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Office: Lauderdale County Emergency Management Agency – Director John Smith | 132 Dodge Drive, Suite 1, Ripley, TN 38063 | (731) 635-3243 | [email protected]
911: Lauderdale County Emergency Communications E911 – confirm current address/phone via lauderdalecountytn.org.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-51 and US-19 serve Ripley, the county seat, in West Tennessee near the Mississippi River
Transit: No dedicated county-wide public transit system was found in this search – confirm directly with the county or your city
Notes: Lauderdale County was created in 1835 from parts of Tipton, Dyer, and Haywood counties, named for Lieutenant Colonel James Lauderdale, killed at the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812. The county’s western boundary is formed by the Mississippi River. Ripley is the largest town and county seat; other incorporated communities include Halls, Henning, and Gates.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Lauderdale County Building/Permits – confirm current contact via lauderdalecountytn.org.
Notes: Lauderdale County is genuinely, deeply significant in American literary history as the childhood home of Alex Haley, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Roots: The Saga of an American Family” (1976). Haley lived in Henning, TN with his maternal grandparents, Will E. and Cynthia Palmer, from 1921 to 1929 in a real 10-room Craftsman bungalow built in 1918-1919 (Will Palmer, a prosperous Black lumber businessman, built the house). It was on the home’s front porch that young Haley first heard the oral family stories – including accounts of Kunta Kinte and “Chicken George” – that would decades later inspire “Roots,” which spent 46 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list (22 as #1) and became a genuinely record-breaking 1977 TV miniseries watched by 130 million viewers, credited with sparking widespread interest in genealogy and African American history nationwide. The house, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, opened as the Alex Haley House Museum in 1986 (one of only 18 Tennessee Historical Commission state historic sites, and the only one honoring an African American); a modern Interpretive Center was added in 2010, and Haley is buried on the museum grounds.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Lauderdale County Veterans Service Office – confirm current officer name/phone via lauderdalecountytn.org.
State: Tennessee Department of Veterans Services – tn.gov/veteran
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Lauderdale County Library – 120 Lafayette Street, Ripley, TN 38063 | Director Wanda S. Clark; a Level 3 Tennessee library offering free public computers, genealogy resources, computer training classes, and a children’s summer reading program.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Alex Haley House Museum (see above) is the county’s most historically significant heritage attraction. The Chickasaw National Wildlife Refuge, 25,006 acres primarily in northwestern Lauderdale County along the Mississippi River (established 1985), features the largest tract of bottomland hardwood forest in Tennessee and real diverse wildlife including white-tailed deer, wild turkey, and waterfowl. The Lauderdale County Tomato Festival, held annually in Ripley since 1984, is a well-established local tradition. The Lauderdale County Museum is housed in the historic 1842 Sugar Hill Mansion, 123 S. Jefferson St, Ripley, TN 38063 | (731) 635-9540.
Notes: The genuine Alex Haley/Roots connection is one of the most historically and culturally significant literary heritage sites covered in this entire project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Lauderdale County Assessor of Property – confirm current phone via lauderdalecountytn.org.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Lauderdale County Animal Shelter/Animal Control – 3265 Curve Nankipoo Rd, Ripley, TN 38063 | (731) 836-7387 (“836-PETS”) | [email protected]; a small municipal shelter working with volunteers to place unwanted animals, return lost pets, and reduce euthanasia; rescue-group friendly. Donations may also be dropped at 51 Antiques on Highway 51 in Ripley.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Lauderdale County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via lauderdalecountytn.org.
NOTES: Lauderdale County is the seventh and final county in this batch (Humphreys, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, Lake, Lauderdale) of the Tennessee v2 redo. The genuine Alex Haley/”Roots” heritage in Henning is one of the most significant literary and cultural history sites 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 Lauderdale County County
Lauderdale County is West Tennessee’s Mississippi River cotton country and Ripley agricultural county – the fertile bottomland soils along the great river and the county’s deep agricultural history define a rural West Tennessee community where Ripley provides governmental services to the surrounding cotton farming communities near the Mississippi.
Ripley (the county seat, population ~7,000) is Lauderdale County’s governmental and commercial hub, a West Tennessee agricultural town on US 51 serving the county’s Mississippi River bottomland farming communities.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Lauderdale County Assessor of Property at 100 Court Square, Ripley, TN 38063, phone 731-635-2561. TN assessed at a percentage of appraised value.
Courts & Legal
Lauderdale County Circuit Court at 100 Court Square, Ripley, TN 38063, phone 731-635-2561, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
100 Court Sq, Ripley, TN 38063
(731) 635-3717
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Lauderdale County Clerk and Master, Ripley (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
The 1936 Lauderdale County Courthouse, NRHP-listed, is a significant local landmark.
Local societies
No dedicated Lauderdale 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 (Chancery), Lauderdale County 100 North Main Street, Ripley, TN 38063 (731) 635-1941
Lauderdale County was founded in 1835, named for James Lauderdale, on the western edge of Tennessee bordering the Mississippi River, seated in Ripley. The 1936 Lauderdale County Courthouse, PWA Moderne in style, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places – the first Public Works Administration-funded courthouse project of its kind.
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 Lauderdale County, the Clerk and Master (Chancery) 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 Lauderdale 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 Lauderdale 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
100 Highland Ave, Ripley, TN 38063
(731) 635-3711
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTION COMMISSION
100 Court Sq, Ripley, TN 38063
(731) 635-3980
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
210 Bythewood St, Ripley, TN 38063
(731) 635-3711
DHS Office
210 Bythewood St, Ripley, TN 38063
(731) 635-2851
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Lauderdale County Health Department – confirm current contact via lauderdalecountytn.org.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Ripley
Population: 25,000
Public Records
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