Government
The State Capitol of Kansas is in Topeka, the capital since 1861.Kansas is governed under its original constitution, adopted in 1859 and effective in 1861, and the many amendments that have since been adopted. The state Legislature consists of the Senate (40 members, elected for four-year terms) and the House of Representatives (125 members, elected for two-year terms). The legislature meets annually. The governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, attorney general, and commissoner of insurance are elected for four-year terms. The judicial branch consists of the Kansas Supreme Court of seven justices, the Kansas Court of Appeals with 12 judges, and district courts, and various minor courts.
Kansas has 105 counties. The state sends two senators and four representatives to the U.S. Congress.
| Governors of Kansas | |||
| Name | Party | Term | |
| Charles Robinson | Republican | 1861-1863 | |
| Thomas Carney | Republican | 1863-1865 | |
| Samuel J. Crawford | Republican | 1865-1868 | |
| Nehemiah Green | Republican | 1868-1869 | |
| James M. Harvey | Republican | 1869-1873 | |
| Thomas A. Osborn | Republican | 1873-1877 | |
| George T. Anthony | Republican | 1877-1879 | |
| John Pierce St. John | Republican | 1879-1883 | |
| George W. Glick | Democratic | 1883-1885 | |
| John Alexander Martin | Republican | 1885-1889 | |
| Lyman Underwood Humphrey | Republican | 1889-1893 | |
| Lorenzo D. Lewelling | Populist | 1893-1895 | |
| Edmund Needham Morrill | Republican | 1895-1897 | |
| John W. Leedy | Populist | 1897-1899 | |
| William Eugene Stanley | Republican | 1899-1903 | |
| Willis Joshua Bailey | Republican | 1903-1905 | |
| Edward Wallis Hoch | Republican | 1905-1909 | |
| Walter Roscoe Stubbs | Republican | 1909-1913 | |
| George Hartshorn Hodges | Democratic | 1913-1915 | |
| Arthur Capper | Republican | 1915-1919 | |
| Henry J. Allen | Republican | 1919-1923 | |
| Jonathan M. Davis | Democratic | 1923-1925 | |
| Ben S. Paulen | Republican | 1925-1929 | |
| Clyde M. Reed | Republican | 1929-1931 | |
| Harry H. Woodring | Democratic | 1931-1933 | |
| Alfred M. Landon | Republican | 1933-1937 | |
| Walter A. Huxman | Democratic | 1937-1939 | |
| Payne Ratner | Republican | 1939-1943 | |
| Andrew F. Schoeppel | Republican | 1943-1947 | |
| Frank Carlson | Republican | 1947-1950 | |
| Frank L. Hagaman | Republican | 1950-1951 | |
| Edward F. Arn | Republican | 1951-1955 | |
| Fred Hall | Republican | 1955-1957 | |
| John McCuish | Republican | 1957 | |
| George Docking | Democratic | 1957-1961 | |
| John Anderson, Jr. | Republican | 1961-1965 | |
| William H. Avery | Republican | 1965-1967 | |
| Robert Docking | Democratic | 1967-1975 | |
| Robert F. Bennett | Republican | 1975-1979 | |
| John W. Carlin | Democratic | 1979-1987 | |
| Mike Hayden | Republican | 1987-1991 | |
| Joan Finney | Democratic | 1991-1995 | |
| Bill Graves | Republican | 1995-2003 | |
| Kathleen Sebelius | Democratic | 2003- | |
