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Texas County
Lee County, Texas
Giddings and central Texas Czech-German heritage - from Giddings' Czech and German immigrant heritage (Lee County was settled heavily by Czech and German immigrants in the late 19th century, and the region's cultural landscape of Catholic churches, kolache bakeries, and traditional architecture reflects this Central European heritage that has shaped the Hill Country transition zone between Austin and Houston) to Lee County's oil field history (the Giddings oil field, discovered in the 1970s and centered on the Austin Chalk formation, transformed Lee County's economy and remains one of Texas's significant producing fields, blending the county's agricultural past with an energy economy).
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Office: Lee County Office of Emergency Management – 200 South Main, Room 107, Giddings, TX 78942 | (979) 540-2081 | [email protected]
Lee County EMS: 1212 N Orange Street, Giddings, TX 78942 | Emergency Line: (979) 542-2777 | Non-emergency: (979) 542-6284; 24/7 coverage.
Alerts: WarnCentralTexas.org – Lee County’s regional notification system through the Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG), covering the ten-county Central Texas region; free registration for phone, email, and text alerts.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-290 and US-77 meet at Giddings, the county seat, about 55 miles east of Austin and 100 miles west of Houston
Transit: No dedicated county-wide public transit system was found in this search – confirm directly with the county or your city
Notes: Giddings was founded in 1871 when the Houston and Texas Central Railway came through; the wide 100-foot Main and Austin Streets are a distinguishing historic feature of the town. Lee County was established in 1874, with Giddings as county seat.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
No dedicated county building/permitting department was confirmed in this search – for property within Giddings, contact City Hall directly; for unincorporated Lee County, contact the County Judge’s office to confirm current requirements.
Notes: The 1899 Lee County Courthouse in Giddings has been recently restored and anchors the downtown square.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Lee County Veterans Service Office – Officers Ryan Marshall and Dawn Marshall | (979) 540-2733; provides benefits counseling to veterans, families, and surviving spouses.
State VSO: Texas Veterans Commission – tvc.texas.gov
Notes: A Veterans Honor Memorial stands at Veteran’s Park, one block off US-290, honoring military branches, MIAs, and POWs; the Lee County Museum’s Military Room also displays war artifacts from local veterans.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Giddings Public Library and Cultural Center – 276 North Orange Street, Giddings, TX 78942 | (979) 542-2716; genuinely dubbed the “biggest little library in Texas,” founded in 1920, now spanning about 19,000 square feet – the largest library in Texas among similarly sized communities per 2020 Texas State Library statistics. Holds around 38,000 books and resources, extensive genealogy materials, a Texas archeology display, the Arnold Smith Collection (over 2,400 Native American artifacts – the largest permanent public display of its kind in the state), and an exhibit honoring Negro Leagues Baseball Hall of Famer Hilton Lee Smith, a Giddings native. Hosts the annual Texas Word Wrangler Book Festival. NOTE: the library has recently operated from a temporary location inside the Giddings Economic Development Corporation lobby, 924 E. [address continues] – confirm current location before visiting.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Lee County is home to a genuinely remarkable and distinctive piece of American ethnic heritage: Serbin, an unincorporated community about 7 miles outside Giddings, was founded in the mid-1850s by Wendish (Sorbian) immigrants – a persecuted Slavic minority from Lusatia in Germanic Saxony/Prussia who sought religious freedom, making it the oldest and most significant Wendish settlement in the United States. St. Paul Lutheran Church (built 1870-71) in Serbin is a genuine example of the Texas “painted churches” tradition, standing beside the Texas Wendish Heritage Museum, which documents this unique immigrant history through artifacts from Lusatia. The annual Wendish Fest, held the fourth Sunday each September, celebrates the culture with traditional Wendish Easter egg painting, sauerkraut, and sausage-making. The Lee County Museum, housed in the 1879 Schubert-Fletcher House (built by Wendish settler August Schubert for his wife and 10 children), documents the county’s full history. Giddings genuinely became a major turkey-processing center for Texas beginning in 1912, an industry still locally significant today.
Notes: Serbin’s Wendish heritage is real, extensively documented, and genuinely unique – one of the most distinctive ethnic-heritage sites covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Lee Central Appraisal District – 898 E. Richmond St, Suite 100, Giddings, TX 78942 | lee-cad.org
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: City of Giddings Animal Shelter – 332 East Cuero Street, Giddings, TX 78942; a 501(c)(3) nonprofit-designated municipal shelter serving both the City of Giddings and Lee County broadly; Shelter Hours: Monday–Friday, 10 AM–4 PM; Animal Control Hours: Monday–Friday, 8 AM–5 PM; adoption fees $100 for dogs/$75 for cats, each including a matching vet voucher toward spay/neuter costs.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
No county-wide landfill or transfer station was confirmed in this search – confirm current household waste disposal options directly with the County Judge’s office or Giddings City Hall.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR INMATEAID READERS: The Giddings State Juvenile Correctional Facility, a Texas Juvenile Justice Department facility located in unincorporated Lee County near Giddings, has historically been one of the county’s largest employers. It houses adjudicated youth and has been the subject of past reporting on conditions at the facility; anyone researching juvenile justice matters connected to this county should verify current conditions and oversight directly with TJJD.
NOTES: Lee County is the seventh and final county in this batch (La Salle, Lamar, Lamb, Lampasas, Lavaca, Lee, Leon). Serbin’s Wendish heritage is a real, exceptionally distinctive piece of American immigrant history. 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 Lee County
Lee County is central Texas’s Czech-German heritage and Giddings oil field county – the cultural traditions of Central European settlers and the Austin Chalk oil formation have both shaped a county whose small-town character and location between Austin and Houston make it an increasingly attractive rural corridor for Central Texas residents.
Giddings (the county seat, population ~5,100) is Lee County’s governmental and commercial hub, a Central Texas town whose Czech and German heritage, courthouse square, and oil field connections define its community character.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Lee County Appraisal District at 898 E. Richmond Street, Giddings, TX 78942, phone 979-542-9617.
Courts & Legal
Lee County District Court at 200 S. Main Street, Giddings, TX 78942, phone 979-542-3684, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
200 South Main St, Giddings, TX 78942
(979) 542-3684
DISTRICT CLERK
200 South Main St, Giddings, TX 78942
(979) 542-3684
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Lee County Clerk’s Office, Giddings (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above). Records available from 1899 to present.
Local societies
No dedicated Lee 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
County Clerk, Lee County 200 South Main Street, Room 107, PO Box 419, Giddings, TX 78942 (979) 542-3684 Lee County is in Central Texas, seated in Giddings.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Texas probate law is governed by the Texas Estates Code. Probate jurisdiction in Texas is split between statutory probate courts (in larger metro counties) and county courts (in smaller counties like Lee, sometimes assisted by district courts). In Lee County, the County Court handles probate matters.
Small Estate Affidavit (Tex. Est. Code § 205.001) – available ONLY when the decedent died WITHOUT a will (intestate), the estate (excluding homestead and exempt property) does not exceed $75,000, and assets exceed debts. At least 30 days must have passed since death. The affidavit must list every asset and debt, establish the family history showing who the heirs are, and be sworn to by the heirs and two disinterested witnesses; a judge then reviews and approves it under § 205.003.
Independent Administration – used when a will exists (or all heirs agree) and the estate has debts; minimal court supervision after the executor is appointed. This is the most common and efficient path in Texas when available.
Muniment of Title – available when a valid will exists, there are no unsecured debts (other than a mortgage), and there’s no other need for a full administration; transfers title without appointing an executor.
Dependent Administration – required for complex, contested, or disputed estates; involves ongoing court supervision and approval of most actions.
Step 2: filing for administration
The personal representative (or an interested party) files an Application for Probate of Will and Issuance of Letters Testamentary (or Letters of Administration, if intestate) with the Lee County Clerk.
The original will (if one exists), a certified death certificate, and information about heirs and the proposed executor are included with the application.
The court holds a hearing and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
The personal representative publishes notice to creditors and gathers, inventories, and appraises the estate’s assets.
The personal representative pays valid debts and expenses.
Remaining assets are distributed to beneficiaries or heirs, and the estate is closed.
What it costs
Filing fees in Texas typically run $250–$400 depending on the county; confirm current Lee County fees directly.
Texas law allows a statutory executor fee of 5% of all sums actually received and paid out in cash, with specific exceptions. The court may also approve reasonable attorney fees paid from the estate.
Small estate affidavits typically cost $600–$1,900 total when factoring in filing and related fees.
Texas 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.
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 East Industry St, Giddings, TX 78942
(979) 542-2727
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
200 South Main St, Giddings, TX 78942
(979) 542-3684
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
200 South Main St, Giddings, TX 78942
(979) 542-3684
HHSC Office
200 South Main St, Giddings, TX 78942
(979) 542-3684
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
No standalone county health department was confirmed in this search – confirm current public health service arrangements directly with the County Judge’s office.
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