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Wisconsin County
Juneau County, Wisconsin
Necedah Wildlife Refuge and Driftless Area state parks - from the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge (the refuge is one of the most important wetland complexes in the upper Midwest, providing critical habitat for whooping cranes, sandhill cranes, and hundreds of other bird species - the refuge was central to the historic effort to reintroduce whooping cranes to the eastern United States using ultralight aircraft to teach migration routes) to Wildcat Mountain State Park (the park preserves one of the finest examples of the Driftless Area's unglaciated coulee landscape, with exceptional canoe camping on the Kickapoo River and overlooks of the rolling ridge-and-valley terrain).
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Office: Juneau County Emergency Management – Mauston, WI | (608) 847-9393 | Email: [email protected]
Services: Coordinates mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery for natural disasters, human-caused disasters, and acts of terrorism using an all-hazards approach
Notes: After-hours non-emergency dispatch (power outages, downed trees, water main breaks): Juneau County Dispatch, (608) 847-5649.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-90/94 runs directly through Juneau County near Camp Douglas and Mauston; the county borders the Wisconsin Dells area
Transit: No dedicated fixed-route county transit identified; confirm current regional options directly with the county
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Juneau County Clerk’s Office – Juneau County Courthouse, Mauston, WI
Services: Filing and issuance of county building permits, land use permits, access permits, utility permits, and special event permits
Notes: Confirm whether your property falls under county or a specific municipal jurisdiction – cities like Elroy maintain their own separate building inspector ((608) 697-7807) and permit paperwork available at City Hall.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Juneau County Veterans Service Office – Mauston, WI
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Hatch Public Library – 111 W. State Street, Mauston, WI 53948 | (608) 847-4454 | Fax: (608) 847-2306 | Email: [email protected] | Hours: Mon–Thu 9 AM–7 PM (some sources list 9 AM–8 PM), Fri–Sat 9 AM–3 PM
Services: A member of the Winding Rivers Library System (WRLS), serving Buffalo, Jackson, Juneau, La Crosse, Monroe, Trempealeau, and Vernon counties; holds pre-1907 Wisconsin birth/marriage/death registers on microfilm for a multi-county region (Adams, Juneau, Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Portage, Waupaca, Waushara, Wood); extensive local church, cemetery, and centennial-booklet collections for Camp Douglas, Elroy, Lyndon Station, Necedah, and New Lisbon
Related: Additional WRLS branches serve Elroy and New Lisbon within Juneau County
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Juneau County, established 1857 from lands separated from Adams County and named for Solomon Juneau (a founder of Milwaukee), was long ago the home of Native Americans who left genuine artifacts including thunderbird rock art etched at Twin Bluffs and the Gee’s Slough mounds near New Lisbon; MILL BLUFF STATE PARK, spanning eastern Monroe and western Juneau Counties near Camp Douglas, showcases dramatic glacial-era rock formations, with 223 stone steps built by the Works Progress Administration in the mid-1930s leading to a scenic observation deck atop the bluff; the village of Camp Douglas began as a genuine 19th-century railroad lumber camp established by James Douglas to supply wood for locomotives, later becoming home to a Wisconsin National Guard training installation just north of the village; Juneau County is also home to significant portions of the NECEDAH NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, established after early 20th-century wetland-drainage farming schemes failed; the county’s real, distinctive natural landscape – shaped by glacial meltwater leaving vast areas of marginal farmland – became a major driver of its later tourism-based economy; the 1938-39 Juneau County Courthouse in Mauston, a Moderne-style building constructed with WPA assistance and designed by architects Hougen & Henderson, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Notes: Mill Bluff’s genuine WPA-era stone stairway and the county’s documented Native American rock art sites are distinctive, verifiable local features.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Juneau County GIS – accessible via co.juneau.wi.gov
Parcel Search: Juneau County Land Records
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Juneau County Emergency Management
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Carl W. Nelson Animal Shelter (CWNAS) – W5096 State Road 82, Mauston, WI (PO Box 345)
Services: A nonprofit 501(c)(3), no-kill shelter continuing the legacy of the late Carl W. Nelson, serving Juneau County and surrounding communities; provides safe, compassionate shelter for abandoned, abused, and neglected cats and dogs while working toward adoption placement; relies heavily on community donations of everyday supplies (laundry detergent, pet food, cleaning supplies)
Notes: To report a stray or lost dog, contact the Juneau County Sheriff’s Department directly at (608) 847-5649 rather than the shelter.
Notes: Contact Juneau County directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Juneau County’s Mill Bluff State Park and its WPA-built stone stairway, alongside genuine ancient Native American rock art sites, reflect a landscape shaped by both deep glacial history and Depression-era public works. Note the recurring naming confusion between Juneau County (seat: Mauston) and the entirely separate City of Juneau in Dodge County. 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 Juneau County
Juneau County is central Wisconsin’s Necedah whooping crane refuge and Driftless Area state park county – the nationally significant wetland refuge and the scenic Kickapoo River coulee terrain define a county whose conservation and outdoor recreation assets attract birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts to the heart of Wisconsin.
Mauston (the county seat, population ~4,400) is Juneau County’s governmental hub along the Wisconsin River, with New Lisbon and Elroy providing additional commercial services to county residents.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Juneau County Assessor at 220 E. State Street, Mauston, WI 53948, phone 608-847-9300. WI assessed at fair market value.
Courts & Legal
Juneau County Circuit Court at 220 E. State Street, Mauston, WI 53948, phone 608-847-9351, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
200 Oak St, Mauston, WI 53948
(608) 847-9300
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Juneau County Register in Probate, Mauston (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Juneau 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
Juneau County Register in Probate 200 Oak Street, Room 2300, Mauston, WI 53948 (608) 847-9346
Juneau County is in Central Wisconsin, county seat Mauston. 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 Juneau 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
211 Hickory St, Mauston, WI 53948
(608) 847-6161
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
(608) 847-9300
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
Juneau County Health Department, 220 E State St, Mauston, WI 53948
(608) 847-9373
Human Services
Juneau County Human Services, 220 E State St, Mauston, WI 53948
(608) 847-9373
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Juneau County Department of Human Services – 200 Hickory Street, Mauston, WI 53948 | (608) 847-9472 | Director: Dawn Buchholz
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Mauston
Population: 27,000
Established: 1857
Tier: 3
Public Records
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