TOPEKA – District Judge Rebecca Crotty will retire June 19 after serving seven years on the bench.
Judge Crotty was appointed in 2010 to Division 1 of the 3rd Judicial District, which is composed of Shawnee County. She previously served as chief judge of the Kansas Court of Tax Appeals and as a district magistrate judge in Finney County. She also was vice president and counsel for a bank in Garden City and a research attorney for the Kansas Supreme Court.
"My legal education has allowed me to participate in a variety of activities," Judge Crotty said. "There was always something new and interesting."
She graduated in 1972 from the University of Kansas with a degree in secondary education and taught school. She graduated with honors in 1977 from the Washburn University School of Law and clerked for Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold Fatzer and Justice Richard Holmes.
She returned to her hometown of Garden City as vice president and counsel for Garden National Bank, later Bank of America. She then worked in private practice in Garden City before being appointed a magistrate judge in Finney County. That initial appointment to the bench led to service on the three-judge Court of Tax Appeals and, later, the Shawnee County judicial position.
As a magistrate and chief judge of the Court of Tax Appeals, Judge Crotty supervised the computerization of court proceedings.
"Looking back, we've come a long way. We've been able to get a lot more work done," she said, thanks to technology. "At the Court of Tax Appeals, we were able to cut in half the time it took for cases to get through the system, and for less money."
She has been a longtime supporter of CASA – Court-Appointed Special Advocates – and currently serves on the state board.
She said she witnessed CASA's work with children as a magistrate. A child involved in the court system might be assigned to a number of social workers and foster homes, "but CASA was the one steady person," Crotty said. "Their job is to provide the child with some sense of stability and to provide good information to the courts. They try to be there for the child, no matter what."
Judge Crotty said her retirement plans include spending more time with her husband and family. Her mother now lives in Topeka, her father-in-law is in Manhattan, and her daughter and granddaughter are in St. Paul, Minnesota, in addition to her husband's children living in Denver, Kansas City and St. Louis.
"It will be nice to have time to travel and spend time with our busy family," she said.
She said she hopes her judicial career has been a benefit to others.
"A lot of people look to the courts to try to resolve a problem, and I hope I've been able to encourage them to work hard to resolve that or gave them at least a clear decision to be able to go on. It's been an honor to work with the judicial branch of government and to serve the people of this community and Kansas," she said.