The Kansas State Capitol in Topeka is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with free guided building tours and a free dome climb available year-round. The only public entrance is on the ground level of the north wing, facing 8th Avenue, and every visitor passes through security. The building closes on major state holidays.
Getting In
The mailing address is 300 SW 10th Avenue, but the door you actually walk through faces 8th Avenue on the north side. Visitor parking is in State Parking Lot #1; enter at the first entrance south of 10th Street on Harrison and look for the signed visitor spaces. Parking is capped at four hours, and vehicles that overstay get ticketed.
The Kansas Highway Patrol runs the security checkpoint at the north entrance. All hand-carried bags and briefcases are subject to search, and refusing a search means you don’t come in. Concealed-carry firearms are allowed under the Kansas Personal and Family Protection Act, but nearly every other weapon is prohibited, including knives with blades over four inches, stun guns, pepper spray, and clubs.
Free Tours
Building Tours
The Capitol Visitor Center offers free guided tours covering the building’s history, architecture, and artwork. From January through May, when the legislature is typically in session, tours run hourly from 9 to 11 a.m. and from 1 to 3 p.m., Monday through Saturday. From June through December, tours start at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. Groups are capped at 30 people. Reservations are strongly encouraged during the busy January-to-May stretch; book through the Kansas Historical Society website or call 785-296-3966. If you walk in, you can grab a self-guided brochure at the visitor center desk instead.
Dome Tour
The dome tour is the signature experience. It involves climbing 296 steps through narrow, steep historic staircases to reach an exterior observation balcony near the top. Dome tours run weekdays at 9:15, 10:15, and 11:15 a.m. and at 1:15, 2:15, and 3:15 p.m. Saturday follows the same schedule but starts at 10:15 a.m. There is no fee.
The climb is genuinely strenuous. Anyone with heart conditions, breathing difficulties, or mobility limitations should think carefully before attempting it. There is no elevator alternative to the dome.
What You’ll See Inside
The second floor holds John Steuart Curry’s “Tragic Prelude,” the mural of an oversized, wild-eyed John Brown gripping a Bible in one hand and a rifle in the other, standing astride fallen soldiers. It captures the violence of the Bleeding Kansas era. Curry finished it in 1942, and it still provokes strong reactions. On the opposite wall, his “Kansas Pastoral” offers a calmer agricultural scene, though some Kansans at the time complained the Hereford bull looked wrong.
On the third floor, in front of the old Supreme Court room, a mural by Kansas City native Michael Young commemorates the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. It was unveiled on May 17, 2018, the 64th anniversary of the ruling. A separate mural honoring the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment, the first Black regiment to see combat in the Civil War, is in development for the fourth floor’s south wall; the legislature authorized the privately financed project in 2024.
At the top of the dome exterior stands the Ad Astra statue, a 22-foot bronze figure of a Kansa warrior drawing a bow aimed at the North Star, installed in 2002. It represents the state motto, Ad Astra Per Aspera (to the stars through difficulties). An 8-foot bronze replica was placed on a granite pedestal on the capitol grounds in 2024 after years in storage.
The interior itself is worth slowing down for. Marble from Tennessee, Georgia, Italy, Belgium, North Africa, France, and Mexico appears across the floors and chambers, with the Senate and House chambers each using their own combinations alongside onyx and jasper. The rotunda rises through the center of the building toward the copper dome.
The House and Senate meet in ornate chambers on the upper floors. Public galleries above both chambers let visitors watch the legislative process when the chambers are in session. Under House rules, galleries stay open during regular session unless the Speaker orders them cleared. Photography is allowed in most of the building but not inside the chambers while the legislature is in session. Expect to sit quietly in the galleries; disruptions can get you removed. Outside of session, the chambers are accessible on building tours.
Facilities and Accessibility
The ground level houses the Capitol Visitor Center, the Capitol Store with Kansas-themed merchandise, and a cafeteria serving meals during business hours. The State Library of Kansas is on the third floor of the north wing in Room 312-N, open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. It holds government, legislative, and historical records, serves as a depository for federal and state documents, and offers public computers, copying, and research databases. The library also runs a Talking Books program for Kansans with vision or print disabilities. A dedicated Kansas Legislative Hotline, 800-432-3924, answers questions about the legislature.
Elevators and accessible pathways reach every public floor, including the galleries, library, visitor center, and legislative chambers. The dome tour is the one exception. Those historic staircases cannot be retrofitted with an elevator.
Holding an Event at the Statehouse
Casual visitors and tour groups don’t need any paperwork. Organizations that want to hold a rally, ceremony, or informational gathering inside the building or on the grounds do. Applications go through the Kansas Department of Administration’s Office of Facilities and Property Management, with a $20 application fee that must be received before the application is considered complete.
Reservable space includes the ground level, the first and second floors, the statehouse steps, the grounds, and state parking lots. Applicants provide contact details, event name and type, expected attendance, and times for setup, the event, and cleanup. The office can supply seating, a podium, and related items if available. Applications for the 2026 calendar year have been accepted since July 1, 2025.