Formed February 24, 1843 (97th county)
Johnson County (22,679), Paintsville (4,322)
A Modern red brick, glass, and masonry facility serves Johnson County. It was built in 1957 and sits at Court and 2nd streets. Kentucky State Highway 40 is one block to the north of the site. James A. Clark provided the building designs. The structure was renovated in 1975. A Judicial Center was added in 2006. Veteran memorials are on the courthouse grounds. An 1890 building in Paintsville, the only county seat, was previously in the county since its February 24, 1843 founding. The county was taken from parts of Floyd, Lawrence, and Morgan counties as the 97th county. The county is named for United States Vice President Richard Mentor Johnson. Paintsville is named for Paint Creek which is named for the Native American drawings on local trees.
Johnson County government consists of a County Judge Executive, a sheriff, a clerk, an attorney, a treasurer, a coroner, and an appraiser (executive). It has 3 Magistrates (legislative.) Two Circuit Court Judges, Two District Court Judges, and One Family Court Judge serve Johnson, Lawrence and Martin counties and a court clerk serves Johnson County (judicial.) The county is located in eastern Kentucky. Huntington, West Virginia is northeast and Lexington, Kentucky is west of the county. The county center is 2.5 miles North-Northeast of Paintsville. The county is surrounded clockwise by Lawrence, Martin, Floyd, Magoffin, and Morgan counties.
The area of the county is 262 square miles. It is 78 out of 120 in the state. It ranks 51 out of 120 in population in the state. It has a density of 86.6 persons per square mile making it 39 out of 120 in the state. Johnson County has 19.1% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 23 crosses the county north to south from Lawrence County to Floyd County. United States Highway 460 enters from the west, Magoffin County, and joins United States Highway 23 into Floyd County. The county is a diamond although none of the borders are straight. Paintsville is in the southwest quarter of the county. Paintsville is the county seat and the largest city since it is the only incorporated city. It is 19.1% of the county population.
Paintsville
