Bolthole Index county-legal census · checked 2026-07-01
40 of Kansas's 105 counties — 38% — do not require a residential building permit in their unincorporated areas. That is the 7th-largest count of any state. The strongest of them on the Bolthole Index is Cloud County (72/100). Every entry below cites the county’s own official source.
Rules change, and cities inside these counties set their own — treat this as a verified starting point, not legal advice. All 784 counties nationwide → Kansas counties with no zoning → Full Kansas profile →
40 of 105 Kansas counties · sorted by Index score
Cloud County's official departments listing includes no building-permit or code-enforcement office (building codes/permits exist only within cities such as Concordia), indicatin…
Cloud County, KS - official county government site ↗The county government lists no building/codes or planning department (only Public Works, Sanitation, Public Health, etc.); building permits and codes are handled by incorporated…
Bourbon County Kansas - Official Site (Departments) ↗Gove County's official departments listing includes no building-permit or code-enforcement office, consistent with the county having no adopted building codes for unincorporated…
Gove County - Departments (official county site) ↗Marshall County's official website lists many departments (Appraiser, Health, Public Works, Road & Bridge, Solid Waste, etc.) but no building/zoning/planning department, consist…
Marshall County, Kansas — official county website ↗Neosho County's official department list contains no building/codes department; the county regulates only sanitation/environmental health, so no countywide residential building …
Neosho County, KS – Departments ↗Brown County's official forms list includes no county residential building permit (only a Road & Bridge move-building permit); rural Kansas counties commonly do not require coun…
Brown County KS - Forms ↗The county's official departments list shows no building, codes, or planning department, consistent with rural Kansas counties that do not require residential building permits.
Wallace County, KS - County Departments ↗The county's offices (Clerk, Appraiser, Attorney, Register of Deeds, Treasurer, Sheriff, Health) include no building or codes department, consistent with rural Kansas counties t…
Washington County, KS - County Departments ↗The county's official department list includes no building/inspection/planning department (only City of Colby issues building permits), consistent with rural NW Kansas counties …
Thomas County, KS - Departments ↗The county's own department directory lists no building, codes, or inspections department, consistent with rural Kansas counties that do not require a county building permit in …
Sheridan County KS Department Directory ↗Lincoln County's official department list includes no building, codes, planning, or zoning department, indicating the unincorporated county does not administer residential build…
Lincoln County, KS - Departments ↗Hodgeman County's official site lists no planning, zoning, or building-permit department, and Kansas does not mandate a residential building code in unincorporated areas.
Hodgeman County (official county website) ↗No county planning/zoning or building-permit office is listed among Logan County departments; building permits are handled at the City of Oakley level, not for the unincorporate…
City of Oakley - Logan County Departments ↗The county's department listing includes no building/codes office, consistent with rural Kansas counties that impose no residential building permit in unincorporated areas (city…
Mitchell County, KS - Official Website ↗Ness County's official department directory lists no building, codes, or permits department, indicating the rural county operates no county-wide building permit program.
Ness County, KS — Departments ↗The Jewell County department directory lists no building/codes department, consistent with rural Kansas counties that do not require building permits in unincorporated areas.
Jewell County, Kansas - County Directory ↗Rawlins County's official departments listing shows no building, codes, or permitting office, consistent with rural Kansas counties that do not administer residential building p…
Rawlins County Departments ↗The Kansas Codes Collaborative (state KCC) inventory records Sherman County as having no adopted building codes, and no county building-permit program is documented; permits exi…
Kansas Codes Collaborative - Adopted Building Codes by County ↗Osborne County's official departments list includes no building, permit, or inspection office, and the county issues no county-level residential building permits.
Osborne County - Departments ↗The county's official site states there are no defined regulations or permits required for construction or improvements within rural (unincorporated) Phillips County; only incor…
Phillips County, KS - Building Regulations & Permitting ↗Smith County's official site lists its departments (Health, Road and Bridge, Landfill, Appraiser, etc.) with no building-permit, inspection, or code-enforcement office, consiste…
Smith County, Kansas (official county website) ↗Chautauqua County is a rural Kansas county with no county-wide building code, and Kansas has no statewide residential building code mandate for unincorporated areas.
Tiny Home Regulations in Kansas (Chautauqua County section) ↗Scott County government lists no county building/codes department; building permits are administered only within incorporated Scott City, so unincorporated county construction i…
Scott County, Kansas (county government) ↗The official Chase County government site lists no planning, zoning, building-inspection, code-enforcement, or permit department, consistent with rural Kansas counties that requ…
Chase County, Kansas official website ↗Norton County's official department directory lists no building, permit, or code-enforcement department, consistent with rural Kansas counties that issue no countywide residenti…
Norton County KS - Departments ↗Ellsworth County's official department listing includes no building/permit office or code enforcement; residential building permits are handled at the municipal level (e.g., Cit…
Ellsworth County, KS - Official Website ↗The county staff directory lists no building or code-enforcement department; only a floodplain 'Development Permit' is referenced, consistent with rural Kansas counties that do …
Atchison County Staff Directory (departments list) ↗Elk County's official department list includes no building/codes/inspection office; only Public Works issues construction permits, and those are for septic/lagoon systems, imply…
Elk County Kansas :: Departments ↗Meade County's official department list includes no building/codes office, consistent with rural Kansas counties that do not require residential building permits in unincorporat…
Meade County, KS - Departments ↗The official Wichita County government site lists no planning, zoning, building-inspection, or permit department, consistent with rural Kansas counties that require no countywid…
Wichita County, Kansas official website ↗The Unified Greeley County government lists only Clerk, Treasurer, Appraiser, Sheriff and Register of Deeds - no building or code-enforcement office - and Kansas has no statewid…
Unified Greeley County, KS - Official Website ↗Cheyenne County's government lists no building/permit office, and building permitting is handled at the municipal level (e.g., City of St. Francis); the rural unincorporated cou…
Cheyenne County, KS - Government ↗The county's official department list shows no building, planning, or zoning department for unincorporated areas, and no county building-permit program is documented; building p…
Edwards County, KS Official Website ↗Grant County's official departments list includes no building, planning, or code-enforcement office, indicating no countywide residential building permit outside the City of Uly…
Grant County, KS - Departments ↗The county's official site lists no building-inspection or permit department, consistent with rural Kansas counties that do not require building permits in unincorporated areas …
Comanche County, Kansas official website ↗The county states it does not have building codes; Planning & Zoning only inspects outside-city properties for setbacks and occupancy, and residents are directed to cities for b…
Jefferson County Business/Building Regulations ↗Ford County's zoning regulations reference zoning-administrator permits (conditional use, manufactured home park) but no general residential building-code permit requirement was…
Ford County Zoning Regulations ↗The official county site lists no building department, building code, or permit program, consistent with rural Kansas counties that do not require residential building permits.
Barber County, Kansas - Home ↗Rural Stanton County publishes no building-permit or building-inspection department; Kansas has no statewide residential building code for such counties.
Stanton County, KS official website ↗Morton County's official site lists no county building or code-enforcement department, and Kansas has no statewide residential building code; general building permits are not re…
Morton County, KS official website (departments) ↗One email a week: the best counties to live off-grid, rule changes that matter, and rule changes as Kansas counties adopt or drop codes. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Every county here has a full profile — water, land prices, hazard safety, seclusion, and the rest of its building rules. See the Kansas state page for all 105 counties ranked, or go back to the national list.
General guidance, not legal advice. Off-grid, building, and land-use rules are often set at the county level and change often. Verify with your county and state before acting. Data reviewed 2026-06-26.