United States District Court for the District of Kansas

The United States District Court for the District of Kansas (in case citations, D. Kan.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Kansas. The Court operates out of the Robert J. Dole United States Courthouse in Kansas City, Kansas, the Frank Carlson Federal Building in Topeka, and the United States Courthouse in Wichita. The District of Kansas was created in 1861, replacing the territorial court that preceded it, and President Abraham Lincoln appointed Archibald Williams as the Court's first judge.

United States District Court for the District of Kansas
(D. Kan.)
Location	Kansas City More locations Topeka United States Post Office and Federal Building (Wichita) Lawrence Leavenworth Salina Hutchinson Dodge City Fort Scott
Appeals to	Tenth Circuit
Established	January 29, 1861
Judges	6
Chief Judge	Eric F. Melgren
Officers of the court
U.S. Attorney	Duston J. Slinkard (acting)
U.S. Marshal	Ronald L. Miller
www.ksd.uscourts.gov

Appeals from the District of Kansas are made to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

As of February 22, 2025^[update] the acting United States attorney is Duston J. Slinkard. On March 12, 2015, Ronald L. Miller, most recently police chief of Topeka, Kansas, was confirmed as U.S. Marshal.^[1]

The clerk of court is Skyler B. O'Hara, who is located in Topeka.

Current judges

As of August 11, 2025^[update]:

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
27	Chief Judge	Eric F. Melgren	Wichita	1956	2008–present	2021–present	—	G.W. Bush
29	District Judge	John W. Broomes	Wichita	1969	2018–present	—	—	Trump
30	District Judge	Holly Teeter	Kansas City	1979	2018–present	—	—	Trump
31	District Judge	Toby Crouse	Topeka	1975	2020–present	—	—	Trump
32	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
33	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
21	Senior Judge	John Watson Lungstrum	Kansas City	1945	1991–2010	2001–2007	2010–present	G.H.W. Bush
22	Senior Judge	Monti Belot	inactive	1943	1991–2008	—	2008–present	G.H.W. Bush
23	Senior Judge	Kathryn H. Vratil	Kansas City	1949	1992–2014	2008–2014	2014–present	G.H.W. Bush
26	Senior Judge	Julie A. Robinson	Kansas City	1957	2001–2022	2017–2021	2022–present	G.W. Bush
28	Senior Judge	Daniel D. Crabtree	Kansas City	1956	2014–2025	—	2025–present	Obama

Vacancies and pending nominations

Seat	Prior judge's duty station	Seat last held by	Vacancy reason	Date of vacancy	Nominee	Date of nomination
5	Kansas City	Julie A. Robinson	Senior status	January 14, 2022	–	–
7		Daniel D. Crabtree		August 11, 2025	–	–
8	Wichita	Eric F. Melgren		September 1, 2025[2]	–	–

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Archibald Williams	KS	1801–1863	1861–1863	—	—	Lincoln	death
2	Mark W. Delahay	KS	1828–1879	1863–1873[Note 1]	—	—	Lincoln	resignation
3	Cassius Gaius Foster	KS	1837–1899	1874–1899	—	—	Grant	retirement
4	William Cather Hook	KS	1857–1921	1899–1903	—	—	McKinley	elevation to 8th Cir.
5	John Calvin Pollock	KS	1857–1937	1903–1937	—	—	T. Roosevelt	death
6	George Thomas McDermott	KS	1886–1937	1928–1929	—	—	Coolidge	elevation to 10th Cir.
7	Richard Joseph Hopkins	KS	1873–1943	1929–1943	—	—	Hoover	death
8	Guy T. Helvering	KS	1878–1946	1943–1946	—	—	F. Roosevelt	death
9	Arthur Johnson Mellott	KS	1888–1957	1945–1957	1948–1957	—	Truman	death
10	Delmas Carl Hill	KS	1906–1989	1949–1961[Note 2]	1957–1961	—	Truman	elevation to 10th Cir.
11	Arthur Jehu Stanley Jr.	KS	1901–2001	1958–1971	1961–1971	1971–2001	Eisenhower	death
12	Wesley E. Brown	KS	1907–2012	1962–1979	1971–1977	1979–2012	Kennedy	death
13	Henry George Templar	KS	1904–1988	1962–1974	—	1974–1988	Kennedy	death
14	Frank Gordon Theis	KS	1911–1998	1967–1981	1977–1981	1981–1998	L. Johnson	death
15	Earl Eugene O'Connor	KS	1922–1998	1971–1992	1981–1992	1992–1998	Nixon	death
16	Richard Dean Rogers	KS	1921–2016	1975–1989	—	1989–2016	Ford	death
17	Dale E. Saffels	KS	1921–2002	1979–1990	—	1990–2002	Carter	death
18	Patrick F. Kelly	KS	1929–2007	1980–1995	1992–1995	1995–1996	Carter	retirement
19	Sam A. Crow	KS	1926–2022	1981–1996	—	1996–2022	Reagan	death
20	George Thomas Van Bebber	KS	1931–2005	1989–2000	1995–2000	2000–2005	G.H.W. Bush	death
24	J. Thomas Marten	KS	1951–present	1996–2017	2014–2017	2017–2021	Clinton	retirement
25	Carlos Murguia	KS	1957–present	1999–2020	—	—	Clinton	resignation

1. Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 14, 1863, confirmed by the United States Senate on March 15, 1864, and received commission the same day.
2. Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 5, 1950, confirmed by the Senate on March 8, 1950, and received commission on March 9, 1950.

Chief judges

Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their district court. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the district court judges. To be chief, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge.

A vacancy is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years, or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position.

When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire, on what has since 1958 been known as senior status, or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982.

Succession of seats

Seat 1 Seat established on January 29, 1861 by 12 Stat. 126 Williams 1861–1863 Delahay 1864–1873 Foster 1874–1899 Hook 1899–1903 Pollock 1903–1937 Seat abolished on January 24, 1937 (temporary judgeship expired)

Seat 2 Seat established on January 7, 1928 pursuant to 40 Stat. 1156 (temporary) McDermott 1928–1929 Hopkins 1929–1943 Seat became permanent upon the abolition of Seat 1 on January 24, 1937 Helvering 1943–1946 Seat abolished on July 4, 1946 (temporary judgeship expired)

Seat 3 Seat established on October 16, 1945 by 59 Stat. 545 (temporary) Seat became permanent upon the abolition of Seat 2 on July 4, 1946 Mellott 1945–1957 Stanley, Jr. 1958–1971 O'Connor 1971–1992 Vratil 1992–2014 Teeter 2018–present

Seat 4 Seat established on August 3, 1949 by 63 Stat. 493 Hill 1950–1961 Brown 1962–1979 Kelly 1980–1995 Marten 1996–2017 Broomes 2018–present

Seat 5 Seat established on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80 Templar 1962–1974 Rogers 1975–1989 Van Bebber 1989–2000 Robinson 2001–2022 vacant 2022–present

Seat 6 Seat established on March 18, 1966 by 80 Stat. 75 (temporary) Seat made permanent on June 2, 1970 by 84 Stat. 294 Theis 1967–1981 Crow 1981–1996 Murguia 1999–2020 Crouse 2020–present

Seat 7 Seat established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629 Saffels 1979–1990 Lungstrum 1991–2010 Crabtree 2014–2025 vacant 2025–present

Seat 8 Seat established on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089 (temporary) Belot 1991–2008 Seat made permanent on December 23, 2024 by 138 Stat. 2693 Melgren 2008–present

U.S. Attorneys

• Andrew Jackson Isacks^[3] 1854-57^[4][5]
• William Weer 1857-58
• Alson C. Davis 1858-61
• Thomas Means 1861
• John T. Burris 1861
• Robert Crozier 1861-64
• James S. Emory 1864-67
• Samuel Riggs 1867-69
• Albert H. Horton 1869-73
• Cyrus I. Scofield 1873
• George R. Peck 1874-79
• James R. Hallowell 1879-85
• William C. Perry 1885-89
• Joseph W. Ady 1889-93
• William C. Perry 1893-97
• Isaac E. Lambert 1897-1901
• John S. Dean 1901-05
• Harry J. Bone 1905-13
• Fred Robertson 1913-21
• Albert F. Williams 1921-30
• Sardius M. Brewster 1930-34
• Summerfield S. Alexander 1934-42
• George H. West 1942-45
• Randolph Carpenter 1945-48
• Lester Luther 1948-52
• Eugene W. Davis 1952-53
• George Templar 1953-54
• William C. Farmer 1954-58
• William C. Leonard 1958-61
• Newell A. George 1961-68
• Benjamin E. Franklin 1968-69
• Robert J. Roth 1969-75
• E. Edward Johnson 1975-77
• James P. Buchele 1977-81
• Jim J. Marquez 1981-84
• Benjamin L. Burgess, Jr. 1984-90
• Lee Thompson 1990-93
• Jackie N. Williams 1993
• Randy Rathbun 1993-96
• Jackie N. Williams 1996-2001
• Eric Melgren 2002-2008
• Marietta Parker 2008-2009^[6]
• Lanny Welch 2009-2010
• Barry Grissom 2010-2016
• Stephen McAllister 2018-2021
• Duston J. Slinkard 2021-2023^[7]
• Kate E. Brubacher 2023-2025
• Duston J. Slinkard (acting) 2025-

See also

• Courts of Kansas
• List of current United States district judges
• List of United States federal courthouses in Kansas