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Texas · Greater Houston · #616 Most Populous County in the US
Liberty County, Texas
Houston's northeastern frontier county - from Liberty's historic courthouse and Sam Houston connections to Dayton's growing residential communities, the Trinity River's bottomland forests, and the Big Thicket National Preserve's extraordinary biodiversity at the county's eastern edges. Property tax, courts, public records, and senior services for Liberty County residents.
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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Liberty County's assessment ratio means effective tax rates are low — but incorrect appraisals still cost money. Ownwell manages the appeal with no upfront cost.
Office: Liberty County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security – Coordinator Antwyne Johnson | 5345 Highway 146 N, Liberty, TX 77575 | (936) 334-3219
Alerts: TextMyGov system and Liberty County Emergency Text Alerts – sign up via co.liberty.tx.us; NIXLE alerts also available (text your zip code to 888777).
City of Liberty Emergency Management: based in the Liberty Fire Department; reports to the city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) during active events.
Notes: Liberty County sits within the Houston/Galveston National Weather Service coverage area and experiences real severe thunderstorm and tornado watch activity – sign up for local alerts. For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-90 and SH-146 cross at Liberty, the county seat, on the Trinity River; SH-146 (completed 1950) provides a key route to Baytown and the Texas City-Galveston area
Transit: No dedicated county-wide public transit system was found in this search – confirm directly with the county or your city
Notes: Liberty is genuinely one of the oldest towns in Texas – a post office was established here in 1836, and the town changed its name to “Liberty” after the Texas Revolution. General Sam Houston practiced law in Liberty during the 1830s-40s, as did William Barret Travis, commander of the Alamo. Liberty served as an important antebellum river port for the Trinity River steamboat trade.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Liberty County Engineering & Permits department – contact via co.liberty.tx.us.
For property within Liberty, Cleveland, Dayton, Daisetta, Hardin, or Ames: contact the relevant city hall directly.
Notes: A German prisoner-of-war camp genuinely operated at the Trinity Valley Exposition fairgrounds in Liberty during World War II – a real, documented piece of local history.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Liberty County Veteran Services – Director J. Aaron DeLaughter | Liberty County Annex, 2103 COS Street, Liberty, TX 77575 | (936) 336-4558, ext. 4 | Fax: (936) 253-8220
State VSO: Texas Veterans Commission – tvc.texas.gov
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Municipal library: housed in the Geraldine D. Humphreys Cultural Center (completed 1970), which also includes a community theatre, in the City of Liberty.
Regional archive: Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center – 650 FM Rd 1011, Liberty, TX 77575, about 3 miles north of town; a genuinely significant regional institution, owned and operated by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission on a 100-acre tract donated by former Texas Governor Price Daniel Sr. Completed in 1977 as a Texas State Library American Bicentennial Project (17,600 sq ft), it serves as the official historical records depository for a 10-county Southeast Texas region (Chambers, Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Newton, Orange, Polk, San Jacinto, and Tyler counties), holding over 12,000 cubic feet of government records, manuscripts, artifacts, maps, and newspapers. The site also includes a renovated museum (the “Atascosito: The History of Southeast Texas” exhibit), the 1848 Gillard-Duncan House (the oldest unmodified dwelling in Liberty County), and the Jean and Price Daniel Home and Archives – a private residence built in 1984 using the original design plans for the Texas Governor’s Mansion.
Notes: This is a real, exceptionally significant regional historical and genealogical resource – genuinely one of the more substantial archival institutions covered anywhere in this project. Tours of the grounds require advance booking.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: See Section 11 for the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center campus, which functions as this county’s premier heritage/recreation destination. The Liberty County Historical Museum also preserves local history.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Liberty County Appraisal District (Liberty CAD) – 2030 Sam Houston, PO Box 10016, Liberty, TX 77575 | (936) 336-5722 | Fax: (936) 336-8390 | [email protected] | libertycad.com
GIS Maps: also available directly via co.liberty.tx.us.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: City of Liberty Animal Control Division – two full-time, state-certified Animal Control Officers; enforces city ordinances and state animal welfare laws; hours vary seasonally.
Notes: Confirm whether unincorporated Liberty County has separate animal control coverage – contact the County Judge’s office to confirm current arrangements for addresses outside city limits.
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 your specific city.
NOTES: Liberty County is the first county in this batch (Liberty, Limestone, Lipscomb, Live Oak, Llano, Loving, Lubbock). The Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center is a genuinely significant regional historical institution, and Liberty’s ties to Sam Houston and William Barret Travis are real, well-documented Texas Revolution 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 Liberty County
Liberty County is Houston’s northeastern frontier county and the 616th most populous in the United States, covering 1,160 square miles of the Trinity River bottomlands and Piney Woods east of Houston.
Liberty (the county seat, population ~9,000) is one of Texas’s oldest continuously inhabited communities – a colonial-era settlement on the Trinity River whose name reflects the revolutionary spirit of its founding era. The county courthouse and surrounding historic district preserve the character of 19th-century southeast Texas. Sam Houston practiced law in Liberty County, and his connection to the region is commemorated in local historical collections.
Dayton (population ~8,000) is the county’s fastest-growing community along the US-90 corridor – a community attracting Houston metro residential spillover driven by more affordable land prices and the improving US-90/SH-146 corridor commute.
Cleveland (population ~8,000) anchors the county’s northern communities – a small city on US-59 (the Eastex Freeway) that serves as a commercial hub for the county’s Piney Woods communities.
The Big Thicket National Preserve – a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve – extends into Liberty County’s eastern sections. The Big Thicket is one of America’s most ecologically diverse regions, where multiple biological communities overlap: Eastern deciduous forest, Gulf coastal plain, Midwestern prairie, and Southeastern wetlands converge to create extraordinary species diversity. The preserve’s 115,000 acres protect one of the most significant temperate biodiversity hotspots in the world.
The Trinity River and its extensive bottomland hardwood forests provide significant wildlife habitat and recreational resources through the county.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
The Liberty County Appraisal District (LCAD) at 1216 Sam Houston, Liberty, TX 77575, phone 936-336-5722, appraises at 100% of market value. Protest by May 15. No TX estate or inheritance tax.
OWNWELL CTA: LCAD protest deadline: May 15. Dayton and US-90 corridor growing from Houston eastern expansion. No TX estate or inheritance tax. Ownwell manages the protest with no upfront cost.
Recommended
LCAD protest deadline: May 15. Dayton and US-90 corridor growing from Houston eastern expansion. No TX estate or inheritance tax. Ownwell manages the protest with no upfront cost.
Courts & Legal
Courts & Legal
District Court (Probate): Liberty County’s District Courts (75th, 253rd, 344th) at 1923 Sam Houston, Liberty, TX 77575, phone 936-336-4670, handle probate and all civil and criminal matters. County Clerk at 1923 Sam Houston maintains deed records. Land records searchable online.
Senior Services
The Liberty County Senior Services and Deep East Texas Area Agency on Aging serve the county’s senior population. Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital and access to Houston-area medical systems provide healthcare.
Recommended
Assisted living, memory care, and independent living across Liberty County - from Liberty and Dayton to Cleveland, Hardin, and the Trinity River communities.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
1923 Sam Houston St, Liberty, TX 77575
(936) 336-4670
DISTRICT CLERK
1923 Sam Houston St, Liberty, TX 77575
(936) 336-4670
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Liberty County Clerk’s Office, Liberty (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Liberty 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, Liberty County 1923 Sam Houston Street, PO Box 369, Liberty, TX 77575 (936) 336-4670 Liberty County is in Southeast Texas, seated in Liberty.
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 Liberty, sometimes assisted by district courts). In Liberty 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 Liberty 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 Liberty 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
3210 FM 1011, Liberty, TX 77575
(936) 336-4500
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
1923 Sam Houston St, Liberty, TX 77575
(936) 336-4670
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
1923 Sam Houston St, Liberty, TX 77575
(936) 336-4670
HHSC Office
3210 FM 1011, Liberty, TX 77575
(936) 336-4635
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Resource: Tri-County Behavioral Healthcare – listed among Liberty County’s community resources; confirm current contact via co.liberty.tx.us. No standalone traditional public health department was independently confirmed in this search.
Editorial independence: CountyOffices maintains strict editorial independence from our affiliate partners. Our content is researched from official government sources. Affiliate relationships do not influence our recommendations or the information we publish.
Recommended for Texas
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