Indiana
Buying Land in Greene County, Indiana
Seat Bloomfield, in southwestern Indiana. Greene County has no county-wide zoning ordinance, and an organized local group actively campaigns to keep it that way -- calling it one of the state's last "free counties." The county's deep coal-mining history also means an abandoned-mine check is worth adding to standard due diligence here.
Zoning: genuinely unzoned, and a local movement to keep it that way
Greene County is one of the roughly dozen of Indiana's 92 counties that has never adopted county-wide zoning -- and the county says so plainly itself: its own posted FAQ states that Greene County "is not subject to planning or zoning ordinances," and that the only permit typically required from the county to build, renovate, or remodel residential or commercial property is a septic permit, governed by state statute and local health-department rule rather than a zoning or building-code review. That's a meaningfully different regulatory environment than a zoned Indiana county: there's no county use-district map, no zoning-based variance process, and no county Board of Zoning Appeals for unincorporated land to navigate.
This isn't simply an accident of inertia, either -- a local group called Citizens for Property Rights actively organizes to keep Greene County unzoned, describing it on its own site as "one of the few remaining free counties" left in Indiana, which suggests the unzoned status is a live, contested local political issue rather than a settled question nobody thinks about. Note that the county's unzoned status applies specifically to unincorporated land: the incorporated cities and towns of Linton, Bloomfield (the county seat), and Jasonville each maintain their own separate municipal zoning and building codes, so a parcel inside any of those town limits should be checked against that municipality's own rules rather than assumed to share the county's unzoned status.
A deep coal-mining history -- and a real reason to check abandoned-mine risk
Greene County has one of Indiana's most extensive coal-mining histories, running from deep-shaft mining in the early 20th century -- including the Little Betty Mine near Linton, where a methane explosion killed 28 miners in 1931 -- through a postwar shift to large-scale strip mining. That legacy has a genuinely positive modern chapter: beginning in 1936, coal companies donated more than 3,000 acres of mined-out land to the state, and additional reclaimed acreage was added over subsequent decades, eventually growing into today's roughly 9,000-acre Greene-Sullivan State Forest -- a reclaimed strip-mine landscape now dotted with more than 120 lakes and used for hunting (whitetail deer, turkey, squirrel), fishing, and other recreation, straddling the Greene-Sullivan county line near Dugger.
That same history carries a practical due-diligence implication for a buyer looking at rural Greene County land outside the state forest itself: previously mined ground can carry real, documented hazards -- unstable highwalls, hidden mine openings, and unpredictable ground subsidence -- that aren't always obvious from the surface. The Indiana DNR's Division of Reclamation maintains a Coal Mine Information System (CMIS), an online map showing documented historical surface and underground coal-mine locations statewide, and it's worth checking any Greene County parcel against it before building, particularly land that was actively mined mid-20th century rather than always in continuous agricultural use.
Septic permitting and other departments to know
Because Greene County has no zoning ordinance, the Health Department's septic-permitting process functions as the primary piece of county-level land-use regulation most rural buyers will actually encounter. The Greene County Health Department ((812) 384-4496) requires a permit before installing, altering, repairing, or adding to any private sewage disposal system or privy, under both Indiana's statewide 410 IAC 6-8.3 rule and the county's own local ordinance (Ordinance 1992-1); applications go through the health department along with any required plans and specifications.
The Greene County Auditor's office and Assessor's office, both based in the Greene County Courthouse in Bloomfield, handle property tax records and valuation, and the County Recorder's office holds deeds, easements, and plats. Given the county's coal-mining history and its unzoned status, a title search and direct conversation with the Recorder's office about any recorded mineral rights severance or mining-related easement is worth the extra step here, since neither would necessarily be flagged by a zoning map the way it might be hinted at in a zoned county.
Who to Call Before Buying Land in Greene County
Direct WebFetch access to co.greene.in.us and notozoning.com was blocked by a network egress restriction throughout this research pass, so several department details reflect search-indexed content rather than a full verbatim site read -- confirm current staff, hours, and fees directly before relying on this page for a specific parcel.
Planning & Zoning
Greene County Commissioners
Confirming that Greene County has no county-wide zoning ordinance, and whether a specific parcel falls within Linton, Bloomfield, or Jasonville's separate municipal zoning.
Building & Permitting
Greene County Health Department
The septic permit that functions as Greene County's primary county-level building-related permit for unincorporated land.
Environmental Health
Greene County Health Department
General environmental health questions for Greene County.
Septic / Onsite Wastewater
Greene County Health Department
Private sewage disposal system permits under 410 IAC 6-8.3 and county Ordinance 1992-1.
GIS / Parcel Records
Greene County GIS (WTHGIS)
Property record cards, aerial photography, and parcel data.
Assessor / Property Tax
Greene County Assessor
Property valuation and assessment records.
Recorder / Clerk / Land Records
Greene County Recorder
Recorded deeds, easements (including any mineral-rights severance or mining-related easement), and plats for a specific parcel.
Want to know if this specific parcel actually works?
Tell us what you're looking at and we'll connect you with a local land specialist who can help you sanity-check it before you go further.
Get local guidanceTopics Specific to Greene County
Sources
- FAQs / Details (zoning and permitting) — Greene County, Indiana Government (accessed 2026-09)
- Citizens for Property Rights, Greene County, Indiana — Citizens for Property Rights (accessed 2026-09)
- Forestry: Greene-Sullivan State Forest — Indiana Department of Natural Resources (accessed 2026-09)
- Greene-Sullivan State Forest Hunting and Fishing Map — Indiana Department of Natural Resources (accessed 2026-09)
- Reclamation: Coal Mine Information System — Indiana Department of Natural Resources (accessed 2026-09)
- Reclamation: Mine Subsidence — Indiana Department of Natural Resources (accessed 2026-09)
- Greene County, Indiana — Grokipedia (accessed 2026-09)
- § 50.04 Permits for Installation, Alteration, Repair, or Addition — American Legal Publishing / Greene County, Indiana (accessed 2026-09)
- Health Department — Greene County, Indiana Government (accessed 2026-09)
Last reviewed 2026-09