN 38012 (731) 772-0122
Haywood County was founded in 1823, named for John Haywood, in West Tennessee, seated in Brownsville. It is one of only two remaining counties in Tennessee (along with Shelby County) using this naming/structural pattern. Since 1982, the Chancery Court has had exclusive jurisdiction to probate wills and administer estates; earlier probate records (1826-1982) remain with the County Clerk’s office.
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 Haywood County, the Chancery Court Clerk administers probate (exclusive jurisdiction since 1982).
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 Haywood County Chancery Court Clerk.
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 Haywood 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
1050 South Wilson Ave, Brownsville, TN 38012
(731) 772-1234
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTION COMMISSION
1 North Washington Ave, Brownsville, TN 38012
(731) 772-9313
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
1750 South Washington Ave, Brownsville, TN 38012
(731) 772-2412
DHS Office
1750 South Washington Ave, Brownsville, TN 38012
(731) 772-1113
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Haywood County Health Department – confirm current contact via haywoodtn.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Brownsville
Population: 17,500
Public Records
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