Hopefully this page will serve you as a guide for where to look for what. Come with me and we will take a tour of the courthouse and pretend this is our first visit.
First we park on Main Street in front of the courthouse. It sets in the middle of the block, with sidewalks around the square and at various angles to the building. The trees around the courthouse were planted about 1906-1907. The young trees were brought in from Elk Creek, the men planted them to pay their poll taxes.
On either side of the main walk up to the front door, are bronze statues, one Navy, one Army as memorials to Kiowa County's soldiers. These statues once sat on the ends of the bridge over the North Fork Of The Red River on Highway 9, that separated Kiowa and Greer Counties, a couple of miles east Of Granite, OK. When the bridge was widened a number of years ago, 2 statues came to Hobart and 2 went to Mangum, Greer County.
As we enter the front door, on the right is the office of the county commissioners. Across the hall on the left is the County Assessors Office.
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Kiowa County Assessor
PO Box 855
Hobart, Ok 73651
(580)726-2150
This office contains property and personal tax records.
REAL PROPERTY: This consists of land or combination of land and building improvements. If you build a new building, enclose your garage, add a room, install irrigation on your land, you need to notify the assessor. If part of your property is destroyed, you need to notify him also.
PERSONAL PROPERTY: Individual…..this includes household furniture, major electric and gas appliances, tvs, radios, stereos, power lawn mowers, all types farming equipment, irrigation equipment, horses, mules, cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, dogs, poultry, farm stock trailers, tractors, combines, ensilage cutters, motor patrol, and other fuel operated equipment.
PERSONAL PROPERTY: Business….this includes contractors' equipment, buildings on leased land, typewriters, desks, files, calculators, adding machines, copiers, barber and beauty equipment.
There are two exemptions county residents can take advantage of for help on their taxes. The Veteran Exemption can be filed for personal property taxes and the Homestead Exemption can be filed for real property.
Every day the assessor's office picks up any new deeds that have been transferred, in order to keep records current in the county. This can be a good starting place for your search for county records.
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Out in the hall again, we go right next door to the treasurer's office.
Kiowa County Treasurer's Office
316 South Main
Hobart, Ok 73651
(580)726-2362
This office is where you go to pay the tax bills you were assessed next door.
The tax rolls are computerized. The staff can search the records by name, legal
description, or address. These are the current owners. If you know "Uncle
Joe" was living in Kiowa County and owned/owns land here, but has left
the county, they can give you the current address to which the tax bills are
mailed.
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Our next stop is at the end of the hall on the right. This is the County Clerks office. This office is the county's "Keeper of Records".
Kiowa County Clerk
PO Box 73
Hobart, OK 73651
(580)-726-5286
The County Clerk's office serves as the secretary and bookkeepers for the county
government. It is the "Registrar of Deeds". All records are public
and permanent. Land records are about 25% of the workload. The duties of the
County Clerk's office are:
* Record all deeds, mortgages, UCC's (chattel mortgages), contracts,
liens, federal and state liens, judgements, notices, plats (maps), oil &
gas leases, mineral deeds, final decrees, and some divorces (anything pertaining
to land).
* Files military discharge papers (DD214's, etc.)
* School census records dating from 1915-1960's (later ones are held at the
school districts, listing of all rural schools.
* Copies of cemetery records complied by the genealogy society.
* Copies of Indexes of two land books regarding the lottery.
* Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Land Opening, 1901: Homestead Entry Listing,
Lawton District.
** Appendix A: Individuals who chose land parcels. These are listed by; Drawing
#, Reg. #, Filing Date, ¼ section; Section; Township; R; Name, place
of residence, state/territory.
** Appendix B: Individuals drawn for homestead entry who failed to select a
parcel. Listed by Drawing #, date, name, place of residence, state/territory.
* Homesteaders Filling, El Reno District 1901 Land Lottery (8-6-1901 to 2-20-1902)
** Listed by name, town, state/territory, certificate #, Section; Township:
Range
These books are not in alpha order, so would be easiest to search by drawing # if possible.
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Now back in the hall, we take the stairs to our right and go up. This is the legal area of the courthouse. This floor has the courtrooms, judges' chambers, district attorney's office, and the law library. On the left at the top of the stairs is the court clerk's office.
Kiowa County Court Clerk
316 South Main
Hobart, OK 73651
(580)726-5125
In this office is the legal documents of the county. These records include marriage,
divorce, criminal, civil, small claims, traffic and probate. They have most
records back to 1901, but some were destroyed in a fire.
The marriages are listed in several volumns, by date, from statehood. The office still has several original marriage licenses. When asked to search for marriage records, if the names are found in the books, the staff will also check to see if it is one of the originals. If the original is still in the files, they will give the original to the researcher. There is a $5.00 search fee, plus copies.
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Now back to the hall and down the steps again. We can make a left turn at the bottom of these stairs and down the short set of stairs. In the basement is the Voter's Registration Office.
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Now, This is our tour of the Court House. I hope you found where to look for the records you need. You will enjoy meeting the staff in these offices. They are friendly, courteous, and helpful, some great citizens of our county.
Come soon and visit our county. Check out the Court House. I'm sure you will enjoy Kiowa County's hospitality!