The office of Sheriff dates back over 1000 years to early England. The office came to the American Continent with the first settlers. Although the image has changed, many of the duties remain the same. In Kansas, the office of the Sheriff was established before Statehood was achieved. In some areas of Kansas Territory, the Sheriff was the only law enforcement.
In 1855, General Statutes for the Territory of Kansas set the procedures for electing a Sheriff. When Kansas became a State in 1861, the office of Sheriff was among the first established. The Sheriff is elected by the citizens of his/her county for a four-year term. The Sheriff of today is in charge of a modern, full-service law enforcement agency. In some of the less populous counties, the Sheriff may provide the only law enforcement to the citizens, while in the metropolitan counties the Sheriff’s Office is a large agency offering valuable full-service law enforcement.
Kingman County was organized on February 27, 1874, and the first Sheriff was F.S. Fiscal (William G. Cutler’s History of Kansas). The county is 24 miles north and south, by 36 miles east and west. It contains 24 townships, and has a total of 552,960 acres or 864 square miles. The population of Kingman County in the year 2020 was 7,470. Highways US-54, K-14, K-42, and K-2 run through Kingman County. Kingman is the County Seat.
The Kingman County Sheriff’s Office is located just south of the Kingman County Courthouse. The building was built in 1959 and was originally built to house the Sheriff’s Office, the Jail (8 beds), and the Sheriff’s residence. It was customary for the Sheriff or the Sheriff’s wife to cook the meals for the inmates.
The building was remodeled in 1980 and again in 2021. The Detention Facility is now able to house 22 inmates. The Kingman County Sheriff’s Office is made up of law enforcement, records, Communication/911, and Adult Detention.