There was a measure recently to reduce the number of counties to 15. Needless to say it went nowhere.
In the 19th Century, many states configured counties so that a resident could get from their home to the Court House and return home in one day. Most states have been reluctant to reduce the number of existing counties, even though the Court House is only 20 miles away. By the old rule of thumb, Kansas would need about 4 counties. Many counties have a half empty Court House, a handful of employees in the County Clerk’s office and very little going on except on Court Days. In those places, they close for lunch and lock up the Court House while everyone go to lunch together.
That’s ridiculous. Funding 105 counties takes a lot of taxpayer money.