Hillsville Magistrate, the magistrate court for Carroll county, is in the Twenty-Seventh judicial district of Virginia.

Hillsville, which began its life as a town called Cranberry Plains, started as a trading post along a stagecoach road and where rye, wheat, and corn were grown and exported to other areas. Somewhere between 1820 and 1830, the town's name was changed to Hillsville. Around 1920, the owner of the Hale-Wilkinson-Carter home developed and installed a rather unique system, the hydraulic ram, to supply water to the house and nearby residences and establishments within Hillsville. At the time five other Virginia communities adopted the ram system because of its innovative design. The Carter Hydraulic Rams are preserved in the Carter Pines Community Park and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.