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: Racine County Office of Emergency Management (RCOEM) – Racine County, WI
Services: Develops comprehensive all-hazard plans as well as specialized plans for chemical spills and terrorism; conducts disaster exercises/drills, emergency management training, and public awareness campaigns; responds to actual disasters/emergencies
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-94 runs through Racine County; the city of Racine sits on Lake Michigan roughly 70 miles north of Chicago and 25 miles south of Milwaukee
Transit: The Racine Public Library operates a Bookmobile serving multiple neighborhood stops across the city on a regular schedule
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Racine County Public Works and Development Services – Ives Grove Office Complex | Email: [email protected]
Services: Land use permits, Board of Adjustment/Variance, Conditional Use, Site Plan, and zoning permits; plans/applications may be dropped off Fridays before 4:30 PM closure in the Ives Grove lobby drop box
Notes: City of Racine maintains its own separate Building Department, 730 Washington Avenue, administering city building, heating, plumbing, and electrical codes – confirm whether your property falls under city or county jurisdiction.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Racine County Veterans Service Office – Racine County, WI
Services: First opened its doors in 1897, serving the community from its current 7th Street/Lake Michigan lakefront location since 1958; serves roughly 141,790 residents with over 273,000 volumes and about 1 million items circulated annually; includes a dedicated Youth Services Department, Adult Services Department, TeenScene, and the Innovation Lab (creativity/technology space); offers notary and proctoring services, home delivery, and interlibrary loans
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Racine County is genuinely home to an extraordinary concentration of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture – the SC JOHNSON HEADQUARTERS CAMPUS in Racine includes the 1939 Administration Building and 1950 Research Tower, both National Register of Historic Places-listed and both still in active use today; the Administration Building’s Great Workroom, featuring soaring dendriform (tree-shaped) columns nine inches in diameter at the base and 18.5 feet at the top, is widely regarded as one of the top 25 buildings of the 20th century, and the adjacent 15-story Research Tower – supported by a cantilevered core extending 50 feet underground – was the genuine birthplace of SC Johnson brands including Raid, Glade, OFF!, and Pledge; nearby, WINGSPREAD, built for H.F. Johnson Jr. in the early 1940s, is Wright’s largest and last Prairie-style residential design; separately, Racine holds the official title of “KRINGLE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD,” a legacy of the city’s genuine 19th-20th century Danish immigrant community – Kringle, the oval-shaped, fruit-filled Danish pastry produced predominantly in Racine County, was officially named the STATE PASTRY OF WISCONSIN in 2013 through legislation introduced by then-State Representative Cory Mason; in the 1940s, Racine was home to the Racine Belles, one of the original teams in the real All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, who played at historic Horlick Field, which still hosts athletic events today
Notes: Racine’s genuine concentration of major Frank Lloyd Wright commercial architecture, alongside its official state-recognized status as the birthplace of Wisconsin’s state pastry, are extraordinary and well-documented pieces of local heritage.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Racine County GIS – accessible via racinecounty.gov
Parcel Search: Racine County Register of Deeds
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Racine County Office of Emergency Management
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Wisconsin Humane Society – Racine Campus – 8900 16th St, Mt Pleasant, WI 53177 | (262) 554-6699 | Hours: Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri 1:30–5:30 PM, Sat 12–5 PM (closed Wed/Sun)
Services: One of six Wisconsin Humane Society campuses statewide (founded 1879, the state’s oldest animal welfare organization); provides adoption services, stray/lost animal and law enforcement holding for Racine County municipalities, surrendered-animal intake, affordable vaccines/microchips/spay-neuter, pet food pantry access, and dog training classes; emergency surrenders and stray animals can be accommodated even on days the campus is otherwise closed to the public
Notes: WHS receives no general government funding and operates independently of any national umbrella organization.
Notes: Contact Racine County directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Racine County holds a genuinely extraordinary concentration of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture at the SC Johnson headquarters campus, alongside its official, state-recognized status as the birthplace of Wisconsin’s state pastry, Kringle – a legacy of the city’s real Danish immigrant heritage. 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 Racine County County
Racine County is Wisconsin’s fifth most populous county and the 327th most populous in the United States, covering 333 square miles of southeastern Wisconsin along Lake Michigan between Milwaukee and the Illinois border.
Racine (population ~78,000, the county seat) is best known to architecture enthusiasts as the home of two of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most celebrated non-residential buildings – the SC Johnson Administration Building (1939) and the SC Johnson Research Tower (1950) – a complex that Wright considered among his finest work. SC Johnson (the consumer products company behind Windex, Raid, Pledge, and other brands) has been headquartered in Racine since the late 19th century. The Johnson-designed buildings are open for tours and represent one of the most significant corporate architectural achievements in American history.
Racine is also famous for the kringle – a flaky, oval Danish pastry filled with nuts, fruit, or cheese that has become central to Racine’s culinary identity. Danish immigrants settled in Racine in the late 19th century, and their pastry tradition has been maintained by multiple bakeries including O&H Danish Bakery, which ships kringles nationally.
Mount Pleasant (a large township population ~28,000) became nationally known when Wisconsin and Mount Pleasant approved a massive Foxconn Technology Group manufacturing campus in 2017 – a $4.1 billion commitment that was controversially subsidized with over $4 billion in state and local incentives. Foxconn’s actual investment fell far short of promises, and the project was dramatically scaled back, becoming a cautionary tale in economic development incentive negotiations.
Burlington (population ~11,000) is home to the Nestle chocolate manufacturing operations – one of the largest chocolate production facilities in North America – and is known as the Chocolate City of the USA.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Wisconsin municipalities assess at full value (100%) as determined by the State DOR equalization process.
The appeal process: File with your local municipality’s Board of Review between the first Monday in May and adjournment (typically June). If dissatisfied, appeal to the Wisconsin Tax Appeals Commission or Circuit Court.
Wisconsin has no estate tax and no inheritance tax.
OWNWELL CTA: Racine County municipality Board of Review: first Monday in May through adjournment. SC Johnson and Lake Michigan character support Racine residential market. No WI estate or inheritance tax. Ownwell manages the appeal with no upfront cost.
Courts & Legal
Courts & Legal
Circuit Court (Probate): The Racine County Circuit Court at 730 Wisconsin Avenue, Racine, WI 53403, phone 262-636-3333, handles probate, estate administration, guardianships, and all civil and criminal matters.
Register of Deeds: The Racine County Register of Deeds at 730 Wisconsin Avenue maintains real property records. Land records searchable online.
Senior Services
The Racine County Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) at 14200 Washington Avenue, Sturtevant, WI 53177, phone 262-833-8777, serves the county’s senior population with in-home services, caregiver support, nutrition programs, and transportation. Ascension All Saints Hospital provides significant geriatric care.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
730 Wisconsin Ave, Racine, WI 53403
(262) 636-3208
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Racine County Register in Probate, Racine (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Racine 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
Racine County Register in Probate 730 Wisconsin Avenue, Racine, WI 53403 (262) 636-3868
Racine County is along Lake Michigan, home to the city of Racine, county seat Racine. 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 Racine 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
717 Wisconsin Ave, Racine, WI 53403
(262) 636-3111
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
(262) 636-3208
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Public Health Department
Racine County Public Health Department, 14200 Washington Ave, Union Grove, WI 53182
(262) 638-6774
Human Services Department
Racine County Human Services Department, 1717 Taylor Ave, Racine, WI 53403
(262) 636-9484
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Racine County Health Department – Racine County, 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: Racine
Population: 197,000
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Racine County County facilities via Amazon.
