Jim Wells

Formed January 1, 1911 (248^th county)

Jim Wells County (38,893), Alice (17,870)                

Built in 1912 from the Texas Renaissance designs of Atlee B. Ayers, the courthouse is made of brown brick and concrete.  It is located at the corner of 2^nd and Almond Streets, two blocks north of Texas State Highway 44. The governmental looking structure had wings added in 1948.  This is the original courthouse for the county since its January 1, 1911 founding.  The county was created from Nueces County as the 248^th county.  Jim Wells County is named for prominent lawyer, James Wells.  Alice gets its name from Alice King Kleberg of the King Ranch family. 

Jim Wells County government consists of a county judge, a sheriff, a treasurer, an assessor, and a clerk (executive).  It has 4 Commissioners (legislative.)  One District Court Judge serves Jim Wells and Brooks counties and Two County Court Judges, a district attorney and a court clerk serve Jim Wells County (judicial.)  The county is located in south Texas, west of Corpus Christi, Texas, east of Laredo, Texas, and south of San Antonio, Texas.  The Nueces River forms the extreme northeast corner border.  The county center is in Alice .9 miles East of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Live Oak, San Patricio, Nueces, Kleberg, Brooks, and Duval counties. 

The area of the county is 865 square miles.  It is 180 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 81 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 45.0 persons per square mile making it 86 out of 254 in the state.  Jim Wells County has 57.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 281 crosses from north to south from Live Oak County to Brooks County.  The county is shaped like a small letter r.  Alice is close to the county center.  Alice is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 46.0% of the county population.  This county is in the Alice Micropolitan Statistical Area.