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Kansas County
Scott County, Kansas
El Cuartelejo Pueblo and Lake Scott State Park - from El Cuartelejo (the northernmost known pueblo ruin in the United States, El Cuartelejo in Scott County was built by Pueblo Indians who fled Spanish oppression in New Mexico in the late 1600s and established a settlement on the Kansas high plains - the ruin is preserved at Lake Scott State Park and represents a remarkable chapter in Native American migration history) to Lake Scott State Park (the park surrounding the spring-fed lake in the High Plains escarpment offers camping, fishing, and scenic canyon terrain that provides a dramatic contrast to the flat surrounding wheat plains).
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Office: Scott County Emergency Management – 602 W. 5th Street, Scott City, KS 67871 | (620) 872-2133 | Fax (620) 872-3264. Maintains SCAlerts county emergency notification system and a Local Emergency Planning Committee.
Sheriff/Police: Scott County Law Enforcement Center (consolidated Scott County Sheriff’s Office and Scott City Police Department) – 602 W. 5th Street, Scott City, KS 67871 | (620) 872-2133 | Fax (620) 872-3264; Sheriff Jeffrey Pounds. Shared facility includes a 24-inmate jail; seven full-time police officers and three full-time deputies provide 24-hour protection.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-83 and K-96 serve Scott City, the county seat, in western Kansas.
Notes: Scott City has been the county seat since 1886.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Scott County Courthouse – 303 Court Street, Scott City, KS (built 1924-25, Classical Revival style, designed by Mann & Company).
Notes: Scott County is home to a genuinely remarkable and nationally significant archaeological site: El Cuartelejo, the only known Indian pueblo ruin in Kansas and the northernmost pueblo structure ever documented in North America. Around 1664, a group of Taos Puebloan people fled Spanish colonial rule in New Mexico and, allied with local Plains Apache, built a seven-room stone pueblo and irrigation ditches along Ladder Creek. Spanish forces recaptured and returned the Taos refugees, but a second group of Picuris Pueblo people resettled the site in 1696 before also being returned to New Mexico by 1706. The ill-fated 1720 Villasur Expedition – sent from Santa Fe to counter growing French influence on the Plains – stopped at El Cuartelejo en route to Nebraska, where most of its members were killed in an ambush. Local farmer Herbert Steele rediscovered the ruins in 1888 while noticing squirrels digging up ancient maize in his field; he and his wife Eliza donated the site to the Kansas Daughters of the American Revolution in 1922, and it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964. Today the reconstructed pueblo foundations sit within Historic Lake Scott State Park, and the El Quartelejo Museum in Scott City (902 W. 5th Street, (620) 872-5912) tells the fuller story and offers guided tours of the ruins, nearby Battle Canyon (site of the last known armed conflict between Native Americans and settlers in Kansas, September 27, 1878), and the historic Steele homestead.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Scott County Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via scottcountyks.com.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Scott City Public Library (Scott City) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Historic Lake Scott State Park (including the El Cuartelejo pueblo ruins), the El Quartelejo Museum, and Battle Canyon are the county’s premier and most historically significant attractions.
Notes: The genuine, nationally significant status of El Cuartelejo as the only pueblo ruin in Kansas and the northernmost in North America is among the most archaeologically important sites covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Scott County Appraiser’s Office – confirm current contact via scottcountyks.com.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Scott City Animal Control (via Scott City Police Department Public Service Office) – 602 W. 5th Street, Scott City, KS 67871 | (620) 872-2133 | Fax (620) 872-3264. Handles animal shelter, adoption, dog/cat retention, and abuse investigations. Annual dog licensing required by January 1st at City Hall; license fees $1 (altered) / $3 (unaltered), current rabies vaccination required.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Scott County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via scottcountyks.com.
NOTES: Scott County is the fourth county in the fourteenth Kansas Round 3 batch, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, nationally significant status of El Cuartelejo as the only pueblo ruin in Kansas and the northernmost in North America is among the most archaeologically 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 Scott County
Scott County is western Kansas’s El Cuartelejo pueblo ruins and Lake Scott State Park county – the northernmost pueblo ruin in the US and the spring-fed lake state park give Scott County remarkable historical and natural assets in the western Kansas high plains, while irrigated corn and wheat sustain the agricultural economy.
Scott City (the county seat, population ~3,800) is Scott County’s governmental and commercial hub, a western Kansas agricultural town near the remarkable El Cuartelejo pueblo site.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Scott County Appraiser at 303 Court Street, Scott City, KS 67871, phone 620-872-5446.
Courts & Legal
Scott County District Court at 303 Court Street, Scott City, KS 67871, phone 620-872-5446, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Elections)
303 Court St., Scott City, KS 67871
(620) 872-2420
DISTRICT COURT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
303 Court St., Scott City, KS 67871
(620) 872-5601
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
303 Court St., Scott City, KS 67871
(620) 872-2420
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Scott County District Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Scott 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
Scott County District Court, 25th Judicial District 303 Court Street, 2nd Floor, Scott City, KS 67871 (620) 260-2553
Scott City has been Scott County’s seat since 1886. The 1924-1925 Scott County Courthouse (Classical Revival) features Ionic columns at its entrance.
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 Scott 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
303 Court St., Scott City, KS 67871
(620) 872-5844
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Elections)
303 Court St., Scott City, KS 67871
(620) 872-2420
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
303 Court St., Scott City, KS 67871
(620) 872-2420
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Scott County Health Dept
(620) 872-5454
KS DCF — Southwest Region
(620) 624-3406
KS Medicaid (KanCare)
(800) 792-4884
Scott County Hospital
scotthospital.com (Scott City — quality critical access hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Scott County Health Department – confirm current contact via scottcountyks.com.
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