Cass

Formed January 2, 1833 (36^th county)

Cass County (107,816), Harrisonville (10,118), Belton (23,978)

The yellow brick and masonry Italianate courthouse was erected in 1897 on top of a raised mound.  The building is located on a square at Wall, Independence, Pearl, and Lexington streets.  The facility is one block north of Missouri State Highway 7.  The courthouse architect is W. C. Root.  An inoperative clock tower sits on top of the structure.  Wooden benches line the halls.  A Justice Center was added in 2003.  Two courthouses in 1838 and 1843 served the county earlier.  The county was created on January 2, 1833 from parts of Jackson and Lafayette counties as the 36^th county with Harrisonville as the only county seat.  It is named for Michigan Governor Lewis Cass.  He is also the namesake of the county seat of Barry County.  The county seat is named for Congressman Albert G. Harrison.  He is also the namesake of Harrison County. 

Cass County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, a collector, a coroner, an assessor and a clerk (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Two Circuit Court Judges serve Cass and Johnson counties and Three County Court Judges and a court clerk serve Cass County (judicial.) The county is on the western border with Kansas.  Kansas City, Missouri is directly north and Springfield, Missouri is southeast of the county.  The county center is 3.7 miles North-Northwest of Harrisonville.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Jackson, Johnson, Henry, and Bates counties and Kansas. 

The area of the county is 699 square miles.  It is 28 out of 115 in the state.  It ranks 10 out of 115 in population in the state.  It has a density of 154.2 persons per square mile making it 14 out of 115 in the state.  Cass County has 76.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 49 crossed north to south from Jackson County to Bates County.  United States Highway 71 is joined with Interstate Highway 49 from Jackson County to Bates County.  The county is a rectangle with a foot added to the southeast corner.  Harrisonville is near the center of the county.  Belton is in the northwest corner of the county.  Harrisonville is the county seat and Belton is the largest city.  Harrisonville is 9.4% of the county population while Belton is 22.2% of the county population.  This county is in the Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area.