Scott County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. As of 2020, the population was 24,384. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Scottsburg.

History

Scott County was formed in 1820 from portions of Clark, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, and Washington counties. It was named for Gen. Charles Scott, who was Governor of

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

from 1808 to 1812.

Geography

According to the 2010 census, the county has a total area of , of which (or 98.78%) is land and (or 1.22%) is water.

Cities and towns

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

* Scottsburg

Unincorporated towns

* Blocher * Nabb *

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

* Leota * Lexington

Townships

* Finley *

Jennings Jennings is a surname of early medieval English origin (also the Anglicised version of the Irish surnames Mac Sheóinín or MacJonin). Notable people with the surname include: *Jennings (Swedish noble family) A–G *Adam Jennings (born 1982), A ...

Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...

* Lexington *

Adjacent counties

* Jennings County (northeast) * Jefferson County (east) * Clark County (south) * Washington County (west) * Jackson County (northwest)

Transit

* Southern Indiana Transit System

Major highways

Interstate 65 Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south Interstate Highway System, interstate highway in the central United States. As with most primary interstates ending in 5, it is a major crosscountry, north–south route, connecting between th ...

* U.S. Route 31 * State Road 3 * State Road 56 * State Road 160 * State Road 203 * State Road 256 * State Road 356 * State Road 362

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in Scottsburg have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1977 and a record high of was recorded in July 1930. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in May.

Government

The county government is a constitutional body, and is granted specific powers by the Constitution of Indiana, and by the Indiana Code. County Council: The county council is the legislative branch of the county government and controls all the spending and revenue collection in the county. Representatives are elected from county districts. The council members serve four-year terms. They are responsible for setting salaries, the annual budget, and special spending. The council also has limited authority to impose local taxes, in the form of an income and property tax that is subject to state level approval, excise taxes, and service taxes. Board of Commissioners: The executive body of the county is made of a board of commissioners. The commissioners are elected county-wide, in staggered terms, and each serves a four-year term. One of the commissioners, typically the most senior, serves as president. The commissioners are charged with executing the acts legislated by the council, collecting revenue, and managing the day-to-day functions of the county government. Court: The county maintains a

small claims court Small-claims courts have limited jurisdiction to hear civil cases between private litigants. Courts authorized to try small claims may also have other judicial functions, and go by different names in different jurisdictions. For example, it ma ...

that can handle some civil cases. The judge on the court is elected to a term of four years and must be a member of the Indiana Bar Association. The judge is assisted by a constable who is also elected to a four-year term. In some cases, court decisions can be appealed to the state level

circuit court Circuit courts are court systems in several common law jurisdictions. It may refer to: * Courts that literally sit 'on circuit', i.e., judges move around a region or country to different towns or cities where they will hear cases; * Courts that s ...

. County Officials: The county has several other elected offices, including

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

auditor An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting an ...

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

, recorder,

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

, and circuit

court clerk A court clerk (British English: clerk to the court or clerk of the court ; American English: clerk of the court or clerk of court ) is an officer of the court whose responsibilities include maintaining records of a court and administering oaths ...

. Each of these elected officers serves a term of four years and oversees a different part of county government. Members elected to county government positions are required to declare

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

affiliations and to be residents of the county. Scott County is part of Indiana's 9th congressional district and is represented in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

by Republican Trey Hollingsworth.

Demographics

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 24,181 people, 9,397 households, and 6,648 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 10,440 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.9% white, 0.4% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.2% black or African American, 0.1% Pacific islander, 0.5% from other races, and 0.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.5% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 20.1% were American, 15.6% were German, 11.9% were Irish, and 10.0% were English. Of the 9,397 households, 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.4% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 29.3% were non-families, and 24.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 2.97. The median age was 39.3 years. The median income for a household in the county was $47,697 and the median income for a family was $46,775. Males had a median income of $37,505 versus $30,107 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,414. About 12.2% of families and 15.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 22.6% of those under age 18 and 14.4% of those age 65 or over.

2015 HIV Outbreak

In late 2014 and early 2015, 17 HIV infections arising from Scott County initiated an Indiana Department of Health investigation that would result in the state declaring a public health emergency. The outbreak was fueled in part to intravenous drug use resulting from the opioid epidemic compounded by poor access to HIV testing. The public health crisis led to governor Mike Pence signing an executive order allowing a needle exchange site to open; before that time, needle exchanges were illegal in the state of Indiana. This was cited as the turning point in the outbreak, which allowed a county physician, Dr. William Cooke, to provide resources to those at risk or experiencing an HIV outbreak. This became the first needle exchange to exist in Indiana; a total of 9 would ultimately exist in the state. A total of 215 cases were eventually attributed to the outbreak. Despite the success of the program, county officials voted 2–1 to end the needle exchange program in June 2021.

References

{{authority control Indiana counties 1820 establishments in Indiana Populated places established in 1820