Formed December 24, 1886 (100th county)
Wichita County (2,153), Leoti (1,477)
The white columns add the class to the 1916 dark red brick building on a square 3rd, L, 4th, and M streets. Kansas State Highway 25 is 4th Street passing through the town. William E. Hulse was the designer of this Classical Revival building. The Wallace County courthouse is its twin. The county was created on December 24, 1886 from Native American Territory as the 100th county and Leoti has always been the county seat. Wichita County is named for the City of Wichita which is named for the Native American tribe; therefore, it has the same source name as the county seat of Sedgwick County. The county seat is either named for Leoti Gray, daughter of the city founder, or Leoti Kibbee, an early settler.
Wichita 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 Wichita, Finney, Greeley, Hamilton, Kearny, and Scott counties (judicial.) The county is in western Kansas. Dodge City, Kansas is southeast and Pueblo, Colorado is west of the county. The county center is 5.8 miles Northwest of Leoti. The county is surrounded clockwise by Logan, Scott, Kearny, Hamilton, Greeley, and Wallace counties.
The area of the county is 719 square miles. It is 61 out of 105 in the state. It ranks 98 out of 105 in population in the state. It has a density of 3.0 persons per square mile making it 91 out of 105 in the state. Wichita County has 68.6% of its population in its incorporated areas. There are no Interstates or United States Highways in the county. The county is a tall rectangle. Leoti is located near the county center. Leoti is the county seat and, as the only incorporated city, it is the largest city. It is 68.6% of the county population. The county seat is pronounced LEE-OE-TEE.
Leoti
