Bolthole Index county-legal census · checked 2026-10-07
33 of Kansas's 105 counties — 31% — 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 Bourbon County (68/100). 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 627 counties nationwide → Kansas: no zoning → Kansas: no codes, no zoning → Kansas: owner-builder → Kansas: tiny homes → Kansas: no minimum home size → Full Kansas profile →
From the Kansas guide
Kansas has 33 counties without residential building-permit requirements, 23 with limited requirements and 49 requiring residential building permits; the counts describe unincorporated land.178 Bourbon County, Chautauqua County, Marshall County and Elk County are leading options without residential building permits.1 Start with the Kansas no-building-codes list, then ask the county clerk which building-code resolution covers the parcel: Kansas permits counties to adopt codes for different unincorporated areas.15 Kansas's owner-performed roofing exemption concerns contractor registration and does not waive local building permits or inspections.13
From the Kansas guide, written from the cited official sources and re-checked by an independent reviewer. This is research, not legal advice: confirm with the office before you buy or build.
33 of 105 Kansas counties · sorted by Index score
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) ↗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 ↗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) ↗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 ↗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 ↗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 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 ↗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 ↗Construction or improvements within rural, unincorporated areas of Phillips County, Kansas. Individual municipalities are subject to their own regulations and requirements. The …
Building Regulations & Permitting ↗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 ↗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 ↗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 ↗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) ↗County building permits for development outside the city limits in Chase County. The statement expressly applies outside the city limits; incorporated cities may impose their ow…
Commissioners :: Chase County Kansas ↗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'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 ↗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 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 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 ↗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) ↗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 ↗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 ↗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 ↗Construction by county residents in unincorporated Scott County; incorporated Scott City has separate municipal permitting materials. The official source states that county resi…
scottcountyks.com ↗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 ↗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 ↗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) ↗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 ↗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 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 ↗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 ↗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) ↗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.
Off-grid gear
Building on land in one of these Kansas counties? The kit we'd start with:
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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.
