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Wisconsin · Lakeshore · #433
Sheboygan County, Wisconsin
On Lake Michigan's western shore, Sheboygan County holds the self-proclaimed Bratwurst Capital of the World, the global headquarters of Kohler - one of America's great industrial family dynasties - and Whistling Straits, where three PGA Championships have been decided on a links course above the lake.
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Office: Sheboygan County Emergency Management (Sheriff’s Department) – Director: Steven Steinhardt, (920) 459-3360
Services: Manages the four-phase emergency management cycle (mitigate, plan, respond, recover) for the county; oversees the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know (EPCRA) program; Sheboygan County Public Health coordinates health/medical emergency response, (920) 459-3207
Notes: EMS Council serves as an advisory committee to the County Board’s Law Enforcement Committee on emergency medical services needs.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-43 and US-151 serve Sheboygan, the county seat, on Lake Michigan; Shoreline Metro provides public transit access
Transit: Shoreline Metro operates local bus service in the Sheboygan area
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: City of Sheboygan Planning Department – 807 Center Avenue, Sheboygan, WI
Services: Zoning assistance, site plan review, variance requests
Notes: Confirm whether your property falls under city or a specific municipal/town jurisdiction – many Sheboygan County towns (e.g., Town of Lima, Town of Sheboygan, City of Sheboygan Falls) maintain their own separate building inspectors and permit processes.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Sheboygan County Veterans Service Office – Sheboygan, WI
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Mead Public Library – 710 North 8th Street, Sheboygan, WI 53081 | Director: Garrett Erickson | Hours: Mon–Thu 8:30 AM–8 PM, Fri–Sat 8:30 AM–5 PM, Sun 1–5 PM
Services: Established in 1897; serves as the main headquarters library of the Monarch Library System (covering Sheboygan, Ozaukee, Dodge, and Washington Counties); holds over 253,000 items and serves nearly 40,000 registered members; accessible via Shoreline Metro public transit
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Sheboygan is genuinely, officially the “BRATWURST CAPITAL OF THE WORLD” – a title it actively secured in competition with Bucyrus, Ohio, in the 1970s – celebrated each August at Brat Days, featuring the Sheboygan Jaycees’ 4-mile Brat Trot and the Johnsonville World Bratwurst Eating Championship; the local style (“fried and dressed”) serves the brat on a distinctive round Sheboygan hard roll with onion and brown mustard; separately, Sheboygan is genuinely and remarkably known as the “MALIBU OF THE MIDWEST” and “FRESHWATER SURF CAPITAL OF THE WORLD” – Lake Michigan’s shoreline here produces real, rideable surf, with prime season running late August through early April as cold air meets warmer lake water; Sheboygan hosted the Dairyland Surf Classic from the late 1980s through 2012, once the largest freshwater surfing competition in the world; North Beach remains a genuine pilgrimage site for surfers worldwide; the John Michael Kohler Arts Center and its associated Art Preserve showcase immersive, artist-built environments; nearby Kohler-Andrae State Park preserves rolling Lake Michigan dunes and shoreline; Sheboygan was recognized by Reader’s Digest as “The Best Place to Raise a Family” in the United States in 1995
Notes: Sheboygan’s genuine dual identity as both the official Bratwurst Capital of the World and a legitimate freshwater surfing destination is an extraordinary and well-documented combination of local heritage.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Sheboygan County GIS – accessible via sheboygancounty.com
Parcel Search: Sheboygan County Land Records
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Sheboygan County Emergency Management
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Humane Society of Sheboygan County (HSSC) – 3107 N 20th St, Sheboygan, WI
Services: Established in 1964, HSSC is Sheboygan County’s ONLY OPEN-ADMISSION, no-kill shelter, serving over 4,700-4,750 animals annually (with roughly 2,000+ coming in as strays each year, reclaimed or adopted); operates entirely on donations, with no taxpayer funding; the Companion Animal Assistance Program (CAAP) provides pet food for a year to food-insecure individuals/families; also provides free, no-cost temporary pet holding for people working with Safe Harbor or the Salvation Army Homeless Shelter to find safe housing; offers low-cost vaccine clinics, spay/neuter appointments, and Trap-Neuter-Return for feral cats
Notes: Wisconsin Dog Seller Permits #521965-DS and #507095-DS.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Complaints: Wisconsin DNR – dnr.wisconsin.gov; Sheboygan County Environmental Health Unit licenses/inspects restaurants, lodging, campgrounds, pools, and mobile food units
Notes: Contact your specific municipality directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Sheboygan genuinely holds two remarkable, official titles – Bratwurst Capital of the World and Freshwater Surf Capital of the World – a truly distinctive combination that captures the city’s real local character on Lake Michigan’s shore. 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 Sheboygan County
Sheboygan County operates at the intersection of blue-collar Wisconsin manufacturing tradition and extraordinary corporate patronage. The Kohler Company – plumbing products, engines, hospitality – was founded in Kohler village in 1873 and has been controlled by the Kohler family ever since. The company’s headquarters complex, including the American Club Resort (the only AAA Five Diamond hotel in the Midwest outside Chicago), the Kohler Design Center, and the adjacent Whistling Straits and Blackwolf Run golf courses, has made the village of Kohler one of the most unusual employer-built communities in the country. Kohler employees have access to amenities that most Wisconsin workers could only encounter as paying guests.
Beyond the Kohler compound, Sheboygan has a strong manufacturing economy in plastics, metal fabrication, and food processing. The bratwurst tradition – genuine, not merely promotional – reflects the county’s substantial German immigrant heritage, and the Fourth of July Brat Days festival has been a Sheboygan institution since 1953. Sheboygan’s Hmong community, established by refugees in the 1970s and 1980s, has become one of the most integrated and economically active in Wisconsin. The Sheboygan River mouth and lakefront have seen significant revitalization, and the county’s Lake Michigan access – for fishing, kayaking, and beachfront – contributes to quality of life. John Michael Kohler Arts Center is a nationally recognized art institution whose focus on art/industry relationships and outsider art distinguishes it from typical regional museums.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Wisconsin assesses property at 100% of fair market value at the municipal level; assessments are conducted annually by city, village, and township assessors. Property owners may appeal to the local Board of Review, which convenes at varying times by municipality. The Homestead Credit provides income-based property tax relief for lower-income Wisconsin residents. Wisconsin has an estate tax on estates above $5 million; no Wisconsin inheritance tax.
Courts & Legal
Courts & Legal
SENIOR SERVICES
Sheboygan County Division on Aging
650 Forest Avenue, Sheboygan Falls, WI 53085
Phone: (920) 467-4100
Senior transportation, Meals on Wheels, caregiver support, home modification, and long-term care options counseling for Sheboygan County residents.
Senior Services
Sheboygan County Division on Aging
650 Forest Avenue, Sheboygan Falls, WI 53085
Phone: (920) 467-4100
Senior transportation, Meals on Wheels, caregiver support, home modification, and long-term care options counseling for Sheboygan County residents.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
508 New York Ave, Sheboygan, WI 53081
(920) 459-3003
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Sheboygan County Register in Probate, Sheboygan (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Sheboygan 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
Sheboygan County Register in Probate 615 North 6th Street, Room 400, Sheboygan, WI 53081 (920) 459-3096
Sheboygan County is along Lake Michigan, home to the city of Sheboygan, county seat Sheboygan. 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 Sheboygan 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
615 N 6th St, Sheboygan, WI 53081
(920) 459-3111
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
(920) 459-3003
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Public Health
Sheboygan County Division of Public Health, 1011 N 8th St, Sheboygan, WI 53081
(920) 459-4172
Health & Human Services
Sheboygan County Health and Human Services, 1011 N 8th St, Sheboygan, WI 53081
(920) 459-3151
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Sheboygan County Public Health – (920) 459-3207 | Email: [email protected]
Services: Immunizations, WIC, environmental health, vital records; coordinates health/medical response during emergencies with Red Cross, Salvation Army, United Way, and area hospitals
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Editorial Trust
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Sheboygan
Population: 118,000
Tier: 3
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Sheboygan County facilities via Amazon.
