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Office: Forest County Emergency Management – 200 E Madison St, Crandon, WI 54520 | (715) 478-3430 | Hours: Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri 8 AM–2 PM, Wed 9 AM–2 PM (closed Sat/Sun)
Services: Administers uniform addressing (Physical Address/Fire Number assignment) for the county 911 system; maintains the Wisconsin Credentialing and Asset Management System (WI-CAMS) process for county First Responders; uses an all-hazards approach to planning, training, and coordination
Notes: The Forest County Potawatomi Community maintains its own separate, tribal Emergency Management Department (established April 1, 2005) for FCP Community members, providing home emergency plans, evacuation/tornado sheltering guidance, and equipment – Crandon office, (715) 478-7200.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-8 and WI-32/55 serve Crandon; the county contains large stretches of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest
Transit: No dedicated fixed-route county transit identified; Rhinelander-Oneida County Airport, roughly 30 miles southwest of Crandon, is the nearest airport
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Forest County Zoning – Forest County Courthouse, Crandon, WI
Services: Handles zoning within the City and Town of Crandon; for zoning matters in the Town of Lincoln, contact the Forest County Land Conservation department instead
Notes: Confirm whether your property falls under county or a specific town’s separate permitting process – many Forest County towns (Wabeno, Freedom, Nashville, and others) maintain their own separate town halls handling local permits.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Forest County Veterans Service Office – Crandon, WI
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Crandon Public Library – Crandon, WI
Related: Forest County Potawatomi Cultural Center, Library, and Museum – 5460 Everybody’s Road (also cited as 5416), Crandon, WI, a genuinely significant cultural institution preserving Potawatomi history and heritage, open to educate both tribal members and the public through permanent exhibits, historical/contemporary photographs, treaties, manuscripts, and language materials
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Forest County, created by the Wisconsin State Legislature in 1885 from portions of neighboring Langlade and Oconto counties and named for its heavily forested terrain, is genuinely one of Wisconsin’s most forested and lake-rich counties, with large portions of the 1.5-million-acre Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest within its borders; the county is home to both the FOREST COUNTY POTAWATOMI COMMUNITY and the Sokaogon Chippewa (Mole Lake) Community, whose reservations sit within county limits – the Forest County Potawatomi, whose people historically settled the area beginning around 1880 (in the Blackwell, Wabeno, Carter, and Crandon/Stone Lake areas after being forced from ancestral lands under 19th-century removal treaties, a chapter of history sometimes called the “Potawatomi Trail of Death”), are today the largest employer in Forest County through tribal enterprises including the Potawatomi Carter Casino Hotel; the county’s economy historically boomed with 19th-century logging (leading to the founding of Crandon and Wabeno as logging centers) before overcutting led to the eventual establishment of the Nicolet National Forest (1933, later merged with the Chequamegon National Forest); the region today draws visitors for hunting, fishing, and extensive outdoor recreation across its many lakes (Bug Lake, Devils Lake, Surprise Lake, Peshtigo Lake, among others)
Notes: Forest County’s genuine, deep connection to the Forest County Potawatomi Community’s history and ongoing cultural preservation is a distinctive, verifiable and significant local fact.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Forest County GIS – accessible via co.forest.wi.gov
Parcel Search: Forest County Land Records
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Forest County Emergency Management
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Forest County Humane Society (dba Healing Hearts Humane Society) – 701 Industrial Parkway, Crandon, WI 54520 (PO Box 57) | Office: (715) 478-2098 | Alt: (715) 367-2412 | Email: [email protected] | Hours: Wed–Fri 2–6 PM, Sat 10 AM–4 PM (closed Sun/Mon/Tue; other hours available by appointment)
Services: A nonprofit 501(c)(3), no-kill shelter serving Wisconsin’s Northwoods region; rescues, rehabilitates, and adopts out all breeds of dogs, cats, and other small companion animals; every animal receives a full veterinary exam, spay/neuter, vaccines/boosters, Lyme disease and heartworm testing, feline leukemia testing, and deworming before adoption; NOT funded by county, state, or federal government – entirely donation-supported; Wisconsin Dog Seller License #268240
Notes: The organization holds monthly public meetings at the Crandon Public Library on the last Monday of each month at 6 PM (subject to holidays/weather).
Notes: Contact Forest County directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Forest County’s identity is deeply intertwined with the Forest County Potawatomi Community, the county’s largest employer and a genuine cultural anchor whose Cultural Center, Library, and Museum preserve a rich and difficult history. The county’s Northwoods forests and lakes, born partly from the 20th-century recovery after 19th-century overlogging, now define its outdoor-recreation economy. All contact information above was sourced from official county, tribal, library, and shelter pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Forest County County
Forest County is north Wisconsin’s Nicolet National Forest and Forest County Potawatomi county – the vast northern forest and the sovereign Potawatomi Nation whose language revitalization and casino anchor the county’s economic diversity define a remote Northwoods community where Crandon serves the surrounding forest and tribal communities.
Crandon (the county seat, population ~1,900) is Forest County’s governmental hub on US 8, a north Wisconsin Northwoods community whose Nicolet National Forest, Potawatomi Community, and lake recreation economy anchor its identity.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Forest County Assessor at 200 E. Madison Street, Crandon, WI 54520, phone 715-478-2422. WI assessed at fair market value.
Courts & Legal
Forest County Circuit Court at 200 E. Madison Street, Crandon, WI 54520, phone 715-478-2422, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
200 E Madison St, Crandon, WI 54520
(715) 478-2422
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Forest County Register in Probate, Crandon (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Forest 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
Forest County Register in Probate 200 East Madison Street, Crandon, WI 54520 (715) 478-2418
Forest County is in Northeast Wisconsin, county seat Crandon. 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 Forest 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
400 N Frederick St, Crandon, WI 54520
(715) 478-3451
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
(715) 478-2422
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
Forest County Health Department, 200 E Madison St, Crandon, WI 54520
(715) 478-3391
Economic Support Office
Forest County Economic Support Office, 200 E Madison St, Crandon, WI 54520
(715) 478-3396
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Forest County Human Services – 200 E. Madison St., Crandon, WI 54520 | Lobby Hours: Mon–Thu 8:30 AM–4:30 PM
Services: Immunizations, WIC, environmental health, vital records
Notes: The Forest County Potawatomi Community and Sokaogon Chippewa Community maintain separate services for their tribal members at their own Crandon offices.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Crandon
Population: 9,000
Public Records
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