Daniel Dale Crabtree
How Judge Crabtree rules, drawn from 34 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Crabtree
Daniel Dale Crabtree is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Crabtree received a commission on May 1, 2014. Judge Crabtree assumed senior status on August 11, 2025.
Judge Crabtree's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Crabtree's own (checked October 9, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026).
- Standing Order 26-04: Immigration Habeas Cases ↗
- Standing Order 26-01: Use of Artificial Intelligence in Court Filings ↗
- Standing Order 25-04: Access, Service, and Management of Sealed Documents ↗
- Standing Order 25-03: Suspension of Local Rule 79.4 for Civil Sealed Files ↗
- Standing Order 2021-1: Highly Sensitive Documents ↗
How Judge Crabtree decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
On a § 1981 (and analogous discrimination) claim at the pleading stage, what carries the day is concrete 'context and detail' tying the adverse act to a discriminatory motive; he disregards vague, conclusory comparator allegations ('treated white patients more favorably') but credits specific, defendant-known facts that make a 'but-for race' inference plausible. Plead specifics, not labels.
“a plaintiff must include enough context and detail to link the allegedly adverse employment action to a discriminatory or retaliatory motive with something besides sheer speculation.”
In Byrnes, Crabtree moved trial to Wichita after weighing the many western Kansas witnesses against travel needs of out-of-state witnesses; the proposed Dodge City venue imposed its own travel difficulties.
“The court concludes that the convenience-of-witnesses factor, which is the most important factor, favors moving this trial to Wichita.”
Procedural preferences
In Austin v. Recover-Care Healthcare, Crabtree treated a Rule 12(c) motion as one for summary judgment under Rule 12(d) because both sides submitted affidavits and other materials outside the pleadings. He gave notice, set a deadline for further materials, and directed the defendant to give the pro se plaintiff the required summary judgment notice.
“Because defendant has submitted materials outside the pleadings, the court hereby notifies the parties that it will treat defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings as one seeking summary judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 56.”
An unopposed summary-judgment motion is not an automatic win. Even when the non-movant waives the right to controvert the facts, he independently examines whether the movant carried its initial burden and is entitled to judgment as a matter of law before granting.
“even if the non-moving party fails to respond, the district court may not grant the motion without first examining the moving party’s submission to determine if it has met its initial burden of demonstrating that no material issues of fact remain for trial and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”
In Dean v. City of Wichita, Crabtree dismissed the amended complaint without prejudice and directed the pro se plaintiff to seek leave within twenty days if she could plead facts curing the defects. He required a proposed amended complaint under the local rule.
“If plaintiff properly can plead facts to cure her claims’ shortcomings, she must seek leave to amend within 20 days of this Order.”
Cautions
In this suit, Crabtree deemed the plaintiff’s unanswered requests for admission admitted and treated the defendant’s properly supported summary judgment facts as uncontroverted after she failed to respond.
“Plaintiff’s pro se status can’t save her from this harsh result.”
In McGee v. Heartland Medical Clinic, Crabtree deferred the Rule 408 question about a February 2022 meeting, finding it better suited to a motion in limine or summary judgment than the pending pleading motions.
“An analysis of whether evidence of the February 2022 meeting implicates Rule 408 is better suited for a motion in limine or one seeking summary judgment.”
In one employment case, the court denied an amendment sought after the pleading deadline because the plaintiff did not argue good cause under Rule 16. A late amendment request should address the scheduling order as well as the proposed pleading.
“Plaintiff hasn’t made any argument trying to establish good cause under Rule 16 for her late-breaking request to amend her complaint.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the court hereby notifies the parties that it will treat defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings as one seeking summary judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 56.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED BY THE COURT THAT defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 42) is granted.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED BY THE COURT THAT the parties’ Joint Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 34) is granted. The court dismisses plaintiff’s state law claims without prejudice.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED BY THE COURT THAT defendant USD 353 Wellington’s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 53) is denied without prejudice as moot.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT defendant Robin Creamer’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 61) is denied without prejudice as moot.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT defendants Brenda Gray and Tammy Moore’s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 63) is denied without prejudice as moot.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED THAT plaintiff’s Motion to Dismiss without Prejudice (Doc. 28) is granted. The court dismisses defendant Kenneth D. Orr from this action.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED BY THE COURT THAT defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 26) is denied without prejudice as moot.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED BY THE COURT THAT defendants’ motion to dismiss (doc. 4) is granted in part and denied in part. The court grants the motion with respect to plaintiffs’ retaliation claims, although the court grants plaintiffs leave to amend those claims on or before July 28, 2023. The court denies the motion in all other respects.”
“Lastly, defendants ask the court to strike from the Complaint plaintiffs’ references to the February 2022 meeting ... on the grounds that those references violate D. Kan. R. 16.3(i). This request is denied.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED BY THE COURT THAT defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 32) is granted in part and denied in part.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED BY THE COURT THAT plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 90) is denied.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 94) is granted.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED BY THE COURT that Plaintiff's motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis (Doc. 3) is denied.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED BY THE COURT THAT Spencer Fane LLP’s Motion to Withdraw as Counsel (Doc. 483) is granted, effective after it files a reply brief as set forth in this Order.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED BY THE COURT THAT plaintiff PHH Mortgage Corporation’s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 108) is granted. The court dismisses this action with prejudice.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT defendant Joseph Scott Stuber’s Motion to Expedite (Doc. 111) is denied.”
Pending matters in the official report
Reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Civil Justice Reform Act, as of March 31, 2026.
| Motions pending more than six months | 0 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 7 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 7 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 3 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 3 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 5 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 6 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 10 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 10 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 17 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 17 |
A snapshot on that date: matters listed may since have been decided or reassigned. A motion referred to a magistrate judge is counted for both judges. Motions in multidistrict litigation, section 2255 cases and Social Security appeals are not counted, and a very large three-year count is generally a multidistrict docket. Source: Appendix A of the report (PDF); about the report.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of United States District Court for the District of Kansas, not for Judge Crabtree: median time from filing to disposition of the civil cases the court closed in the 12 months ending September 30, 2025, as reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
| Cases | Median time | |
|---|---|---|
| All civil cases closed | 967 | 7 months |
| Closed with no court action | 225 | 4.8 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 645 | 6.9 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 83 | 18.3 months |
| Closed during trial | 14 | 22.5 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 967 | 7 months |
| Sep 2024 | 912 | 7.3 months |
| Sep 2023 | 909 | 7.7 months |
| Sep 2022 | 1,092 | 8.1 months |
| Sep 2021 | 1,063 | 8.2 months |
| Sep 2020 | 1,180 | 8.2 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,884 | 20.7 months |
The table leaves out prisoner petitions, land condemnations, deportation reviews, recovery of overpayments and enforcement of judgments, and reports no median for fewer than 10 cases. A district that closed a large multidistrict litigation in the period shows very large counts and long medians for that year. Source: Table C-5, U.S. District Courts (spreadsheet).
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