Welcome to Scott County

The History

County records from Scott County were destroyed during the Civil War. Godspeed's 1888 History of Southeast Missouri provided the basic information for the county's early history.

The first log courthouse in Benton, built on the square soon after the town was laid out in 1820, quickly became inadequate and was razed. A brick budling replaced it in 1844 but, poorly constructed in the first place, it soon became unsafe and was condemned. The third courthouse in Benton, a frame structure built in 1855, lasted less than 10 years. According to Laws of Missouri, the State Legislature ordered the county seat moved to Commerce in 1863 to escape Civil War raids of armed rebels, which had prevented the court from holding any session for several months. Previous county records were moved to the military post at Cape Girardeau.

In Commerce, the court built the fourth courthouse, a plain, two-story, brick courthouse. But Commerce proved to be an unacceptable site, and the people voted to move back to more centrally located Benton in 1878.

The fifth courthouse, completed in 1883, was a brick, two-story building about 40 by 70 feet with a cupola. The costs came to about $11,000. Thirty years later, the community had outgrown the building. It was not well heated or lighted, and renovation would have been costly, so county officials decided to build a new one. The 1883 building was demolished in 1912, making way for the new and present courthouse.

DON FRAZIER ~ dfrazier@semissourian.com Scott County Courthouse in Benton, Mo. after renovations and remodeling. Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2006. [Click to enlarge]

Quick facts

Scott County Courthouse
131 S. Winchester
Benton, Mo., 63736
573-545-3549
County population trends
1980 1990 2000 2005
39,582 39,376 40,422 41,143
County seat: Benton
Year organized: 1821
Square miles: 421
Size of board: 3

Elected County Officials

Jamie Burger, presiding commissioner
Dennis Ziegenhorn, 1st district commissioner
Donnie Kiefer, 2nd district commissioner
Paul Boyd, prosecuting attorney
Pam Dirnberger, public administrator
Scott Amick, coroner
Rick Walter, sheriff
Glenda Enderle, treasurer
Teresa Houchin, assessor
Mark Hensley, collector
Rita Milam, county clerk
Tom Dirnberger, recorder
Pam Glastetter, circuit clerk