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Kansas County
Ford County, Kansas
Dodge City - the Queen of the Cowtowns - from Dodge City's legendary cattle trail heritage (the most famous cattle town in the American West - Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and Luke Short all walked Front Street, the Long Branch Saloon served cowboys who drove the Western Trail north from Texas, and an estimated five million longhorn cattle passed through Dodge City between 1875-1885 making it the cattle shipping capital of the world) to Boot Hill Museum's preserved Front Street experience and Dodge City's modern beef processing industry (the National Beef plant continues the city's cattle heritage with one of the largest beef processing facilities in the United States).
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Office: Ford County Emergency Management – 1506 W. Comanche Street, Dodge City, KS 67801 | (620) 227-4646 (Ford County Communications Center, also dispatches for Edwards, Hodgeman, and Lane counties). Manages the Ford County Emergency Operations Center and CERT program.
Sheriff: Ford County Sheriff’s Office – 11311 E. Comanche Road (also listed 1506 W. Comanche), Dodge City, KS 67801 | Mailing: PO Box 747 | (620) 227-4501 | Jail Admin (620) 227-4508 | Fax, Admin (620) 227-3284, Records (620) 227-4504. Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-5 PM.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-50, US-56, and US-283 serve Dodge City, the county seat, in southwestern Kansas.
Notes: Ford County was established February 26, 1867, named for Colonel James Ford, who oversaw construction of Fort Dodge after the Civil War. The Santa Fe Trail passed through the region long before formal settlement.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Ford County Courthouse – Dodge City, KS.
Notes: Dodge City is one of the most iconic towns of the American Old West, genuinely earning its historic nicknames “Cowboy Capital of the World” and the “Wickedest Little City in America.” Founded in 1872 with the arrival of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, it first thrived as a buffalo-hide shipping point before becoming the dominant Kansas cattle-drive terminus from 1875 to 1885. The town’s early law enforcement roster reads like a who’s who of Old West legend: Charlie Bassett, founder of the famous Long Branch Saloon, served as Ford County’s first sheriff, with deputies including Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson – Masterson himself was later elected Ford County Sheriff in 1877, appointing Bassett as his undersheriff. The town’s Boot Hill Cemetery and its modern recreation, Boot Hill Museum, commemorate this frontier era.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Ford County Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via fordcounty.net.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Dodge City Public Library (Dodge City) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Boot Hill Museum, the El Capitan cattle drive monument, and the historic Long Branch Saloon site are the county’s premier heritage attractions.
Notes: The genuine Wyatt Earp/Bat Masterson/Charlie Bassett law enforcement history is among the most iconic Old West facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Ford County Appraiser’s Office – confirm current contact via fordcounty.net.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Dodge City Animal Shelter – 104 N. 14th Avenue, Dodge City, KS 67801 | (620) 225-8180. Hours: Mon-Fri 9 AM-5 PM, Sat 11 AM-5 PM, closed Sun/holidays. Dog adoption fee $135 (unaltered) or $70 (pre-altered). Report animal issues via Ford County Communications Center, (620) 227-4646.
Ford County Humane Society – 800 Avenue P, Dodge City, KS 67801 | (620) 225-1481. Has placed over 5,000 pets and assisted with spay/neuter costs for thousands more since inception.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Ford County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via fordcounty.net.
NOTES: Ford County is the second county in the fifth Kansas Round 3 batch, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine Wyatt Earp/Bat Masterson/Charlie Bassett law enforcement history is among the most iconic Old West facts 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 Ford County
Ford County is southwest Kansas’s legendary cattle town county – Dodge City’s frontier heritage as the Queen of the Cowtowns and its continued beef processing industry make it the most mythologized city on the Great Plains.
Dodge City (the county seat, population ~27,000) is where American Western mythology was forged – the lawmen, gamblers, and gunfighters of the 1870s-80s cattle town era created the template for the Western genre in literature, film, and television. The television series Gunsmoke ran for 20 years set in Dodge City.
Boot Hill Museum’s reconstructed Front Street preserves the saloon, general store, and jail of the cattle town era. The National Beef plant continues Dodge City’s cattle heritage at industrial scale.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Ford County Appraiser at 100 Gunsmoke Street, Dodge City, KS 67801, phone 620-227-4540. KS residential assessed at 11.5% of appraised value.
Courts & Legal
Ford County District Court at 100 Gunsmoke Street, Dodge City, KS 67801, phone 620-227-4550, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Elections)
100 Gunsmoke St., Dodge City, KS 67801
(620) 227-4550
DISTRICT COURT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
100 Gunsmoke St., Dodge City, KS 67801
(620) 227-4609
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
100 Gunsmoke St., Dodge City, KS 67801
(620) 227-4550
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Ford County District Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Dodge City’s Wild West history (Boot Hill Museum and related historic sites) is a significant local historical and tourism resource.
Local societies
No dedicated Ford 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
Ford County District Court, 16th Judicial District 101 West Spruce Street, P.O. Box 197, Dodge City, KS 67801 (620) 227-4609
Ford County is home to Dodge City, its county seat, famous as a historic Wild West cattle town and the setting for numerous frontier legends.
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 Ford 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
100 Gunsmoke St., Dodge City, KS 67801
(620) 227-4630
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Elections)
100 Gunsmoke St., Dodge City, KS 67801
(620) 227-4550
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
100 Gunsmoke St., Dodge City, KS 67801
(620) 227-4550
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Ford County Health Dept
(620) 227-4533
KS DCF — Southwest Region
(620) 225-0510
KS Medicaid (KanCare)
(800) 792-4884
Western Plains Medical Complex (Dodge City)
westernplainsmc.com (quality regional hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Ford County Health Department – confirm current contact via fordcounty.net.
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