Effective today, August 11, 2025, Judge Crabtree assumes senior district judge status after a distinguished 11-year tenure of active service on the federal bench. Judge Crabtree intends to continue to render substantial judicial service as a senior judge.

Judge Crabtree is a lifelong resident of Kansas City, Kansas. Prior to his confirmation as a district judge, Judge Crabtree spent his entire career as a practicing lawyer with the same firm, Stinson Leonard Street LLP (and its predecessor firm, Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP) where he practiced for 32 years. While in private practice, he represented businesses and business owners in commercial and antitrust cases and he also served as General Counsel for Kansas City’s Major League Baseball team, the Kansas City Royals. He was active in civic and charitable enterprises, serving on the Board of Directors of the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation and the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission. President Obama nominated Judge Crabtree for the position previously held by Judge John W. Lungstrum, the United States Senate confirmed him, and on May 1, 2014, he was commissioned as the twenty-eighth United States District Judge for the District of Kansas. Judge Crabtree is the current Chair of the District of Kansas Bench-Bar Committee and was a member of the United States Judicial Conference Committee on the Administration of the Bankruptcy System from 2019-2025.

The District of Kansas congratulates Judge Crabtree on this milestone in his judicial career.