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Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
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Office: Scott County Emergency Management Agency – Executive Director David Brewster; confirm current phone via scottcounty.com.
911: Scott County E-911 – Executive Director Wayne Shoemaker.
EMS: Scott County EMS – a division of Scott County Government, Director Jamie Byrd; ambulance based out of St. Mary’s Medical Center of Scott County in Oneida, with a standby unit at the Scott County Health Department in Huntsville.
Sheriff: Scott County Sheriff’s Office – Sheriff Brian Keeton | 575 Scott High Drive, Huntsville, TN 37756 | (423) 663-3111 | Hours: Monday-Friday 8 AM-4:30 PM.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: SH-63 and US-27 serve Huntsville, the county seat, on the northern Cumberland Plateau 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: Huntsville was founded in 1850, named for a long hunter known only by the surname “Hunt,” who camped under a nearby rock shelter in the mid-18th century.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Scott County Building/Permits – confirm current contact via scottcounty.com.
Notes: Scott County holds a genuinely remarkable, well-documented Civil War story: in Tennessee’s June 1861 secession referendum, Scott County voted 541-19 against leaving the Union – the highest anti-secession percentage of any county in the state. After Tennessee seceded anyway, the Scott County Court, meeting in Huntsville, passed a resolution declaring the county’s own withdrawal from Tennessee, forming the “Free and Independent State of Scott.” U.S. Senator (and future president) Andrew Johnson had personally delivered an anti-secession speech on the Huntsville courthouse steps on June 4, 1861, just days before the vote. Confederate troops later staged a punitive raid, the Battle of Huntsville (August 13, 1862), routing Union sympathizer Colonel William Clift’s hastily raised 7th Tennessee Infantry and ransacking the courthouse, destroying the county’s official secession records in the process. Remarkably, Scott County’s self-declared independence was never formally reversed until 1986, when – as part of Tennessee’s statewide Homecoming celebration – the county commission passed a resolution dissolving the “Free and Independent State of Scott” and Governor Lamar Alexander signed it, officially readmitting the county; the event drew coverage from the New York Times. A historical marker near the Huntsville Mall commemorates the episode today.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Scott County Veterans Services – Officer Avery Honeycutt | Scott County Office Building, Huntsville, TN | (423) 663-4289 | [email protected] | Hours: Monday-Friday 8 AM-4:30 PM.
State: Tennessee Department of Veterans Services – tn.gov/veteran
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Scott County operates three public libraries plus a book station: Huntsville Public Library, 314 Courthouse Square, Huntsville, TN 37756 | (423) 663-9230 | Librarian Kay Reed; Oneida Public Library; Winfield Public Library, 24961 Scott Highway, Winfield, TN 37892 | (423) 569-9047 | Librarian Missy Chitwood; and the Robbins Book Station.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Scott County is genuinely home to the fifth-largest national park in the eastern United States – the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area – as well as the second-largest tract of public land in Tennessee, the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area.
Notes: The genuine “Free and Independent State of Scott” story is one of the most distinctive, well-documented, and memorable local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Scott County Assessor of Property – confirm current phone via scottcounty.com.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: No dedicated county-run animal shelter was clearly confirmed in this search – confirm current arrangements directly with the county before relying on this section for a stray or lost pet situation.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Scott County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via scottcounty.com.
NOTES: Scott County is the sixth county in this batch (Putnam, Rhea, Roane, Robertson, Rutherford, Scott, Sequatchie) of the Tennessee v2 redo. The genuine “Free and Independent State of Scott” Civil War history – an act of county-level secession that stood unresolved until 1986 – is one of the most distinctive and memorable facts covered anywhere in this project; the animal shelter situation should be confirmed directly. 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 Scott County County
Scott County is the self-proclaimed Free and Independent State of Scott – the remote Cumberland Plateau county that legendarily seceded from Tennessee during the Civil War embraces its Unionist Appalachian heritage and independent mountain character, anchored by the spectacular Big South Fork gorge that cuts through the county’s western plateau edge.
Huntsville (the county seat, population ~800) is Scott County’s small governmental hub on the Cumberland Plateau, serving one of Tennessee’s more remote and proudly independent mountain counties near the Kentucky border.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Scott County Assessor of Property at 50 S. Main Street, Huntsville, TN 37756, phone 423-663-2205. TN assessed at a percentage of appraised value.
Courts & Legal
Scott County Circuit Court at 50 S. Main Street, Huntsville, TN 37756, phone 423-663-2205, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
285 Court St, Huntsville, TN 37756
(423) 663-2440
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Scott County Clerk and Master, Huntsville (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Scott 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, Scott County 575 Scott High Drive, Suite C, Huntsville, TN 37756 (423) 663-2627 Scott County is in northern Tennessee on the Cumberland Plateau, seated in Huntsville.
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 Scott 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 Scott 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 Scott 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
297 Court St, Huntsville, TN 37756
(423) 663-2245
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTION COMMISSION
285 Court St, Huntsville, TN 37756
(423) 663-2440
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
297 Court St, Huntsville, TN 37756
(423) 663-2412
DHS Office
297 Court St, Huntsville, TN 37756
(423) 663-2400
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Scott County Health Department – Huntsville, TN; confirm current phone via scottcounty.com.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Huntsville
Population: 21,500
Public Records
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