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Kansas County
Dickinson County, Kansas
Abilene - the first Kansas cattle town - and Dwight Eisenhower's hometown - from Abilene's dual distinction as the first Kansas cattle town and the birthplace of Dwight D. Eisenhower (the 34th President of the United States was born in Denison, Texas, but grew up in Abilene - the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, the Eisenhower family home, and the Place of Meditation containing Eisenhower's burial site make Abilene one of the most significant presidential heritage destinations in the Great Plains) to Abilene's 1867-1872 cattle town era when Wild Bill Hickok served as marshal.
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Office: Dickinson County Emergency Communications/Emergency Management – sole emergency communications center for the county, handling calls for 5 law enforcement agencies, 7 EMS/first responder services, and 13 fire departments. Non-emergency: (785) 263-4041 or (785) 263-1212; toll-free outside Abilene 1-888-800-0417.
Sheriff: Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office – 109 E. 1st Street, Abilene, KS 67410 | (785) 263-4081 | Fax (785) 263-2051 | Jail (785) 263-4734; Sheriff Jerry Davis. Located in the Dickinson County Courthouse (jail built 2020, capacity 64). Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-5 PM.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-70 and US-77 serve Abilene, the county seat, in central Kansas.
Notes: Dickinson County was established February 20, 1857, named for Daniel S. Dickinson, a U.S. Senator from New York.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Dickinson County Courthouse – 109 E. 1st Street, Abilene, KS.
Notes: Abilene is the hometown and final resting place of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States and Supreme Allied Commander during WWII. The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home – a 22-acre National Archives (NARA) complex – includes Eisenhower’s actual childhood home (where he lived from 1898 until his 1911 appointment to West Point), a museum tracing his military and presidential career, a research library holding roughly 30 million pages of records, 335,000 photographs, and 70,000 artifacts, and the Place of Meditation chapel where Eisenhower, his wife Mamie, and their infant son are interred. The site attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually and features an 11-foot bronze statue of the General.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Dickinson County Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via dkcoks.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Abilene Public Library (Abilene) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home is the county’s premier and nationally significant heritage attraction.
Notes: The genuine national and presidential significance of the Eisenhower complex is one of the most historically important sites covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Dickinson County Appraiser’s Office – confirm current contact via dkcoks.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
⚠️ The City of Abilene has no dedicated animal shelter. Abilene Animal Hospital serves as the holding facility for stray animals for both the city and Dickinson County – (785) 263-2301; strays are scanned for microchips, posted on Facebook (Strays of Dickinson County KS) for 3 days seeking owners, then made available for adoption. The hospital does not accept animal surrenders and is not a rehoming shelter.
City of Solomon Animal Shelter/Pound and City of Woodbine Pound also operate as small municipal facilities elsewhere in the county.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Dickinson County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via dkcoks.gov.
NOTES: Dickinson County is the seventh and final county in the third Kansas Round 3 batch, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine national and presidential significance of the Eisenhower complex is one of the most historically important sites covered anywhere 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 Dickinson County
Dickinson County is north-central Kansas’s presidential and cattle town heritage county – Abilene holds the remarkable distinction of being both the first Kansas cattle town and the boyhood home of a US president and Supreme Allied Commander.
Abilene (the county seat, population ~6,500) has two extraordinary historical identities. As the terminus of the Chisholm Trail from 1867-1872, it was the original Kansas cattle town where Wild Bill Hickok served as marshal. As Dwight Eisenhower’s hometown, it is the site of the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum – one of the most complete presidential libraries in the country.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Dickinson County Appraiser at 109 E. 1st Street, Suite 104, Abilene, KS 67410, phone 785-263-4418. KS residential assessed at 11.5% of appraised value.
Courts & Legal
Dickinson County District Court at 109 E. 1st Street, Abilene, KS 67410, phone 785-263-4418, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Elections)
109 E. 1st St., Abilene, KS 67410
(785) 263-3774
DISTRICT COURT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
109 E. 1st St., Abilene, KS 67410
(785) 263-3142
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
109 E. 1st St., Abilene, KS 67410
(785) 263-3774
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Dickinson County District Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, and Boyhood Home in Abilene is a nationally significant local historical resource.
Local societies
No dedicated Dickinson 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
Dickinson County District Court, 8th Judicial District 109 East 1st Street, P.O. Box 127, Abilene, KS 67410 (785) 263-3142
Dickinson County’s seat, Abilene, has been the county seat since 1857 and is home to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, the president’s boyhood home. The 1955-1956 Dickinson County Courthouse (Modern style) is the county’s 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 Dickinson 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
109 E. 1st St., Abilene, KS 67410
(785) 263-4545
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Elections)
109 E. 1st St., Abilene, KS 67410
(785) 263-3774
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
109 E. 1st St., Abilene, KS 67410
(785) 263-3774
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Dickinson County Health Dept
(785) 263-3805
KS DCF — North Central Region
(785) 263-3600
KS Medicaid (KanCare)
(800) 792-4884
Salina Regional Health Center
srhc.com (adjacent Saline County — major regional hospital)
Memorial Health System (Abilene)
memorialhealthsystem.com (quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Dickinson County Health Department – confirm current contact via dkcoks.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Abilene
Population: 19,000
Area: 849 sq mi
Established: 1857
Tier: 3
Public Records
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