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Office: Graham County Emergency Services – 722 W. Main Street, Hill City, KS 67642. Contact via Graham County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff: Graham County Sheriff’s Office – 410 North Pomeroy, Hill City, KS 67642 | (785) 421-2107 | Jail Admin (785) 421-2107 | Fax (785) 421-2891; Sheriff Les Burton.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-24 and US-283 serve Hill City, the county seat, in northwestern Kansas.
Notes: Graham County was established February 26, 1887, named for Captain John L. Graham, killed at the Battle of Chickamauga during the Civil War. Hill City itself is named for W.R. Hill, an Indiana land developer.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Graham County Courthouse – 410 North Pomeroy Street, Hill City, KS (built 1957-58, Modern style).
Notes: Graham County is home to Nicodemus, one of the most historically significant sites in Kansas and the entire American West. Founded in 1877 by formerly enslaved African Americans – most from Kentucky and Tennessee – fleeing the post-Reconstruction South, Nicodemus is the oldest and only remaining Black settlement established on the western Great Plains during Reconstruction still surviving today. Led in part by Rev. W.H. Smith and Zack and Jenny Fletcher, the settlers built a genuine “Promised Land” community on the harsh, treeless prairie, and by the mid-1880s Nicodemus was thriving with newspapers, general stores, churches, a bank, hotels, and an ice cream parlor, with a population that peaked around 600-650. When the railroad bypassed the town in favor of neighboring Bogue in 1888, Nicodemus’s growth stalled, though many families remained as farmers in the surrounding township rather than leaving. Congress designated Nicodemus a National Historic Landmark in 1976 and established it as a National Park Service site in 1996, preserving its five remaining historic structures – First Baptist Church, African Methodist Episcopal Church, St. Francis Hotel, the First District School, and Nicodemus Township Hall. A small living community, descended from the original settlers, still calls Nicodemus home today.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Graham County Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via grahamcountyks.com.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Hill City Public Library (Hill City) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Nicodemus National Historic Site and Antelope Lake Park near Morland are the county’s premier heritage and outdoor attractions.
Notes: The genuine, nationally significant history of Nicodemus as the oldest surviving Black settlement in the American West is among the most historically important sites covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Graham County Appraiser’s Office – confirm current contact via grahamcountyks.com.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
⚠️ No confirmed dedicated Graham County animal shelter was found in current sourcing. Residents should contact the Graham County Sheriff’s Office, (785) 421-2107, for current animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Graham County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via grahamcountyks.com.
NOTES: Graham County is the fifth county in the fifth Kansas Round 3 batch, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, nationally significant history of Nicodemus as the oldest surviving Black settlement in the American West is among the most historically important sites covered anywhere in this project. ⚠️ Animal services could not be confirmed and are flagged for follow-up rather than smoothed over. 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 Graham County County
Graham County is northwest Kansas’s Solomon River headwaters and mixed-grass prairie wheat and cattle county – the river’s source region and the rolling mixed-grass terrain define a remote community where Hill City serves the county’s farming and ranching families in the northwest Kansas interior.
Hill City (the county seat, population ~1,400) is Graham County’s governmental hub on US 283, a northwest Kansas agricultural community whose Solomon River watershed, wheat and cattle economy, and courthouse anchor its identity.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Graham County Appraiser at 410 N. Pomeroy Street, Hill City, KS 67642, phone 785-421-3453. KS assessed at 11.5% of appraised value.
Courts & Legal
Graham County District Court at 410 N. Pomeroy Street, Hill City, KS 67642, phone 785-421-3453, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Elections)
410 N. Pomeroy Ave., Hill City, KS 67642
(785) 421-3453
DISTRICT COURT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
410 N. Pomeroy Ave., Hill City, KS 67642
(785) 421-3388
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
410 N. Pomeroy Ave., Hill City, KS 67642
(785) 421-3453
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Graham County District Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Nicodemus National Historic Site, the oldest surviving Black settlement west of the Mississippi River, is a nationally significant genealogical resource for descendants of the settlement’s founders.
Local societies
No dedicated Graham 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
Graham County District Court, 17th Judicial District 410 North Pomeroy Avenue, Suite 9, Hill City, KS 67642 (785) 421-3458
Graham County’s seat, Hill City, has been the county seat since 1880 and is home to Nicodemus, the oldest surviving Black settlement west of the Mississippi River (a National Historic Site).
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 Graham 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
410 N. Pomeroy Ave., Hill City, KS 67642
(785) 421-3434
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Elections)
410 N. Pomeroy Ave., Hill City, KS 67642
(785) 421-3453
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
410 N. Pomeroy Ave., Hill City, KS 67642
(785) 421-3453
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Graham County Health Dept
(785) 421-2166
KS DCF — Northwest Region
(785) 628-1871
KS Medicaid (KanCare)
(800) 792-4884
Graham County Hospital
grahamcountyhospital.com (Hill City — quality critical access hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Graham County Health Department – confirm current contact via grahamcountyks.com. Graham County Hospital – Hill City, (785) 421-2121.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Hill City
Population: 2,400
Area: 898 sq mi
Established: 1880
Public Records
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