Cass County - American Courthouses

Cass County is named for Lewis Cass, who explored the upper Mississippi River to Cass Lake in 1820, was governor of the Michigan Territory in 1813 to 1831, was United States Secretary of War from 1831 to 1836, was a United States Senator from Michigan from 1845 to 1857 and was United States Secretary of State from 1857 to 1860.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Jackson County

E – Johnson County and Henry County

S – Bates County

W – Miami County, Kansas and Johnson County, Kansas

Created: March 3, 1835

County Seat:

Harrisonville 1835 – present

County Courthouse – Harrisonville

Location: 102 East Wall Street / North Independence Street

Built: 1897 – 1898

Style: Italianate

Architect: W C Root of Kansas City

Contractor: Thomas Wilson

Description: The building faces south and is a three story yellow colored brick, stone and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds of the Courthouse Square in the center of Harrisonville. The building is 93 feet by 78 feet and has a raised basement. The south front has a porch on the first story with balconies on the second and third stories. On the southwest side is a high square brick clock tower rising seven stories with four-faced clock. On the southeast side is a shorter tower rising four stories. In the interior are wood stairs, wood trim and wainscoting. The historic courtroom is located on the north side of the second story and extends into the third story with a gallery on two sides. Behind the Judge’s bench is an alcove with mural above.

See: National Register of Historic Places – Harrisonville Courthouse Square

County Justice Center – Harrisonville

Location: 2501 West Mechanic Street / East 255th Street

Built: 2001 – 2003

Style: Modern

Architect: ACI/ Boland Inc.

Contractor: J E Dunn Construction of Kansas City

Description: The building faces north and is a four story brick, concrete and glass structure. The building is located on spacious landscaped grounds on the west side of the center of Harrisville. The exterior is precast with buff and red colored brick and rises in tiers. The roof line is flat. The interior has terrazzo and granite stonework. In the interior are six County Circuit Court courtrooms plus an additional room. The building houses the County Circuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit. On the east side is the Sheriff’s Office and on the south side is the County Juvenile Center.

See: The 17th Judicial Circuit covers Johnson County.

History: The county was created in 1835 and Harrisonville was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was built in 1838 under the supervision of John Cook. The second courthouse was built in 1843 by Henry Baker, John Fife and George Rice under the supervision of Charles Sims for a cost of $3,000. The third and present courthouse was constructed at a cost of $45,000. The County Justice Center was constructed in 2001 to 2003.