Jones

Formed January 1, 1916 (66^th county)

Jones County (919), Murdo (470)

The Modern concrete courthouse was built in 1975.  There was a 1917 version earlier in Murdo, the only county seat.  The current structure is sited at the intersection of 3^rd Street and Main Street.  Interstate Highway 90 Business passes two blocks south of the site.  Ward Whitwan is the courthouse designer.  The county was formed on January 1, 1916 as the 66^th and final county.  It is named for Jones County, Iowa.  Murdo is named for cattleman Murdo MacKenzie. 

Jones County government consists of a sheriff and 5 Commissioners.  Five Circuit Court Judges and One Magistrate Court Judge serve Jones, Bennett, Gregory, Haakon, Hughes, Hyde, Jackson, Lyman, Mellette, Potter, Stanley, Sully, Todd, and Tripp counties.  The county is situated in western South Dakota.  Pierre, South Dakota is northeast and Rapid City, South Dakota is west of the county.  The county center is 5.5 miles North of Murdo.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Stanley, Lyman, Mellette, Jackson, and Haakon counties. 

The area of the county is 971 square miles.  It is 32 out of 66 in the state.  It ranks 66 out of 66 in population in the state.  It has a density of 0.9 persons per square mile making it 65 out of 66 in the state.  Jones County has 56.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 90 travels through the county from east to west from Lyman County to Jackson County.  United States Highway 83 enters the county joined with Interstate Highway 90 from Lyman County, splits and continues south into Mellette County.  The county looks like an upside down bag of popcorn.  Murdo is located in the southern quarter of the county.  Murdo is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 51.1% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced MUR-DOE.