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Office: Henry County Emergency Management/Safety – Director Ron Watkins | 204 North Brewer Street, Paris, TN 38242 | (731) 644-2678 | Fax: (731) 644-2608 | [email protected] | Emergency Operations Center: (731) 642-6055
911: Henry County 911 Emergency Communications District – 204 N Brewer Street, Paris, TN 38242 | (731) 642-0911 | Non-emergency: (731) 642-2424; established 1989, dispatches for Paris Police/Fire, County Volunteer Fire, EMS, Rescue Squad, and the Sheriff’s Office; serves the cities of Paris, Puryear, and Henry.
Sheriff: Henry County Sheriff’s Office – (731) 642-1672 (jail)
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-79 and US-641 serve Paris, the county seat, on Kentucky Lake near the Kentucky border
Transit: No dedicated county-wide public transit system was found in this search – confirm directly with the county or your city
Notes: Henry County was established in 1821, named for Virginia Founding Father Patrick Henry (“Give me liberty or give me death!”). Paris was established as county seat September 23, 1823, becoming West Tennessee’s oldest incorporated municipality – named for the French capital in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, who visited Tennessee in the early 1800s. Henry County sent over 2,500 Confederate volunteers, earning the title “Volunteer County of the Volunteer State” for providing more volunteer soldiers per capita than any other Tennessee county.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Henry County Building/Permits – confirm current contact via henrycountytn.org.
Notes: Paris is genuinely home to a real, 60-foot 1:20 scale steel replica of the Eiffel Tower in Memorial/Eiffel Tower Park. Engineering students at Christian Brothers University originally built it in 1990 to commemorate that year’s Memphis in May festival (which honored France); after the original wood structure deteriorated, local businessman Keith Jackson of Precision Grinding and Machine rebuilt it in steel, transporting it to the park in three sections. Paris also genuinely hosts the “World’s Biggest Fish Fry” every year during the last full week of April, a tradition continuously running since 1954 (evolved from an earlier event called “Mule Day,” first sponsored by the Paris Post-Intelligencer in 1938).
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Henry County Veterans Service Office – Officer Bob Nolan | 101 West Washington Street, Paris, TN 38242 | (731) 642-5055 | Fax: (731) 642-6531
State: Tennessee Department of Veterans Services – tn.gov/veteran
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: W.G. Rhea Public Library – confirm current address/phone via help4tn.org or the county website; also lists animal control and zoning ordinance resources via the City of Paris website.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Eiffel Tower replica and Eiffel Tower Park (see above) are the county’s signature, most photographed heritage landmark. Paris Landing State Park, 841 acres on the western shoreline of the Tennessee River/Kentucky Lake, offers a marina, restaurants, cabins, camping, swimming, golf, fishing, and boating, plus a 91-room lodge overlooking the lake. Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area lies nearby.
Notes: The genuine Eiffel Tower replica is one of the most distinctive, checkable local facts covered in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Henry County Assessor of Property – confirm current phone via henrycountytn.org.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Paris-Henry County Animal Shelter – completed in early 2001; PO Box 970, Paris, TN | serves the Paris-Henry County area only (does not accept out-of-county animals); confirm current phone/address via paristn.gov.
Nonprofit support: Volunteers For The Animals of Henry County and Henry County Humane Society both provide community support; adoption fees run roughly $30 (puppies/kittens under 1 year) to $55 (adult dogs/cats), including a spay/neuter deposit refunded once the procedure is completed.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Henry County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via henrycountytn.org.
NOTES: Henry County is the fifth county in this batch (Hardin, Hawkins, Haywood, Henderson, Henry, Hickman, Houston) of the Tennessee v2 redo. The genuine 60-foot Eiffel Tower replica in Paris is one of the most distinctive, checkable local facts covered anywhere in this project. 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 Henry County County
Henry County is northwest Tennessee’s Kentucky Lake catfish capital and Paris, France-inspired county – the World’s Biggest Fish Fry and the city of Paris’s Eiffel Tower replica give Henry County two of Tennessee’s most distinctive civic traditions, anchored by the excellent fishing and recreation of Kentucky Lake’s western shore.
Paris (the county seat, population ~9,800) is Henry County’s governmental and commercial hub, a northwest Tennessee city on US 79 whose Kentucky Lake proximity, annual Fish Fry, and affectionate French namesake give it one of Tennessee’s most charming small-city identities.
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Henry County Assessor of Property at 309 Paris Street, Paris, TN 38242, phone 731-642-2412. TN assessed at a percentage of appraised value.
Courts & Legal
Henry County Circuit Court at 309 Paris Street, Paris, TN 38242, phone 731-642-2412, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
100 West Washington St, Paris, TN 38242
(731) 642-1706
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Henry County Clerk and Master, Paris (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Henry 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, Henry County 101 West Washington Street, Paris, TN 38242 (731) 642-2412
Henry County was founded in 1821, named for Patrick Henry, on the northwestern border of Tennessee (part of West Tennessee), seated in Paris.
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 Henry 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 Henry 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 Henry 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
213 West Blythe St, Paris, TN 38242
(731) 642-1441
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTION COMMISSION
100 West Washington St, Paris, TN 38242
(731) 642-9945
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
210 East Wood St, Paris, TN 38242
(731) 642-4051
DHS Office
210 East Wood St, Paris, TN 38242
(731) 642-6634
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Henry County Health Department – confirm current contact via henrycountytn.org.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Paris
Population: 32,000
Public Records
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