The Hon. Brett A. Watson is a judge for the 3rd Judicial District Court of Kansas in Shawnee County. He was appointed to the bench by Governor Laura Kelly in July 2022, filling the vacancy created by the retirement of the Hon. Nancy Parrish.
Prior to his appointment, Watson was the chief deputy district attorney with the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office since 2021. He began his tenure as a prosecutor there in 2013. Before that, Watson was an assistant county attorney in both the Ford and Finney County Attorney’s Offices and worked as a staff attorney for the Kansas Criminal Code Recodification Commission. He began his legal career as a law clerk for the Kansas Court of Appeals (2005 to 2007).
Watson received a bachelor’s degree in film, English, American studies, and political science from the University of Kansas (2001) and an M.A. in political science from American University (2004). He then completed a J.D. at the University of Kansas School of Law (2005) and an LL.M. in environmental law from Lewis & Clark Law School (2014).
Watson was admitted to practice in California (2009), Colorado (2007), and Kansas (2005).
He was born in Liberal, Kansas.