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.
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.
What do you need to do?
Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
Office: Price County Emergency Management – 104 S Eyder Ave, Rm 224, Phillips, WI 54555 | (715) 339-5239 | Fax: (715) 339-3057
Services: Coordinates disaster preparedness, response, and recovery countywide; maintains storm and flood cleanup resources
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: WI-13 and US-8 serve Phillips, the county seat; the Pine Line/Price-Taylor Rail Trail and Tuscobia State Trail both run through the county; Price County Airport (KPBH) sits one mile northwest of Phillips
Transit: No dedicated fixed-route county transit identified; confirm current regional options directly with the county
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Price County Zoning – 104 South Eyder Avenue, Rm 205, Phillips, WI 54555 | (715) 339-3272
Services: County zoning permits, land use permits, highway permits, 911 address applications ($50 fee)
Notes: Confirm whether your property falls under county or a specific town/city jurisdiction – many Price County towns (Harmony, Hill, Kennan, Prentice, Sherman) and the City of Park Falls maintain their own separate town/city halls handling local permits.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Price County Veterans Service Office – Phillips, WI
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Phillips Public Library – 286 Cherry Street, Phillips, WI 54555 | (715) 339-2868 | Director: Rebecca Smith | Hours: Mon–Fri 9 AM–7 PM, Sat 9 AM–1 PM (September through May)
Services: Serving the Price County community since 1929; hosts a “Bring Your Own Book Club” (last Wednesday monthly), “Books to Movies” club (first Monday monthly), and a monthly “Tea of the Month” take-and-make kit program; offers free eBook/eAudiobook downloads
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Price County is genuinely home to one of America’s most remarkable pieces of self-taught folk art – the WISCONSIN CONCRETE PARK, located just south of Phillips along WI-13, is a National Register of Historic Places-listed sculpture environment created by retired lumberjack Fred Smith, a Price County native born in 1886 to German immigrant parents; beginning in 1948 at age 63, working with no formal artistic training (he was also illiterate), Smith built over 200-237 life-size and larger-than-life concrete sculptures on his homestead property between 1948 and 1964, depicting a sweeping “historical panorama” – American folk heroes and historical figures like Ben Hur, Sacajawea, Paul Bunyan, and Abraham Lincoln alongside local legends, lumberjacks, Native Americans, and Wisconsin wildlife, all embellished with salvaged glass and found objects; Smith worked on the project until a 1964 stroke left him disabled, and following his 1976 death the Kohler Foundation, Inc. purchased and restored the site, which is now maintained as a free county park (open 24/7) with the nonprofit Friends of Fred Smith supporting ongoing preservation; separately, Phillips itself has a dramatic history – the town, platted in 1876 as a logging community, was almost entirely destroyed by a devastating fire in the dry summer of 1894 that killed 13 people, memorialized today at Lake Duroy; a massive July 4, 1977 downburst windstorm later destroyed roughly 850,000 acres of timber across Price County, an event that spurred local Phillips High School students into pioneering renewable-energy advocacy work, winning a U.S. grant in 1979
Notes: The Wisconsin Concrete Park’s genuine, National Register-listed status as one of America’s most celebrated folk art environments – created entirely by a self-taught, illiterate retired lumberjack – is an extraordinary and well-documented piece of local heritage.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Price County GIS – accessible via co.price.wi.us
Parcel Search: Price County Land Records
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Price County Zoning, (715) 339-3272
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Price County Humane Officer – Phillips, WI
Services: Rather than a physical shelter facility, Price County operates through a dedicated county Humane Officer position, whose mission is to protect legitimate ownership interests of domesticated animal owners in Price County; provides public education on animal care, facilitates found-animal reporting, online dog licensing for county residents, and a secure, anonymous channel to report animal abuse/neglect
Notes: This is a genuinely distinct county-level model rather than a traditional shelter – confirm current procedures for lost/found pets and licensing directly with the Humane Officer’s office.
Notes: Contact Price County directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Price County is home to the genuinely extraordinary Wisconsin Concrete Park – a National Register-listed folk art environment created single-handedly by a self-taught, illiterate retired lumberjack, now preserved as a free county park for all to enjoy. The county’s animal welfare approach is distinctive, run through a dedicated Humane Officer role rather than a traditional shelter facility. 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 Price County County
Price County is north Wisconsin’s Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest and Flambeau River county – the vast national forest and the Flambeau River State Forest’s wild river corridor with old-growth hemlock define a remote Northwoods county where Phillips serves the surrounding forest and recreation communities.
Phillips (the county seat, population ~1,500) is Price County’s governmental hub on WI-13, a north Wisconsin Northwoods community whose Chequamegon-Nicolet Forest, Flambeau River access, and recreation economy anchor its identity.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Price County Assessor at 126 Cherry Street, Phillips, WI 54555, phone 715-339-2545. WI assessed at fair market value.
Courts & Legal
Price County Circuit Court at 126 Cherry Street, Phillips, WI 54555, phone 715-339-3325, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
126 Cherry St, Phillips, WI 54555
(715) 339-3325
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Price County Register in Probate, Phillips (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Price 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
Price County Register in Probate Price County Courthouse, 126 Cherry Street, Room 208, Phillips, WI 54555 (715) 339-3078
Price County was created March 3, 1879, named for William T. Price, county seat Phillips, largest city Park Falls. 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 Price 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’s probate filing fee statewide is generally 0.2% of inventory value, minimum $20.
What it costs
Filing fee: approximately 0.2% of the estate’s inventory value, minimum $20.
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.
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
104 S Wisconsin Ave, Phillips, WI 54555
(715) 339-3011
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
(715) 339-3325
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
Price County Health Department, 104 S Wisconsin Ave, Phillips, WI 54555
(715) 339-3060
Health & Human Services
Price County Health and Human Services, 104 S Wisconsin Ave, Phillips, WI 54555
(715) 339-3011
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Price County Health Department – Phillips, WI
Services: Immunizations, WIC, environmental health, vital records
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.
Editorial Trust
5 official sources cited
Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Phillips
Population: 13,500
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Price County County residents.
