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Kansas County
Cloud County, Kansas
Concordia's German POW camp and the Republican River valley - from Concordia's World War II German prisoner of war camp (Camp Concordia held over 4,000 German prisoners of war from 1943-1945, including soldiers from Rommel's Afrika Korps - the camp's story is documented in the Brown Grand Theatre and local historical collections, representing one of the largest POW facilities in Kansas) to the Brown Grand Theatre (a magnificently restored 1907 opera house that serves as the cultural anchor of north-central Kansas) and the Republican River valley's agricultural productivity.
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Office: Cloud County Emergency Management – coordinated through the Sheriff’s Office, 2090 Ft. Kearney Street, Concordia, KS 66901.
Sheriff: Cloud County Sheriff’s Office – 2090 Ft. Kearney Street, Concordia, KS 66901 | Non-emergency (785) 243-3636; Sheriff Ken Davis. Administrative hours Mon-Fri 8 AM-5 PM; office open 24/7 for emergencies. Jail (Law Enforcement Center) opened 1930, expanded 1978, capacity 32 inmates.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Cloud County is one of Kansas’s larger counties at nearly 700 square miles.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-24 and US-81 serve Concordia, the county seat, in north-central Kansas.
Notes: Cloud County was created February 27, 1860 as Shirley County (seat at Clyde), moved to Rochester (now defunct) in 1866, renamed Cloud County in 1867, with the seat set permanently at Concordia in 1870.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Cloud County Courthouse – 811 Washington Street, Concordia, KS (built 1958-59, Modern style).
Notes: Concordia is home to the National Orphan Train Complex, the only museum in the country dedicated solely to the Orphan Train Movement – the mass relocation of over 250,000 orphaned and homeless children from eastern U.S. cities to new homes across the country between 1854 and 1929. Housed in a restored 1917 Union Pacific Depot (National Register of Historic Places), the complex includes an actual restored passenger rail car once used to carry orphan train riders, along with 31 life-sized statues depicting real riders scattered throughout Concordia for visitors to find on a self-guided walking tour. The museum estimates that roughly one in 25 living Americans is descended from an orphan train rider, and draws about 4,000 visitors annually, a third of them descendants doing family research.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Cloud County Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via cloudcountyks.org.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Concordia Public Library – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The National Orphan Train Complex and its city-wide statue trail are the county’s premier heritage attraction; Cloud County Community College (founded 1965) is also based in Concordia.
Notes: The genuine, one-of-a-kind National Orphan Train Complex is one of the most historically unique small museums covered in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Cloud County Appraiser’s Office – confirm current contact via cloudcountyks.org.
Office: Cloud County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via cloudcountyks.org.
NOTES: Cloud County is the first county in the third Kansas Round 3 batch, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, one-of-a-kind National Orphan Train Complex is one of the most historically unique small museums covered in this project. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Cloud County
Cloud County is north-central Kansas’s German POW camp and Republican River county – Concordia held over 4,000 Axis prisoners during World War II, including Afrika Korps veterans, while its 1907 opera house continues to anchor regional cultural life.
Camp Concordia – operational 1943-1945 – held German prisoners including veterans of Erwin Rommel’s North Africa campaign. The prisoners performed agricultural labor across north-central Kansas, and the camp’s history is documented in local collections.
Concordia (the county seat, population ~5,000) restored the Brown Grand Theatre to its 1907 elegance – the ornate opera house hosts performances that draw audiences from across the region.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Cloud County Appraiser at 811 Washington Street, Suite 101, Concordia, KS 66901, phone 785-243-8160. KS residential assessed at 11.5% of appraised value.
Courts & Legal
Cloud County District Court at 811 Washington Street, Concordia, KS 66901, phone 785-243-8124, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Elections)
811 Washington St., Concordia, KS 66901
(785) 243-8110
DISTRICT COURT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
811 Washington St., Concordia, KS 66901
(785) 243-8127
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
811 Washington St., Concordia, KS 66901
(785) 243-8110
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Cloud County District Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Cloud County Community College, Concordia, holds regional historical materials.
Local societies
No dedicated Cloud County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Cloud County District Court, 12th Judicial District 811 Washington Street, Suite P, Concordia, KS 66901 (785) 243-8124
Cloud County is in north-central Kansas, seated in Concordia. The 1958-1959 Cloud County Courthouse is the current building.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Kansas has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code, maintaining its own statutory framework under the Kansas Probate Code (K.S.A. Chapter 59). Kansas offers several tracks depending on estate size and complexity:
Small Estate Affidavit – for estates where the total value of probate property, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $75,000 (raised from $40,000 effective July 1, 2023), available under K.S.A. 59-1507b. This transfers personal property only. If the decedent left a will, it must still be filed with the probate court even though it isn’t being formally probated.
Simplified Administration – under the Kansas Simplified Estates Act (K.S.A. 59-3201 et seq.), the most common route for straightforward estates.
Formal Probate – supervised or unsupervised administration through the District Court for larger or more complex estates.
A will must be filed for probate within 6 months of death, or it may not be admitted, forcing the estate into intestate distribution.
Step 2: filing for formal probate
File a Petition for Probate of Will and Appointment of Executor (if there’s a will) or a Petition for Administration (if intestate) with the Cloud County District Court.
The court admits the will (if any) and appoints the personal representative.
Notice to creditors is published per court order; creditors have a defined window to file claims.
The personal representative inventories assets, pays valid debts and expenses, and – under unsupervised administration – acts with reduced court check-ins.
Without a surviving spouse or children, Kansas intestate succession law (K.S.A. 59-501 et seq.) determines which blood relatives inherit.
After debts are paid, the personal representative distributes assets and files a final accounting; the court closes the estate upon approval.
What it costs
Court costs may be remitted for small estates under recent statutory changes.
Executor/administrator and attorney fees are generally reasonable-fee based rather than a fixed statutory percentage.
Typical timelines: Small Estate Affidavit can proceed relatively quickly; formal probate commonly takes several months to over a year.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
811 Washington St., Concordia, KS 66901
(785) 243-2544
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Elections)
811 Washington St., Concordia, KS 66901
(785) 243-8110
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
811 Washington St., Concordia, KS 66901
(785) 243-8110
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Cloud County Health Dept
(785) 243-8160
KS DCF — North Central Region
(785) 243-8980
KS Medicaid (KanCare)
(800) 792-4884
Cloud County Health Center
cchcks.com (Concordia — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Cloud County Health Department – confirm current contact via cloudcountyks.org.
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