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Kansas County
Stafford County, Kansas
Quivira National Wildlife Refuge and Cheyenne Bottoms - from Quivira National Wildlife Refuge (the refuge's mix of salt marshes, mudflats, and wetlands in Stafford County provides critical stopover habitat for hundreds of thousands of shorebirds and waterfowl migrating along the Central Flyway - Quivira is one of the most important migratory bird stopover sites in interior North America, drawing birders from across the country to witness the spring and fall migrations) to Stafford County's wheat and irrigation agriculture (the county's plains support winter wheat alongside some irrigated corn and sorghum production from the declining Ogallala Aquifer).
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Office: Stafford County Emergency Management – coordinated through the Sheriff’s Office/Communications, St. John, KS. Stafford County EMS provides daytime staffing from St. John and Stafford, with volunteer responders staffing up to four ambulances nights/weekends; Stafford County Rural Fire is entirely volunteer, staffing five stations (Macksville, St. John, Hudson, Stafford, Radium/Seward).
Sheriff: Stafford County Sheriff’s Office – Mailing: PO Box 386, St. John, KS 67576 | (620) 549-3247; Sheriff Robert Murrow. Non-emergency/from outside county: (620) 549-3765.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Controlled burns require an approved Burn Permit filed with Communications before starting; burns must be out before dark, continuously supervised, and winds must not exceed 15 mph.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-50 and K-49 serve St. John, the county seat, in south-central Kansas.
Notes: Stafford County was established by the Kansas Legislature in 1870, named for Captain Lewis Stafford, killed at the Battle of Young’s Point during the Civil War. St. John began in 1875 as “Zion Valley,” a religious colony founded by William Bickerton of the Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite); the settlement was renamed St. John in 1879 after Kansas Governor John P. St. John, in a successful bid to win the county seat.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Stafford County Courthouse – 209 N. Broadway Street, St. John, KS (built 1928-29, Art Deco style by Mann & Company, a WPA project).
Notes: Stafford County is home to most of Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, a genuinely internationally significant wetland. Established in 1955 under the Migratory Bird Conservation Act and reaching its full 22,135-acre size by 1998, Quivira lies mainly in northeastern Stafford County (extending slightly into Rice and Reno counties) and protects a rare inland combination of salt marsh, sand prairie, and freshwater wetland habitat found almost nowhere else in the country’s interior. Fed by the naturally saline Rattlesnake Creek, the refuge’s Big Salt Marsh and Little Salt Marsh support more than 300-340 species of migratory and resident birds along the Central Flyway, including endangered whooping cranes, state-listed western snowy plovers, wintering bald eagles, and hundreds of thousands of geese, ducks, and shorebirds during peak spring migration. Quivira is internationally recognized as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance (one of only 29 in the U.S.) and was jointly named, alongside nearby Cheyenne Bottoms, one of the “8 Wonders of Kansas” in 2008.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Stafford County Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via staffordcounty.org.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
St. John Public Library (St. John) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Quivira National Wildlife Refuge – including an observation tower, photography blinds, the wheelchair-accessible Birdhouse Boulevard trail, and a Kid’s Fishing Pond near the Visitor Center – is the county’s premier and internationally significant natural attraction.
Notes: The genuine, internationally recognized wetland status of Quivira National Wildlife Refuge is among the most ecologically significant sites covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Stafford County Appraiser’s Office – confirm current contact via staffordcounty.org.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
⚠️ No confirmed dedicated Stafford County animal shelter was found in current sourcing. City of St. John animal control complaints can be directed to (620) 549-3208, Mon-Fri 8 AM-5 PM. Residents should otherwise contact the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office, (620) 549-3247.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Stafford County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via staffordcounty.org.
NOTES: Stafford County is the third county in the fifteenth Kansas Round 3 batch, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, internationally recognized wetland status of Quivira National Wildlife Refuge is among the most ecologically significant 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 Stafford County
Stafford County is south-central Kansas’s Quivira Wildlife Refuge migratory bird hotspot and wheat county – the globally significant salt marsh bird refuge and the surrounding wheat plains define a county whose natural assets draw serious birders to one of the Central Flyway’s most important stopover points.
St. John (the county seat, population ~1,200) is Stafford County’s governmental hub, a south-central Kansas wheat town serving agricultural and birding communities.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Stafford County Appraiser at 209 N. Broadway, St. John, KS 67576, phone 620-549-3295.
Courts & Legal
Stafford County District Court at 209 N. Broadway, St. John, KS 67576, phone 620-549-3295, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Elections)
209 N. Broadway, St. John, KS 67576
(620) 549-3295
DISTRICT COURT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
209 N. Broadway, St. John, KS 67576
(620) 549-3295
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
209 N. Broadway, St. John, KS 67576
(620) 549-3295
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Stafford County District Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
The Stafford County Museum, in the town of Stafford, holds significant local historical materials.
Local societies
No dedicated Stafford 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
Stafford County District Court, 20th Judicial District 209-215 North Broadway Street, P.O. Box 365, St. John, KS 67576 (620) 549-3296
Stafford County was founded 1879, named for Captain Lewis Stafford, who died at the Battle of Yorktown. St. John has been the county seat since 1867. The 1928-1929 Stafford County Courthouse (Art Deco) was built as a WPA project.
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 Stafford 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
209 N. Broadway, St. John, KS 67576
(620) 549-3464
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Elections)
209 N. Broadway, St. John, KS 67576
(620) 549-3295
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
209 N. Broadway, St. John, KS 67576
(620) 549-3295
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Stafford County Health Dept
(620) 549-3295
KS DCF — South Central Region
(620) 663-6311
KS Medicaid (KanCare)
(800) 792-4884
Stafford County Hospital
staffordcountyhospital.com (St. John — quality critical access hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Stafford County Health Department – confirm current contact via staffordcounty.org.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: St. John
Population: 4,100
Area: 792 sq mi
Established: 1867
Tier: 4
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Stafford County residents.
