It’s Valentine’s Day weekend, but love is always in the air at the Johnson County Courthouse in downtown Olathe.

According to The Court Clerk’s Office, there were 4,085 marriage licenses issued at the courthouse in 2025. Two separate applications for a marriage license were filed with one of the future newlyweds being 85 years young.

Seventeen district court judges in the Johnson County District Court system or five retired judges can perform a wedding ceremony in their courtrooms or elsewhere. None of them hold a cupid’s bow and arrow to Probate Judge Bert Rogers of Olathe, the legendary “marrying judge” in the mid-1930s.

During his five years as a probate judge, Bert Rogers performed 150 to 200 weddings each month. He was elected probate judge in 1934. He married 1,515 couples in his first year and 1,808 couples in 1938. Johnson County’s population at the time was approximately 30,000, compared to more than 620,000 now.

His “Cupid’s Chapel,” located in the county’s the second courthouse (1892-1952), was popular for couples eloping from Missouri and eastern Kansas. At that time, Kansas did not have a three-day waiting period before issuing the license, but Missouri did, so anyone in Kansas City, MO and elsewhere in Missouri who wanted to get married right away would drive out to Olathe to get a marriage license.

An Olathe Daily News article on Sept. 7, 1983 said Judge Rogers "would marry couples in his office and until midnight at his home or elsewhere. He also married couples on Sundays at his home and also drive into the country to officiate at weddings ... He advertised his newfound profession with a giant white neon heart and blinking red arrows on top of his house.”

Judge Rogers enjoyed being the marrying judge for both love and a source of extra income. Back then, any money given to the judge for his wedding services was his to keep.

While an exact cost isn't readily available on how much Judge Bert Rogers charged for his marriages, Kansas marriage license fees in the 1930s were likely very low, perhaps under a dollar or two. (Note: A dollar in 1935 equates to about $23.50 in 2025).

That changed in 1977 when the Kansas Legislature passed a law that if a judge performed a wedding during normal work hours, he or she had to turn over any honorarium to the district court. A marriage license in Kansas now costs $85.50.

Judge Rogers was father of Charles “Buddy” Rogers, Olathe’s famed movie star, band leader and versatile musician. His son appeared in the silent World War I movie “Wings” (1927) which won the first Oscar for Best Picture.

Judge Rogers died in the fall of 1939. His home, razed long ago, was located on the corner of Kansas and Santa Fe. It was about a block from the courthouse.