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Kansas County
Franklin County, Kansas
Ottawa University and the Marais des Cygnes Massacre - from the Marais des Cygnes Massacre (May 19, 1858 - proslavery raiders led by Charles Hamilton executed eleven Free State settlers along the Marais des Cygnes River in one of Bleeding Kansas's most notorious atrocities, prompting John Greenleaf Whittier's poem "Le Marais du Cygne" and further inflaming national tensions over slavery) to Ottawa University (a Baptist-affiliated liberal arts university founded 1865 by the Ottawa Nation, now serving approximately 2,500 students and maintaining the distinctive mission of its tribal founding) and Franklin County's position as an eastern Kansas suburban community.
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Office: Franklin County Emergency Management – 305 S. Main Street, Ottawa, KS 66067 | (785) 229-3505 | Email: [email protected].
Sheriff: Franklin County Sheriff’s Office – 220 S. Beech Street, Suite A, Ottawa, KS 66067 | (785) 229-1200 | Fax (785) 229-1210; Sheriff Jeff Richards. Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-5 PM.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. The Franklin County Emergency Communication Center (FCECC) is an Accredited Center of Excellence (International Academy of Emergency Dispatch) – only the second agency in Kansas to earn this accreditation – and handles roughly 60,000 calls and 40,000+ dispatches annually, staffed 24/7/365.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-35 and US-59 serve Ottawa, the county seat, in eastern Kansas.
Notes: Franklin County was established August 25, 1855, named for Benjamin Franklin. It was formerly considered part of the Kansas City metropolitan area until being removed from that designation in 2013.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Franklin County Courthouse – Main Street, Ottawa, KS (built 1892-93, Romanesque style, National Register of Historic Places).
Notes: Ottawa has a genuinely distinctive founding story rooted in Native American and missionary history. In 1832, the Ottawa Tribe ceded their Ohio lands in exchange for 34,000 acres in what is now Franklin County. Baptist missionary Rev. Jotham Meeker and his wife Eleanor established the Ottawa Indian Baptist Mission there in 1837, and in 1865 the Ottawa Tribe partnered with Kansas Baptists – donating 20,000 acres of tribal land in exchange for guaranteed free education for tribal children – to found Ottawa University, one of Kansas’s oldest institutions of higher learning. A key figure in this effort was Rev. John Tecumseh “Tauy” Jones, of mixed Chippewa heritage, who also assisted abolitionist John Brown before the Civil War. Ottawa University’s oldest surviving building, Tauy Jones Hall (1876), still stands on campus today. The city of Ottawa was incorporated in 1867.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Franklin County Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via franklincoks.org.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Ottawa Library (Ottawa) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Ottawa University’s historic campus (including Tauy Jones Hall) is the county’s premier heritage attraction.
Notes: The genuine Ottawa Tribe/Baptist missionary origin story behind both the city and Ottawa University is a distinctive piece of Kansas history covered in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Franklin County Appraiser’s Office – confirm current contact via franklincoks.org.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Prairie Paws Animal Shelter – Ottawa, KS. Private nonprofit 501(c)3, no-kill shelter serving Ottawa/Franklin County and also operating a Manhattan, KS location; offers low-cost spay/neuter, microchipping, and owner relinquishment services.
Franklin County Humane Society – 230 W. 19th Street, Ottawa, KS 66067 | (785) 242-2967. Accepts owner-surrendered animals at no charge; also offers low-cost spay/neuter and a thrift store supporting shelter operations.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Franklin County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via franklincoks.org.
NOTES: Franklin County is the third county in the fifth Kansas Round 3 batch, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine Ottawa Tribe/Baptist missionary origin story behind both the city and Ottawa University is a distinctive piece of Kansas history 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 Franklin County
Franklin County is eastern Kansas’s Bleeding Kansas massacre and Ottawa Nation heritage county – the Marais des Cygnes Massacre and Ottawa University’s tribal founding story give this Kansas City exurban county significant historical depth.
Ottawa (the county seat, population ~12,000) is where Ottawa University was founded in 1865 – the Ottawa Nation ceded land specifically for the establishment of a university, and the institution has maintained its connection to that founding mission. The university’s founding by a Native American nation is unique in Kansas higher education history.
The Marais des Cygnes Massacre site is preserved as a state historic site commemorating one of Bleeding Kansas’s most notorious violent episodes.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Franklin County Appraiser at 315 S. Main Street, Suite 105, Ottawa, KS 66067, phone 785-229-3490. KS residential assessed at 11.5% of appraised value.
Courts & Legal
Franklin County District Court at 315 S. Main Street, Ottawa, KS 66067, phone 785-229-3480, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Elections)
315 Main St., Ottawa, KS 66067
(785) 229-3410
DISTRICT COURT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
315 Main St., Ottawa, KS 66067
(785) 229-3410
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
315 Main St., Ottawa, KS 66067
(785) 229-3410
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Franklin County District Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Franklin 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
Franklin County District Court, 4th Judicial District 301 South Main Street, P.O. Box 637, Ottawa, KS 66067 (785) 242-6000
Franklin County was founded August 25, 1855, named for Benjamin Franklin. Ottawa has been the county seat since 1864. The 1892-1893 Franklin County Courthouse (Romanesque, National Register of Historic Places) sits on Courthouse Square.
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 Franklin 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
315 Main St., Ottawa, KS 66067
(785) 229-3450
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Elections)
315 Main St., Ottawa, KS 66067
(785) 229-3410
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
315 Main St., Ottawa, KS 66067
(785) 229-3410
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Franklin County Health Dept
(785) 229-3369
KS DCF — Northeast Region
(785) 229-3600
KS Medicaid (KanCare)
(800) 792-4884
Ransom Memorial Health (Ottawa)
ransom.org (quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Franklin County Health Department – confirm current contact via franklincoks.org.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Ottawa
Population: 25,000
Area: 574 sq mi
Established: 1855
Tier: 3
Public Records
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