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Wisconsin County
Trempealeau County, Wisconsin
Perrot State Park and Mississippi River Driftless bluffs - from Perrot State Park (one of Wisconsin's most scenic state parks, Perrot occupies a dramatic peninsula at the confluence of the Trempealeau and Mississippi rivers, with towering limestone bluffs, ancient effigy mounds, and exceptional river views that capture the grandeur of the upper Mississippi River Valley landscape) to Trempealeau County's Driftless Area dairy and farming character (the county's coulee-carved terrain of steep ridges and fertile valleys supports dairy farming, small grain crops, and the rural Wisconsin character that defines the Driftless Area's agricultural landscape along the Mississippi River bluffs).
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Services: Manages the Emergency Management Cycle (mitigate, prepare, respond, recover) countywide, fostering emergency preparedness at individual, family, and community levels; the Sheriff’s Office uses Nixle for real-time community notifications of localized emergencies
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: WI-53 and WI-121 serve Whitehall, the county seat, along the Trempealeau River; the Great River State Trail runs through the county along the Mississippi
Transit: No dedicated fixed-route county transit identified; confirm current regional options directly with the county
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Trempealeau County Department of Land Management – 18600 Hobson Street, Whitehall, WI 54773 | (715) 538-2311 ext. 223 | Toll-Free: (877) 538-2311 ext. 223
Services: Land Use/Zoning, Building (Uniform Dwelling Code), and Manufactured Home Permits countywide; applications must be signed by both the applicant and the Town Chairman or Clerk
Notes: Contact the Department of Land Management BEFORE any construction, earth moving, filling, or grading – permits are doubled in cost if work begins before all applicable permits are issued. Confirm whether your municipality has additional local requirements.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Trempealeau County Veterans Service Office – Whitehall, WI
Services: A member of the Winding Rivers Library System (WRLS), serving Buffalo, Jackson, Juneau, La Crosse, Monroe, Trempealeau, and Vernon counties; offers free/discounted tickets to regional arts and entertainment venues with a library card, tech help via phone/email/Zoom, and weekly Pre-K Story Time
Related: Additional Trempealeau County libraries include Arcadia Public Library (housed in a historic Carnegie building) and the Shirley M. Wright Memorial Library in the village of Trempealeau
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Trempealeau County takes its name from one of the most geologically extraordinary landmarks on the entire Mississippi River – TREMPEALEAU MOUNTAIN, a genuine 425-foot-tall bluff standing completely surrounded by the waters of the Mississippi, Trempealeau, and Pine Rivers, within present-day Perrot State Park; French fur traders who encountered it by the early 1700s named it “La Montagne qui trempe à l’eau” (“the mountain that soaks in the water”), which was shortened over time to “Trempealeau”; the formation was created during the last Ice Age when catastrophic floods from bursting glacial meltwater lakes carved the Mississippi River gorge and isolated the bluff as a genuinely unique island landmark, used for centuries by Indigenous peoples (the Dakota called it Pah-hah-dak, “mountain separated by water,” and the Ho-Chunk called it Hay-nee-ah-chah, “soaking mountain”) and later by 19th-century steamboat captains as a navigational landmark; in 1685, French explorer Nicholas Perrot, guided by Ho-Chunk allies, built a winter fort at the Trempealeau Bluffs, making this one of the earliest documented European presences in the region; archaeological excavations beginning in the 1920s (led by the Milwaukee Public Museum) uncovered ancient effigy mounds and artifacts including flint knives, copper beads, and drilled bear-canine ornaments; today Perrot State Park’s Brady’s Bluff offers hiking to a rare dry bluff prairie with sweeping Mississippi views, and the adjacent Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge (6,200+ acres) is a major Mississippi Flyway bird-watching destination with over 200 documented species; large numbers of Norwegian and, later, Polish-Prussian immigrants (forming what became the nation’s second-largest Polish settlement) settled the county in the 19th century, a heritage still celebrated locally
Notes: Trempealeau Mountain’s genuine, geologically extraordinary status as an actual island bluff on the Mississippi River – documented by French explorers over 300 years ago – is an extraordinary and well-verified piece of natural and human history.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Trempealeau County GIS – accessible via co.trempealeau.wi.us
Parcel Search: Trempealeau County Land Records
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Trempealeau County Emergency Management
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Trempealeau County Humane Society (TCHS) – N27109 US Highway 53, Blair, WI 54616 | Hours: Mon by appointment, Tue 10 AM–3 PM, Thu 10 AM–3 PM, Fri/Sat by appointment (closed Wed/Sun)
Services: A no-kill, nonprofit shelter that opened November 25, 2005; provides safe shelter for stray/abandoned/abused cats and dogs, adoption, foster-to-adopt programs, and works to reunite lost animals with owners; all animals are vaccinated, microchipped, and spayed/neutered before adoption finalizes; canine adoption fee $150 ($250 for “Legacy” animals), feline adoption fee $75; homes with existing dogs must complete pre-adoption socialization at TCHS
Notes: Contact Trempealeau County directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Trempealeau County takes its name from one of the Mississippi River’s most extraordinary natural landmarks – a genuine island bluff documented by French explorers over three centuries ago and still visible today within Perrot State Park. 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 Trempealeau County
Trempealeau County is western Wisconsin’s Perrot State Park and Mississippi River Driftless bluff county – the park’s dramatic river confluence setting and the county’s scenic coulee terrain define one of the Driftless Area’s most visually striking counties along the upper Mississippi River Valley.
Whitehall (the county seat, population ~1,600) is Trempealeau County’s governmental hub, with Arcadia, Blair, and Galesville serving as larger commercial centers across the county’s Driftless Area communities.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Trempealeau County Assessor at 36245 Main Street, Whitehall, WI 54773, phone 715-538-2311. WI assessed at fair market value.
Courts & Legal
Trempealeau County Circuit Court at 36245 Main Street, Whitehall, WI 54773, phone 715-538-2311, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
36245 Main St, Whitehall, WI 54773
(715) 538-2311
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Trempealeau County Register in Probate, Whitehall (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Trempealeau 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
Trempealeau County Register in Probate 18600 Hobson Street, Whitehall, WI 54773 (715) 538-2311
Trempealeau County is in West Central Wisconsin along the Mississippi River, county seat Whitehall. 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.
Pursuant to Wis. Stat. §856.05, the original Will for every deceased person must be filed with the Register in Probate within 30 days of death – regardless of whether probate is ultimately opened.
Step 2: filing for administration
File a Petition for Administration (Form PR-1801) with the Trempealeau 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
36245 Main St, Whitehall, WI 54773
(715) 538-4351
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
(715) 538-2311
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
Trempealeau County Health Department, 20128 County Rd K, Whitehall, WI 54773
(715) 538-2311
Human Services
Trempealeau County Human Services, 20128 County Rd K, Whitehall, WI 54773
(715) 538-2311
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Trempealeau County Health Department – Whitehall, WI
Services: Immunizations, WIC, environmental health, vital records
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Whitehall
Population: 30,000
Established: 1854
Tier: 3
Public Records
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