Local Government Records Guide

Introduction

Local government records are among the most useful and most overlooked resources for genealogical and historical research. Records produced by local courts, counties, and municipalities document the actions of government and to some extent the lives of their citizens.

View the entire Local Government Records Guide in (.pdf) format (Adobe Acrobat) here.

This guide serves as a brief introduction to some local government offices in Kansas and describes information which may be found in frequently referenced records.

Limited resources and other considerations make it necessary for the Kansas Historical Society to promote the preservation of local records by the offices that created them and by local or regional repositories such as county historical societies and university libraries. Nevertheless, several thousand cubic feet of records created by counties, cities, district courts, townships, and other entities have been transferred to the state archives to ensure their continued preservation. Efforts are made by the Historical Society to produce or acquire microfilm copies of other particularly valuable local records. Cooperation with the Genealogical Society of Utah in filming local records useful in family history research has been an important part of these endeavors.

Finding aids that list local government records on microfilm are available in the research room. Original records may be accessed through the local records card catalog or archives database located at the reference desk. Staff members will conduct database searches and assist you in filling out call slips.

After consulting the holdings of the state archives, researchers are encouraged to contact local historical societies and libraries in the geographic area they are researching. Local government records have often been transferred to these repositories for preservation and access considerations. In other cases records produced by a specific office may have remained in its custody. Please note that the availability of records depends upon the date the county was organized. Not all records are available in every county or city office. Some records have been lost due to fire, flood, deterioration, and other circumstances. Under Kansas law some records may be closed to public inspections. Please consult the Kansas Open Records Act (KSA 45-215 through KSA 45-223) for further information.

Researchers are advised to contact the repositories or offices for information on record holdings, hours of operation, research policies, and associated charges prior to visiting or sending requests for information.

Staff is happy to answer questions about our collections and services. Please telephone 785-272-8681, ext. 117, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday. TTY users please contact the reference desk at 785-272-8683.

Written requests for information may be sent to: Reference, Kansas Historical Society, 6425 SW Sixth Avenue, Topeka, KS 66615-1099 or to our e-mail address, reference@kshs.org.