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Kansas County
Grant County, Kansas
Ulysses's oil and natural gas heritage and the High Plains Ogallala - from Ulysses's significant petroleum and natural gas production (Grant County sits atop major Hugoton Natural Gas Field reserves - the Hugoton field is one of the largest natural gas fields in North America, and Grant County's gas production has provided economic stability to a remote High Plains community for decades) to the Ogallala Aquifer's role in sustaining the massive center-pivot irrigated corn and wheat fields that make the southwest Kansas High Plains among the most productive agricultural land in America despite receiving only 16 inches of rainfall annually.
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Office: Grant County Emergency Management – 715 E. Oklahoma Avenue, Suite 9, Ulysses, KS 67880 | (620) 356-4430 | Emergency (620) 356-3500 | Fax (620) 356-2884; Coordinator Jeff Baier.
Sheriff: Grant County Sheriff’s Office – 210 E. Central, Ulysses, KS 67880 | (620) 356-3500 | Fax (620) 356-1038. Established in 1888. Jail capacity 40 prisoners. Serves over 575 square miles including Ulysses and the unincorporated community of Hickok.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Ulysses is Grant County’s only city.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-56 and US-160 serve Ulysses, the county seat, in far southwestern Kansas.
Notes: Grant County was established March 20, 1873, named for President Ulysses S. Grant, then in office.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Grant County Courthouse – Ulysses, KS.
Notes: Ulysses has one of the most remarkable town origin stories in Kansas: the entire town physically relocated itself. Founded in 1873 and surveyed in 1885 by George Washington Earp (a cousin of Wyatt Earp), “Old” Ulysses won a bitterly contested and expensive 1888 county-seat battle against rival town Tilden (later Appomattox) – a fight that reportedly involved hired gunmen including Bat Masterson and Luke Short protecting the ballot box. The victory left the town so deeply in debt that by 1909 it faced foreclosure of the entire townsite. Rather than lose everything, the roughly 100 remaining residents spent from February to June 1909 physically moving their town two to three miles west, loading buildings – including the 35-room Edwards Hotel, cut into sections – onto skids and hauling them with teams of up to 60 horses across a valley to a new site, which they called “New Ulysses.” Only a masonry schoolhouse was left behind, and the old townsite’s lots were deeded back to East Coast bondholders. The town dropped “New” from its name in 1921 after natural gas discoveries brought renewed prosperity. Part of the relocated Edwards Hotel survives today, restored on the grounds of the Historic Adobe Museum.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Grant County Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via grantcoks.org.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Ulysses Public Library (Ulysses) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Historic Adobe Museum (housing the surviving section of the Edwards Hotel) is the county’s premier heritage attraction.
Notes: The genuine story of the entire town of Ulysses physically relocating itself in 1909 is one of the most remarkable municipal histories covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Grant County Appraiser’s Office – confirm current contact via grantcoks.org.
Office: Grant County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via grantcoks.org.
NOTES: Grant County is the sixth and final county in the fifth Kansas Round 3 batch, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine story of the entire town of Ulysses physically relocating itself in 1909 is one of the most remarkable municipal histories 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 Grant County
Grant County is southwest Kansas’s Hugoton gas field and Ogallala irrigation county – natural gas from one of North America’s largest gas fields and groundwater from the world’s largest aquifer sustain economic activity on an otherwise hyper-arid High Plains landscape.
Ulysses (the county seat, population ~6,000) is the commercial hub for southwest Kansas agricultural and energy communities. The Hugoton Natural Gas Field beneath Grant County produces significant quantities of natural gas distributed across the region.
Center-pivot irrigation drawing from the Ogallala Aquifer supports corn and wheat production that would be impossible in the 16-inch rainfall environment without groundwater.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Grant County Appraiser at 108 S. Glenn, Ulysses, KS 67880, phone 620-356-1246. KS residential assessed at 11.5% of appraised value.
Courts & Legal
Grant County District Court at 108 S. Glenn, Ulysses, KS 67880, phone 620-356-1246, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Elections)
108 E. Grant Ave., Ulysses, KS 67880
(620) 356-1335
DISTRICT COURT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
108 E. Grant Ave., Ulysses, KS 67880
(620) 356-1340
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
108 E. Grant Ave., Ulysses, KS 67880
(620) 356-1335
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Grant County District Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Grant 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
Grant County District Court, 26th Judicial District 108 South Glenn Street, 2nd Floor, Ulysses, KS 67880 (620) 356-1526 Grant County is in southwestern Kansas, seated in Ulysses.
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 Grant 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
108 E. Grant Ave., Ulysses, KS 67880
(620) 356-1390
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Elections)
108 E. Grant Ave., Ulysses, KS 67880
(620) 356-1335
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
108 E. Grant Ave., Ulysses, KS 67880
(620) 356-1335
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Grant County Health Department – confirm current contact via grantcoks.org.
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