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Missouri County
Bates County, Missouri
General Order No. 11 and Missouri's Civil War depopulation - from Bates County's position in the region devastated by General Order No. 11 (Union General Thomas Ewing's August 1863 order forcibly depopulated Bates and three other western Missouri counties - approximately 20,000 civilians were expelled from their homes in 15 days and their farms burned, in retaliation for Quantrill's Lawrence, Kansas massacre - creating a "burnt district" that took decades to repopulate) to the Coal mining heritage of Rich Hill (one of Missouri's most significant 19th-century coal mining communities) and a western Missouri county whose Civil War trauma shaped its development for generations.
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Office: Bates County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) – 108 E. Fort Scott St., Butler, MO 64730 | (660) 200-2034 | Fax: (660) 200-2035 | Email: [email protected] | Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-5 PM; Director Dennis Jacobs.
Sheriff: Bates County Sheriff’s Office – 6 West Fort Scott Street, Butler, MO 64730 | Non-emergency (660) 679-3232 | Fax: (660) 679-5880 | Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-5 PM; Sheriff Chad Anderson. Patrols 837 square miles serving over 16,500 residents; handles rural law enforcement, jail management, criminal investigation, civil process (fees vary by document type), and court security.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-71/I-49 and MO-52 serve Butler, the county seat, in west-central Missouri near the Kansas border.
Notes: Bates County was named for Missouri’s first two U.S. Senators combined tradition (see naming note in adjoining counties); confirm exact naming origin via batescounty.net if citing directly.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Bates County Courthouse – Butler, MO; confirm current phone via batescounty.net.
Notes: Bates County holds a significant and difficult place in Civil War history. On August 25, 1863, four days after Confederate guerrillas’ raid on Lawrence, Kansas, Union General Thomas Ewing issued General Order No. 11, requiring nearly all civilian residents of Bates, Cass, and Jackson Counties, along with part of Vernon County, to evacuate their homes within 15 days in an effort to cut off support for guerrilla fighters. Because Bates County lacked significant Union garrisons (unlike parts of the other affected counties), its rural population was almost entirely displaced, and Union troops and irregulars subsequently burned much of the county’s farms, mills, and homes – giving rise to the historical name “the Burnt District.” An 1868 painting by Missouri artist George Caleb Bingham, “Martial Law,” depicted the evacuation. A historical marker in Butler, erected in 2014 by the Bates County Historical Society and Museum, commemorates this history alongside other war memorials on the same city block. This history is presented here as a factual matter of local historical record.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Bates County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via batescounty.net.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via the Kansas City VA Medical Center; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Butler Public Library – 100 West Atkison Avenue, Butler, MO 64730 | (660) 679-4321; first opened June 12, 1926 in the basement of the county courthouse.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Bates County Historical Society and Museum, the Order No. 11 historical marker and surrounding memorial cluster in Butler, and a replica Statue of Liberty are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine Civil War “Burnt District” history is one of the most historically significant and sobering local facts covered in this project, presented factually per this project’s evenhanded standard.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Bates County Assessor – confirm current contact via batescounty.net.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
City of Butler Animal Control – provides adoption information, animal reporting, pet licensing/permits, and spay/neuter information for city residents; confirm current phone via cityofbutlermo.com. Confirm current countywide arrangements via batescounty.net or the Sheriff’s Office, (660) 679-3232.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Bates County – confirm current contact via batescounty.net.
NOTES: Bates County is the seventh and final county in the first batch of the Missouri v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine Civil War “Burnt District” history under General Order No. 11 is presented factually and respectfully per this project’s evenhanded historical standard. 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 Bates County
Bates County is western Missouri’s Civil War depopulation county – a border community whose forced evacuation under General Order No. 11 created one of the most complete civilian displacements in American military history.
Butler (the county seat, population ~4,200) serves an agricultural community that slowly repopulated after the Civil War’s devastating Order No. 11. The town’s modest scale reflects the generations required to recover from the complete destruction of the county’s antebellum population.
Rich Hill (population ~1,200) was western Missouri’s most significant coal mining community in the late 19th century – the coal deposits that made it briefly prosperous are now exhausted.
All Services
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Bates County Assessor at 1 N. Delaware Street, Butler, MO 64730, phone 660-679-3341. MO residential assessed at 19% of true value. Appeal to Board of Equalization.
Courts & Legal
Bates County Circuit Court at 1 N. Delaware Street, Butler, MO 64730, phone 660-679-3371, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
1 N. Delaware St., Butler, MO 64730
(660) 679-3371
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Bates County Circuit Court, Probate Division (probate case files – see Probate section above).
The 1902 Bates County Courthouse, NRHP-listed, includes a contributing 1927 Doughboy statue commemorating World War I veterans.
Local societies
No dedicated Bates 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
Bates County Circuit Court, Probate Division 1 North Delaware Street, Butler, MO 64730 (660) 679-5171
Bates County is in western Missouri, seated in Butler. The 1902 Bates County Courthouse, Richardsonian Romanesque in style, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Missouri probate is governed by Title XXXI of the Missouri Revised Statutes (Chapters 470-475), the Probate Code.
Small Estate Affidavit (RSMo § 473.097) – available when the entire estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $40,000. A 30-day waiting period after death applies, and only if no application for letters is pending. If the property listed is worth more than $15,000, the clerk must publish a notice to creditors in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. A bond may be required. Once the court issues a certified small estate certificate, the affiant presents it directly to whoever holds the property to collect and distribute assets – avoiding full probate. Typical timeline: about two months to close, versus six months to a year or more for full probate.
Formal Administration – required for larger or more complex estates. A petition for Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (without one) is filed with the probate division. After review, the court appoints the personal representative and issues the letters. Missouri offers both supervised and independent administration. Missouri requires an attorney to represent the personal representative in both types of administration.
Step 2: filing for formal probate
File a petition with the Probate Division of the Circuit Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled.
The court appoints the personal representative and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
The personal representative publishes a notice to creditors in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, and gives direct notice to known creditors. Creditors have 6 months from the date of first publication to file claims.
Within 30 days of appointment (unless the court extends the deadline), the personal representative files an inventory and appraisement of all estate assets.
After debts are paid and the creditor claim period expires, the personal representative distributes the remaining assets and files a final settlement with the court to close the estate.
What it costs
Missouri sets statutory minimum fees for attorneys and personal representatives based on a percentage of the estate’s value, though additional fees may be allowed for extraordinary services.
Missouri has no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax could apply, and only to very large estates.
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
1 N. Delaware St., Butler, MO 64730
(660) 679-3232
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
1 N. Delaware St., Butler, MO 64730
(660) 679-3371
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
MO Dept of Social Services — Bates
(660) 679-5118
Bates County Memorial Hospital
bcmhospital.com (Butler — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Bates County Health Department – confirm current phone via batescounty.net.
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