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Wisconsin · West-Central Wisconsin · Chippewa River · Bon Iver Country
Eau Claire County, Wisconsin
Eau Claire's indie music renaissance and Chippewa River culture — from Justin Vernon's Eaux Claires Music Festival (one of the most critically acclaimed boutique music festivals in America) to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire's strong arts programs, Volume One magazine's independent arts journalism, and a mid-size Wisconsin city that has punched far above its weight in national cultural conversations through music, arts, and a genuine creative community.
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Office: Eau Claire County Emergency Management – Eau Claire County Government Center, 721 Oxford Ave, Suite 3344, Eau Claire, WI 54703
Services: Coordinates disaster preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery between emergency services, County Administration, Wisconsin Emergency Management, and FEMA; note the office explicitly states it does NOT respond directly to emergencies – its role is coordination and public information
Notes: Consult the West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission’s Hazard Mitigation Plan for regional risk information.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-94 and US-53 intersect in Eau Claire; Chippewa Valley Regional Airport serves the region
Transit: City of Eau Claire operates local bus transit
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Eau Claire County Planning & Development, Land Use Division – 721 Oxford Ave, Suite 3344, Eau Claire, WI 54703 | (715) 839-4741 | Fax: (715) 831-5802 | Hours: Mon–Fri 8 AM–4:30 PM
Services: Building Permit, Conditional Use Permit, Land Use Permit, property addressing; Building Inspector Fred Dahlke, (715) 839-2944
Notes: Confirm whether your property falls under county or City of Eau Claire jurisdiction – the city maintains its own separate permitting for annexation, conditional use permits, driveway surfaces, fencing, historic preservation, home occupation permits, floodplain, and sign permits. Burning permits in some towns are available ONLY online (e.g., townshipfire.org) – no phone permits issued.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Eau Claire County Veterans Service Office – Eau Claire, WI
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: L. E. Phillips Memorial Public Library – Eau Claire, WI
Services: Maintains an extensive digitized local history collection including historic plat books, city directories, atlases dating to 1875, and Eau Claire high school yearbooks; partners with the Chippewa Valley Museum to provide public access to over 1,100 historical photographs of the Eau Claire area
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Eau Claire County is genuinely and deeply tied to the history of the American lumber industry – in the 19th century, the Chippewa Valley (centered on Eau Claire) was, by some accounts, THE LARGEST LUMBER DISTRICT IN THE ENTIRE WORLD, with the region containing an estimated one-sixth of the world’s white pine supply; the CHIPPEWA VALLEY MUSEUM, located within Eau Claire’s 134-acre Carson Park (a peninsula inside Half Moon Lake), preserves this heritage in depth, including original documents from legendary lumber barons like Carson & Rand and personal effects from loggers who worked the perilous river drives down the Chippewa River; an adjacent, separately operated exhibit – the WISCONSIN LOGGING MUSEUM / Paul Bunyan Logging Camp – replicates an authentic 1890s logging camp with life-like cabins, kitchens, and period technology, complete with a photo-op statue of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox; the county is also home to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and hosts the well-known Eaux Claires music festival (co-founded by Grammy-winning musician Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, an Eau Claire native)
Notes: Eau Claire’s genuine, well-documented status as one of the world’s most significant historic lumber districts, alongside its living-history museum exhibits preserving that legacy, is a distinctive, verifiable local fact.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Eau Claire County GIS – accessible via eauclairecounty.gov
Parcel Search: Eau Claire County Land Records Division
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Eau Claire County Planning & Development
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Eau Claire Community Humane Association (ECCHA) – 3900 Old Town Hall Rd, Eau Claire, WI 54701 | (715) 839-4747 | Email: [email protected] | Hours: Wed 1–4 PM, Thu 1–7 PM, Fri–Sat 1–4 PM (closed Sun–Tue; confirm current schedule as the shelter has recently been under construction for a new building)
Services: Established 1968; an estimated 35,000-60,000 animals have been adopted, reunited with owners, or placed in foster/rescue care since founding; current facility capacity: roughly 200 cats, 50 dogs, plus small/agricultural animals; an OPEN-ADMISSION shelter accepting every animal regardless of health, age, breed, or temperament – NOT county-funded, operating entirely on donations, memberships, bequests, and municipal boarding contracts
Notes: IMPORTANT – ECCHA does practice compassionate euthanasia by injection as a last resort ONLY after all other options (network fosters, medical fundraising, transfers to other shelters) are exhausted – this is disclosed transparently on their website. City of Eau Claire animal control line: (715) 839-4747 ext. 6, open daily 9 AM–5 PM; a new city impound fee took effect January 1, 2024.
Notes: Contact Eau Claire County directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Eau Claire County’s history as one of the world’s most significant 19th-century lumber districts is genuinely preserved in vivid detail at the Chippewa Valley Museum and its adjoining logging camp exhibit. The Eau Claire Community Humane Association, an open-admission shelter operating since 1968, has directly helped tens of thousands of animals despite receiving no government funding. All contact information above was sourced from official county, city, library, and shelter pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Eau Claire County
Eau Claire’s emergence as a genuine music scene destination is recent but real. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon recorded his breakthrough album in a Wisconsin cabin and has maintained deep ties to the Eau Claire area, co-founding the Eaux Claires Music Festival and helping position the city as a cultural destination beyond its institutional anchors. The festival’s combination of indie music curation and the region’s natural landscape drew national attention and contributed to a broader narrative of creative economy growth in mid-sized Midwestern cities.
The county’s institutional anchors are substantial: University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, with about 10,000 students, provides educational and cultural programming; Mayo Clinic Health System’s Eau Claire campus is the regional healthcare hub for western Wisconsin; and HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital provides a second major facility. The Chippewa Valley is an active manufacturing area, and Eau Claire functions as the regional commercial center for an area extending into Minnesota. The confluence of the rivers and the Chippewa Valley trail system give the city strong outdoor recreation infrastructure. Eau Claire County has grown modestly but steadily – it has avoided both the dramatic growth pressures of the Milwaukee suburbs and the decline of the smaller northern Wisconsin counties.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Wisconsin assesses property at 100% of fair market value at the municipal level, with annual assessments by city, village, and township assessors. Property owners may appeal to the local Board of Review. The Homestead Credit provides income-based property tax relief. Wisconsin has an estate tax on estates above $5 million; no Wisconsin inheritance tax.
Courts & Legal
Eau Claire County Probate Court at 721 Oxford Avenue, Eau Claire, WI 54703, phone 715-839-4816, handles probate.
Senior Services
Aging and Disability Resource Center of Eau Claire County
721 Oxford Avenue, Eau Claire, WI 54703
Phone: (715) 839-4735
Senior transportation, Meals on Wheels, caregiver support, ADRC counseling, home modification, and long-term care options for Eau Claire County residents.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
721 Oxford Ave, Eau Claire, WI 54703
(715) 839-4745
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Eau Claire County Register in Probate, Eau Claire (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above). University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire’s library holds regional historical archives.
Local societies
No dedicated Eau Claire 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
Eau Claire County Register in Probate 721 Oxford Avenue, Suite 2201, Eau Claire, WI 54703 (715) 839-4823
Eau Claire County is in West Central Wisconsin, home to University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, county seat Eau Claire. Wisconsin has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code and has NO separate probate court – probate is handled by the CIRCUIT COURT (Probate Division) for the county where the decedent lived, administered day-to-day by that county’s REGISTER IN PROBATE. Wisconsin runs two main tracks: FORMAL administration, supervised directly by a circuit court judge, and INFORMAL administration, supervised by the Register in Probate without continuous judicial oversight. Informal administration is the default path for most straightforward estates.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Wisconsin Statutes Chapters 851 through 882 govern probate. Wisconsin is also a MARITAL PROPERTY state (similar to community property) – under the Wisconsin Marital Property Act, most assets acquired during marriage are co-owned by both spouses, so a surviving spouse may already own half of all marital property outright; only the decedent’s half passes through the estate.
Transfer by Affidavit (Wis. Stat. §867.03) – available when the decedent’s ENTIRE probate estate (personal property only; real estate is not covered by this shortcut) has a gross value of $50,000 or less. Available 30 days after death to an heir, a trustee of a revocable trust, a beneficiary named in the will, or a guardian of the decedent.
Summary Settlement (Wis. Stat. §867.01) – geared toward estates of $50,000 or less where there is a surviving spouse, domestic partner, or minor children, or where the estate would otherwise be absorbed by allowances and expenses.
Summary Assignment – another shortcut for estates too small to pay debts in full.
Formal or Informal Administration – required for larger or more complex estates. Begins with a Petition for Administration (Form PR-1801) filed with the county Register in Probate to admit the will (if any) and appoint a personal representative.
Step 2: filing for administration
File a Petition for Administration (Form PR-1801) with the Eau Claire County Register in Probate.
Mail notice of the hearing to all heirs, beneficiaries, and interested parties at least 20 days before the hearing; publish notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county for three successive weeks.
Once appointed, the personal representative inventories assets, and the court (for formal administration) or Register in Probate (for informal) sets a creditor claims deadline – generally 3 to 4 months from the date of the court’s order, with first publication of that notice required within 15 days of the order.
The personal representative pays valid debts and expenses, then distributes remaining assets to heirs/beneficiaries.
File a final accounting with the Circuit Court (Probate) showing all assets received, debts paid, and distributions made; once approved, the estate is closed.
Wisconsin Circuit Courts require attorneys to e-file; pro se (self-represented) filers are encouraged to use the Wisconsin Circuit Court eFiling system as well.
What it costs
Personal representative compensation: presumptive statutory rate of 2% of inventory value (Wis. Stat. §857.05), though the will or the parties can agree to a different amount.
Filing fees, publication costs, and (for real estate transfers under the small-estate process) an Affidavit of Heirship and Affidavit of Service, notarized and filed with the court.
Typical timeline: simple estates 6-12 months; complex or contested estates 18 months or longer.
Wisconsin does NOT impose a state estate tax or inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax may apply, with a $15,000,000 per-person exemption for 2026 – meaning the vast majority of Wisconsin estates owe nothing.
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
721 Oxford Ave, Eau Claire, WI 54703
(715) 839-4972
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
(715) 839-4745
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
Eau Claire City-County Health Department, 720 2nd Ave, Eau Claire, WI 54703
(715) 839-4718
Human Services
Eau Claire County Department of Human Services, 721 Oxford Ave, Eau Claire, WI 54703
(715) 839-2300
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Eau Claire City-County Health Department – (715) 839-4718 | Email: [email protected]
Services: Immunizations, WIC, environmental health, vital records; overseen jointly by the Eau Claire County Board and Eau Claire City Council through a shared Board of Health
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Eau Claire
Population: 105,000
Tier: 3
Public Records
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