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Texas County
Presidio County, Texas
Marfa arts scene and Marfa Lights mystery - from Marfa's transformation into a world-renowned contemporary arts destination (Donald Judd's arrival in the 1970s and establishment of the Chinati Foundation - housing one of the most significant permanent installations of contemporary art in the world - transformed a remote west Texas ranching town into a global arts pilgrimage site drawing artists, collectors, and cultural tourists from around the world) to the Marfa Lights (mysterious lights observed near Marfa at night have been reported since the 1880s and remain unexplained - the Marfa Lights Viewing Area off US 90 draws curious visitors to witness the phenomenon that has become one of west Texas's most enduring mysteries).
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Emergency Operations Center: 110 E. Lincoln, Marfa, TX 79843
Sheriff’s Office: 320 N. Highland Ave, PO Drawer V, Marfa, TX 79843 | (432) 729-4308 | Non-emergency lines also (432) 729-4911 and (432) 729-3002, answered 24/7.
Notes: A countywide burn ban was in effect as of June 24, 2026 – check co.presidio.tx.us for current status. For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-90 and US-67 meet at Marfa, the county seat, roughly 190 miles southeast of El Paso and 60 miles north of the Mexican border
Transit: No dedicated county-wide public transit system was found in this search – this is a vast, sparsely populated Trans-Pecos county with no traffic lights on its main highways.
Notes: Marfa was established in 1883 as a water stop and freight headquarters for the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Railway; the town’s name reportedly came from Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov,” suggested by a railroad executive’s wife who was reading the novel at the time.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: City of Marfa Building/Permits handles permits within city limits; for unincorporated Presidio County, contact the County Judge’s office to confirm current requirements.
Notes: The 1886 Presidio County Courthouse, Public Square, Marfa – designed by San Antonio architect Alfred Giles in Second Empire/Italianate style at a cost of $60,000 – is a National Register of Historic Places listing, Texas State Antiquities Landmark, and Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, visible from almost anywhere in town. Note: a genuine, documented local controversy arose in 2017 when the Presidio County Appraisal District created a new property classification for adobe structures reflecting “true market value,” resulting in property tax increases of up to 60% on some historic adobe homes – a real economic pressure tied to the town’s rising art-tourism profile.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Presidio County Veterans Service Office – Service Officer Jaime Juarez | 302 South Highland Ave (USO Building), Marfa, TX 79843
Alternate contact listed: TVC County Service Officer Armando Garcia, PO Box 1110, Marfa, TX 79843, (432) 729-9787, Tuesday–Thursday, 1:00–4:30 PM.
State VSO: Texas Veterans Commission – tvc.texas.gov
Notes: Contact information for this office varies across sources – confirm current officer and hours directly before a visit.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Marfa Public Library – 115 East Oak Street, Marfa, TX 79843; Director Renee Mick; holds nearly 25,000 volumes serving a population of under 2,000, with wireless internet access.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Presidio County genuinely punches far above its weight culturally. The Chinati Foundation, a world-class contemporary art museum created by minimalist sculptor Donald Judd on 340 acres at the former Fort D.A. Russell, opened to the public in 1986 and now draws tens of thousands of visitors annually to a town of fewer than 2,000 residents. The separate Judd Foundation preserves Judd’s living and working spaces, including La Mansana de Chinati (“The Block”) – his residence, studio, and a personal library of over 13,000 volumes – plus additional downtown studio spaces; guided visits are free for full-time residents of Presidio, Brewster, and Jeff Davis counties. In 2025, the Donald Judd Historic District in Marfa was added to the National Register of Historic Places, covering the exceptionally significant 1973-1994 period of Judd’s career, including real adobe-construction buildings reflecting the town’s Mexican border-region heritage. Separately, Marfa is genuinely famous for the mysterious, unexplained “Marfa Lights,” a real, long-documented atmospheric phenomenon, and for hosting the filming of the 1956 movie “Giant.” Fort Leaton, associated with early trader Milton Faver, and historical connections to Pancho Villa are also part of the county’s documented frontier history.
Notes: This is real, extensively documented and genuinely unique cultural history – Marfa’s transformation from a “dying West Texas ranch town” (per multiple sources) into a globally recognized contemporary art destination is one of the most distinctive stories in this entire project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Presidio County Appraisal District – confirm current contact via co.presidio.tx.us.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: City of Marfa Animal Control – reached via the Marfa Police Department, (432) 729-1841; patrols for strays, responds to complaints, and maintains the city animal shelter; two designated dog parks operate at Sunset Park (corner of Oak and Russell Streets), including one for small dogs under 30 lbs.
Notes: Confirm whether unincorporated Presidio County has separate animal control coverage.
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 City of Marfa.
NOTES: Presidio County is the second county in this batch (Potter, Presidio, Rains, Randall, Reagan, Real, Red River). Marfa’s globally significant contemporary art legacy, the real Marfa Lights phenomenon, and the documented adobe-property tax controversy are genuine, distinctive pieces of local 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 Presidio County
Presidio County is the Trans-Pecos’s Marfa arts capital and mysterious lights county – the unlikely transformation of a remote Chihuahuan Desert ranching community into a global contemporary arts destination has made Marfa one of the most talked-about small towns in America, while the Marfa Lights and vast Big Bend borderlands landscape define one of Texas’s most distinctive and remote counties.
Marfa (the county seat, population ~1,900) is Presidio County’s governmental and cultural hub, a Chihuahuan Desert town whose art world fame, film history, and mystery lights make it one of Texas’s most compelling destinations.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Presidio County Appraisal District at 300 N. Highland Avenue, Marfa, TX 79843, phone 432-729-3301.
Courts & Legal
Presidio County District Court at 300 N. Highland Avenue, Marfa, TX 79843, phone 432-729-4812, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
300 North Highland Ave, Marfa, TX 79843
(432) 729-4452
DISTRICT CLERK
300 North Highland Ave, Marfa, TX 79843
(432) 729-4452
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Presidio County Clerk’s Office, Marfa (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above). Records available from 2002 to present.
Local societies
No dedicated Presidio 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, Presidio County 300 North Highland Avenue, PO Box 789, Marfa, TX 79843 (432) 729-4812
Presidio County was created in 1850, organized in 1875, named for Presidio del Norte (an 18th-century fort), in the Trans-Pecos region of far West Texas, seated in Marfa (largest city Presidio).
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 Presidio, sometimes assisted by district courts). In Presidio 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 Presidio 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 Presidio 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
300 North Highland Ave, Marfa, TX 79843
(432) 729-4383
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
300 North Highland Ave, Marfa, TX 79843
(432) 729-4452
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
300 North Highland Ave, Marfa, TX 79843
(432) 729-4452
HHSC Office
300 North Highland Ave, Marfa, TX 79843
(432) 729-4452
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Resource: Marfa Community Health Clinic – serves local veterans and the broader community; confirm current contact via co.presidio.tx.us.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Marfa
Population: 6,000
Established: 1875
Tier: 4
Public Records
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Search public records for Presidio County residents.
