Yes if the wall is load-bearing, and that is the case where a permit protects you rather than inconveniencing you. A purely cosmetic partition usually does not need one, but electrical or plumbing inside any wall triggers its own requirement.
More detail
The permit question and the safety question are the same question here, which is why this one is worth getting right rather than getting around. When a permit is required. Any removal or alteration of a load-bearing wall, because the load it carries has to be transferred to a beam and posts sized by someone qualified, and carried down through the structure to the foundation. Any wall containing electrical circuits that will be rerouted. Any wall containing plumbing beyond a fixture swap. Some jurisdictions also require one for non-structural demolition above a size threshold. When it usually is not. A non-load-bearing partition with nothing in it, in the same footprint, with no mechanical work involved. How to tell whether a wall is bearing, provisionally. Walls running perpendicular to the floor joists above are more likely to be carrying them. Walls stacked directly above a beam, a post, or a bearing point in the crawl or slab plan are likely bearing. Exterior walls essentially always are. Interior walls parallel to the joists with nothing above them frequently are not. All of that is a starting hypothesis rather than a conclusion, because modern trusses, point loads from a roof, and previous remodels all break the simple rules. Why guessing is the expensive path. Removing a bearing wall without a properly sized header produces sagging floors above, cracked drywall, and doors that stop closing, and the correction after the fact costs multiples of the beam that should have gone in. It also becomes an unpermitted structural alteration that surfaces at resale. What the correct sequence costs. A structural engineer's evaluation and beam specification for a single wall is typically a few hundred dollars in the US 75 corridor from McKinney to Durant, the permit is modest, and the inspection confirms the work was done to the specification. Permit requirements are set by the city the property sits in, or by the county for unincorporated areas, so confirm with that office before design. The encouraging part: open-plan conversions are among the most reliably valued remodels in this market, and done properly the header disappears into the ceiling and nobody ever knows it is there.