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Office: Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency – Director Doug Campbell | 1615 Wilson Parkway, Fayetteville, TN 37334 | (931) 438-1575 | [email protected]; staffed with a director, deputy director, and secretary; administers Homeland Security grants and operates 10 tornado sirens countywide; oversees Lincoln County Volunteer Fire Rescue (12 stations, 2 substations covering 570 square miles).
911: Fayetteville-Lincoln County Emergency Communications District – 414 Jay St, Fayetteville, TN | Non-emergency: (931) 433-4522
EMS: Lincoln County EMS – (931) 438-7408
Sheriff: Lincoln County Sheriff Department – (931) 433-9821
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-64 and US-231 serve Fayetteville, the county seat, in South Central Tennessee near the Alabama border
Transit: No dedicated county-wide public transit system was found in this search – confirm directly with the county or your city
Notes: Lincoln County was created in 1809 (effective 1810) from parts of Bedford County, on land ceded by the Cherokee and Chickasaw in 1806, and named for Revolutionary War Major General Benjamin Lincoln – the officer George Washington designated to formally accept Lord Cornwallis’s sword at the British surrender ending the Revolutionary War. Fayetteville, the county seat, was named for the many early settlers who came from Fayetteville, North Carolina (itself named for the Marquis de Lafayette). Founding fathers included Ezekiel Norris (who donated the founding 100 acres), Alexander and Andrew Greer, William Edmonson, and Matthew Buchanan.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Lincoln County Building/Permits – confirm current contact via lincolncountytn.gov.
Notes: Fayetteville is genuinely home to Camp Blount, a real 1813 Tennessee Militia mustering ground where troops – including under the command of Major General Andrew Jackson, with Tennessee leaders Sam Houston and Davy Crockett among the ranks – encamped near four ancient oak trees (some still standing today) before marching to fight the Creek at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1814). Davy Crockett himself genuinely lived in Lincoln County near Mulberry in 1809-10. The Lincoln County Museum, housed in a former 1927-67 milk bottling plant (the historic Borden Milk Plant, credited with helping sustain the local economy through the Great Depression), documents this and other local history, including a model of the real 1850 steamboat “Lincoln,” once purchased by pooled funds from Fayetteville merchants. Fayetteville is also genuinely the hometown of Vice Admiral Frank Kelso, U.S. Chief of Naval Operations during the 1991 Persian Gulf War; the nearby town of Kelso, TN is named for his great-great-uncle.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Lincoln County Veterans Service Office – Officer Terry Quick | 208 Davidson Street E, Suite H, Fayetteville, TN 37334 | (931) 433-1897 | Fax: (931) 433-0328; serves roughly 3,000 local veterans and dependents, offers transportation to VA hospitals in Murfreesboro and Nashville, and estimates veterans contribute $10 million annually to the local economy.
State: Tennessee Department of Veterans Services – tn.gov/veteran
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Fayetteville-Lincoln County Public Library – confirm current address/phone via lincolncountytn.gov or tnsos.net/TSLA/PLD.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Camp Blount and the Lincoln County Museum (see above) are the county’s signature heritage destinations. An annual community fishing rodeo, stocked with over 2,500 pounds of catfish, is organized jointly by TWRA, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Foundation, and local Fayetteville parks and recreation. The Old Stone Bridge is another documented local historic site.
Notes: The genuine Camp Blount muster-ground history, tied to Andrew Jackson, Sam Houston, and Davy Crockett, is a distinctive, checkable local fact.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Lincoln County Assessor of Property – confirm current phone via lincolncountytn.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Lincoln County Animal Shelter – 1718 Pulaski Hwy, Fayetteville, TN 37334 | (931) 433-3726 | Hours: Monday-Friday 9 AM-4 PM, Saturday 9 AM-12 PM (closed Thursday); handles enforcement of animal regulations and shelter management.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Lincoln County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via lincolncountytn.gov.
NOTES: Lincoln County is the third county in this batch (Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Loudon, Macon, Madison, Marion) of the Tennessee v2 redo. The genuine Camp Blount heritage – with its real Andrew Jackson, Sam Houston, and Davy Crockett connections – is a distinctive, checkable local fact. 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 Lincoln County County
Lincoln County is south-central Tennessee’s Elk River and antebellum courthouse square county – Fayetteville’s beautifully preserved 19th-century commercial district and the Elk River’s excellent bass fishing define a community whose traditional Middle Tennessee character and proximity to Huntsville’s growing tech economy anchor both its heritage identity and its economic future.
Fayetteville (the county seat, population ~6,900) is Lincoln County’s governmental and commercial hub, a south-central Tennessee small city on US 231 whose courthouse square, Elk River access, and Alabama border location define its character.
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Lincoln County Assessor of Property at 112 Main Avenue S, Fayetteville, TN 37334, phone 931-433-2454. TN assessed at a percentage of appraised value.
Courts & Legal
Lincoln County Circuit Court at 112 Main Avenue S, Fayetteville, TN 37334, phone 931-433-2454, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
112 Main Ave South, Fayetteville, TN 37334
(931) 433-2454
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Lincoln County Clerk and Master, Fayetteville (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Lincoln County Archives, 308 Market Street West, Fayetteville, TN 37334, (931) 438-1579.
Local societies
No dedicated Lincoln 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, Lincoln County 112 Main Avenue South, Room B-109, Fayetteville, TN 37334 (931) 433-1482
Lincoln County was founded in 1809, named for Major General Benjamin Lincoln, in south central Tennessee, seated in Fayetteville. The Clerk and Master serves as Chancery and Probate Court Clerk, handling divorces, adoptions, debt/contracts, real estate matters, estates, guardianships, and conservatorships.
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 Lincoln 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 Lincoln 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 Lincoln 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
1809 Huntsville Hwy, Fayetteville, TN 37334
(931) 433-2323
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTION COMMISSION
112 Main Ave South, Fayetteville, TN 37334
(931) 433-2454
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
200 South Tennessee Blvd, Fayetteville, TN 37334
(931) 433-9037
DHS Office
200 South Tennessee Blvd, Fayetteville, TN 37334
(931) 433-9006
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Lincoln County Health Department – confirm current contact via lincolncountytn.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Fayetteville
Population: 34,500
Public Records
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