Franklin County

What Franklin County does

Franklin County, Kansas is a county-level government entity headquartered in Ottawa, Kansas, providing essential public services to residents of Franklin County, Kansas and the surrounding Fourth Judicial District. Established in the 1860s, the organization operates 25+ departments covering Sheriff's Office, Fourth Judicial District Court (shared with Anderson, Coffey, and Osage counties), Health Department, Motor Vehicle, Planning & Building, Public Works, Environmental Health, Emergency Management, Ambulance, Recycling/Transfer Station, Noxious Weeds, County Attorney, Treasurer, Appraiser, Community Corrections, Juvenile Services, Tourism, and the Board of County Commissioners. Its core functions span law enforcement, infrastructure maintenance, property records management, court services, motor vehicle registration, environmental health regulation, emergency medical services, and development and permitting.

The county runs a government services digital platform built on CivicPlus CMS with an integrated Online Permit Center (active since February 28, 2024) supporting septic permits, water well permits, resale/courtesy inspections, and burn permits. Additional technology infrastructure includes PropertyFraudAlert for title fraud monitoring, Franklinks Parcel Search for property records access, Laredo Connect (FIDLAR) for digital land records, and integration with the State of Kansas iKan online vehicle renewal system. Service delivery is carried out through six physical office locations in Ottawa, KS (Courthouse, Public Works, Environmental Health, County Attorney, District Court, Motor Vehicle), supplemented by self-serve online portals, a stainless-steel drop box on the courthouse lawn, and mail-in document submission.

Revenue is derived primarily from property taxes, sales taxes, and bed tax (approximately $109,000 annually previously allocated to the Rend Lake Area Tourism Council prior to its funding termination). Additional streams include fees for building permits (varying by structure type and square footage), motor vehicle registration (e.g., 60-day permits, duplicate titles, disabled plates), court fees and diversion supervision ($100 for adult diversions), ambulance billing (insurance-based with payment arrangements), specialty license plates, and herbicide sales. The customer base is geographically captive to Franklin County, Kansas residents, property owners, builders and contractors, motor vehicle owners, and emergency medical services recipients; there is no traditional pricing structure and no external commercial customer base.

Name

Franklin County

Legal name

Franklin County, Kansas

Website

https://franklincoks.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1860

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Franklin County, Kansas is a county government headquartered in Ottawa, KS, providing essential services to county residents including law enforcement, courts, property records, motor vehicle registration, environmental health, planning, permits, and emergency management through physical offices and CivicPlus-powered digital portals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Government Administration

NAICS

Courts (922110), Regulation, Licensing, and Inspection of Miscellaneous Commercial Sectors (92615), Administration of Environmental Quality Programs (9241), Other General Government Support (92119)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111), Sanitary Services (4950)

akta.pro primary industry

Local Public Health & Human Services Administration (BPAIACAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

County/District/Local Health Departments (HLAJAAAB), Public Works Departments (Streets, Bridges, Stormwater, Fleet, Maintenance) (BPAIALAD), Economic Development & Business Licensing (Local) (BPAIACAN), Taxpayer Services, Education & Outreach (BPAIADAM)

Keywords

• Local government services
• County administration
• Property records management
• Courts and judicial services
• Public safety and permits

Headquarters

HQ city

Ottawa

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. County tax revenues: Government entity funded primarily through property taxes, sales taxes, and bed tax revenues from tourism

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Franklin County, Kansas operates a comprehensive local government providing essential public services to county residents, including law enforcement, court services (Fourth Judicial District), property records and deeds, motor vehicle registration, public health, environmental health, ambulance/EMS, planning and building permits/inspections, public works/road maintenance, emergency management, noxious weed control, recycling and waste, tourism, and elections administration. Core service delivery is increasingly digital, with residents able to access permits, vehicle renewals, property records, and burn permits through online portals, supplemented by in-person service at multiple county offices in Ottawa, Kansas.

Product overview

Franklin County, Kansas operates a comprehensive government services platform providing residents access to county departments, online permits, property records, court services, and public resources through its official website. The county offers an integrated digital services system that includes online permit applications, property fraud alerts via PropertyFraudAlert.com, property search through Franklinks-ATPRO-PA system, online payments for various county services, and the ConnectUS Digital Skills Hub program for residents. The platform serves multiple departments including Planning & Building, Environmental Health, Motor Vehicle, Sheriff's Office, Health Department, County Attorney, and the Fourth Judicial District Court.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Online Permit Center Self-service web portal for Franklin County residents and contractors to submit and pay for septic permits, water well permits, and resale/courtesy inspections online.
• PropertyFraudAlert (Franklin County, KS) Subscription-based monitoring service that notifies Franklin County property owners when documents are recorded under their name, helping protect against property title fraud.
• Franklinks Parcel Search Public online property and parcel search system providing access to property records and ownership information for parcels within Franklin County via a Tylerhost-hosted platform.
• Laredo Connect (Digital Land Records) FIDLAR-provided digital land records management system used by Franklin County to access and manage official county land records and documents.
• Online Vehicle Renewal (iKan) State of Kansas online vehicle registration renewal system that allows Franklin County residents to renew vehicle registrations electronically.
• Online Burn Permit System Online system allowing Franklin County residents to apply for and obtain burn permits within the county.
• Ambulance / EMS Services County-operated emergency medical transport services. Billing is insurance-based with payment arrangements available for fixed-income residents; no charge if a patient refuses care and is not transported.
• Fourth Judicial District Court Services Court services operation covering Franklin, Anderson, Coffey, and Osage counties, providing adult/juvenile diversion supervision (Diversion Supervision Fee: $100 for adult diversions) and probation-related services.
• Property Records and Deed Recording (Register of Deeds) Recording of deeds, mortgages, and related property instruments; public access to property and parcel records through Tyler Energov and Franklinks systems.
• ConnectUS: Digital Skills Hub Digital equity program providing free technology courses and devices to Franklin County residents below 200% of the federal poverty level, in partnership with the City of Columbus and multiple community organizations.
• Motor Vehicle Department Services County-level processing of vehicle registrations, title transfers, 60-day and 1-day permits, duplicate titles, lost plate replacements, disabled plates, and MVE-1 inspections.
• Planning & Building Permits and Inspections Department providing building permits, inspections, mapping, and environmental health coordination for construction projects in unincorporated Franklin County. Recently welcomed new leadership and staff.
• Specialty License Plates Issuance of personalized, antique, and disabled specialty license plates with associated royalty and plate fees.
• Noxious Weed Herbicide Sales Sale of herbicides for noxious weed control restricted to land in Franklin County, supporting the Noxious Weeds Department's control efforts.
• CivicAlerts Notification Service Subscription-based email and SMS notification service powered by CivicPlus CivicAlerts that delivers county news, public notices, and emergency alerts to residents.

Quantifiable outcome

• Digital Skills Hub aims to reach 10,000 participants by 2027 (up from 1,000 pilot participants)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Columbus (Ohio) - City GovernmentcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 June 2025Columbus and Franklin County officially launched the ConnectUS: Digital Skills Hub program on June 5, 2025, a $20.2 million joint initiative offering free technology courses and devices to residents earning below 200% of the federal poverty level. The program trained 1,000 people during its pilot phase through seven partner organizations, aims to reach 10,000 participants by 2027, and will expand to 16 partner organizations in July. Officials cited this as one of the largest coordinated digital equity investments of any metropolitan area in the country.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Tyler Technologies: Tyler Technologies is a major provider of software to county and municipal governments, including the Tyler Energov property/records platform and Odyssey court system used by Franklin County KS. Comparable as a broad incumbent serving the same local-government market with overlapping court, property, and records solutions.
• Hyland: Hyland provides content services and document management (OnBase) to government agencies for records, land management, and case management. Comparable as a vendor serving the same county-government records and document workflows that Franklin County KS handles through its Register of Deeds and digital records platforms.
• Johnson County, Kansas: Johnson County is the most populous county in Kansas and a peer county-government entity operating the same core departments (public works, health, courts, planning, treasurer) as Franklin County KS but at substantially greater scale, providing a comparison benchmark for service breadth and digital maturity.
• Douglas County, Kansas: Douglas County is a Kansas county government providing the same essential services as Franklin County KS — including public health, planning/building, public works, and district court services — making it a directly comparable county-government peer in the same state.
• Sedgwick County, Kansas: Sedgwick County (home to Wichita) is the largest county in Kansas and operates an analogous set of public safety, public works, environmental health, courts, and motor vehicle departments as Franklin County KS, providing an at-scale peer benchmark for service delivery and digital capability.

Emerging players

• OpenGov: OpenGov is a government technology company providing budgeting, financial management, and procurement software to state and local governments. Comparable to Franklin County KS's financial, permitting, and reporting functions, with a more commercial software-product orientation to the same buyer persona.

Direct peers

• Granicus: Granicus provides government experience and digital communications platforms to local governments, including agenda/legislative management, public records, and citizen notifications. It targets the same county/municipal buyer as Franklin County KS for digital service delivery and resident engagement.
• CivicPlus: CivicPlus is the website CMS and civic engagement platform vendor used by Franklin County KS (per the site footer). It is a direct peer in the local-government digital services space, selling website, online form, and constituent engagement tools to small and mid-sized counties and municipalities nationally.
• Accela: Accela provides civic engagement and permitting/licensing software (Accela Civic Platform, Accela Automation) to counties and municipalities for building permits, planning, environmental health, and code enforcement — directly paralleling Franklin County KS's Planning & Building, Environmental Health, and online permit center services.
• Cartegraph: Cartegraph (part of OpenGov) provides asset and operations management software for public works, utilities, and parks — directly paralleling Franklin County KS's Public Works, Recycling, Noxious Weeds, and infrastructure maintenance operations.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC6rYUBIhr-kPTwO1xw6YAbA
• Facebookfacebook.com/franklincoks
• Xx.com/franklincoks

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Franklin County