Stephens

Formed November 16, 1907 (70^th county)

Stephens County (42,844), Duncan (22,675)                

The Modern style courthouse was built in 1968 and sits along South 11^th Street at West Maple Avenue.  United States Highway 81 is five blocks west paralleling 11^th Street.  Jones, Halley & Associates designed this tan brick and marble courthouse.  The county was organized on November 16, 1907 from Comanche County and the Chickasaw Nation as the 70^th county.  There was a 1921 courthouse for the county also in Duncan, the only county seat.  Stephens County is named for John H. Stephens who was a Texas Congressman and advocate of Oklahoma statehood.  Duncan was named for William Duncan, an early businessman. 

Stephens County government consists of a treasurer, a sheriff, an assessor, and a clerk (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twelve District Court Judges serve Stephens, Comanche, Cotton, and Jefferson counties and a court clerk serves Stephens County (judicial.)  The county is located in south central Oklahoma, southeast of Lawton, Oklahoma and southwest of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  The county center is 6.1 miles East-Southeast of Duncan.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Grady, Garvin, Carter, Jefferson, Cotton, and Comanche counties. 

The area of the county is 877 square miles.  It is 33 out of 77 in the state.  It ranks 23 out of 77 in population in the state.  It has a density of 48.9 persons per square mile making it 26 out of 77 in the state.  Stephens County has 74.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 81 enters from Grady County to the north and exits into Jefferson County to the south.  The county is a square.  Duncan is in the northwest quarter of the county.  Duncan is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 52.9% of the county population.  This county is in the Duncan Micropolitan Statistical Area.