Bates County is a county located in the west central part of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population was 17,049. Its county seat is Butler. The county was organized in 1841 and named after Frederick Bates, the second Governor of Missouri.Bates County is part of the Kansas City, MO-KS Metropolitan Statistical Area.Bates County was the only county in the United States to have endured total evacuation during the US Civil War, under Order No.11.