Formed March 20, 1873 (84th county)
Lane County (1,574), Dighton (967)
Lane County got away from the normal look in the 1930 light tan Art Deco brick and masonry structure. It is located on Lane Street between Long and Pearl streets. Kansas State Highway 96 passes one block north of the location. Carvings of pioneer life are on the courthouse front. Mann & Company were the architects. Lane County was established on March 20, 1873 from Native American Territory as the 84th county with Dighton as the only county seat. It is named for Senator James H. Lane. Dighton is named for surveyor Richard Deighton.
Lane County government consists of a sheriff, a clerk, an attorney, a treasurer, a coroner, and an appraiser (executive). It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.) Seven District Court Judges serve Lane, Edwards, Hodgeman, Ness, Pawnee, and Rush counties (judicial.) The county is in west Kansas. Dodge City, Kansas is south and Salina, Kansas is northeast of the county. The county center is 3.6 miles North of Dighton. The county is surrounded clockwise by Gove, Ness, Finney, and Scott counties.
The area of the county is 717 square miles. It is 64 out of 105 in the state. It ranks 103 out of 105 in population in the state. It has a density of 2.2 persons per square mile making it 100 out of 105 in the state. Lane County has 61.4% of its population in its incorporated areas. There are no Interstates or United States Highways in the county. A rectangle county has Dighton located in the county’s center. Dighton is the county seat and the only incorporated city thus it is the largest city. It is 61.4% of the county population. The county seat is pronounced DIE-TON.
Dighton
