U.S. Senate votes to make Kansas Bureau of Investigation director a federal judge
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- The U.S. Senate confirmed Tony Mattivi 51-46 to become a federal judge.
- Mattivi served three years as KBI director before his confirmation.
- Mattivi served 22 years at the U.S. Department of Justice and retired in 2020.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is pursuing leads on its next director.
Tony Mattivi on Tuesday won the U.S. Senate’s approval to become a federal judge. His confirmation follows a three-year stint as KBI director and a high-profile career as a prosecutor.
“As he has throughout his career, he continued to impress me with his qualifications, experience and commitment,” Republican Sen. Jerry Moran said of Mattivi from the Senate floor before the 51-46 vote.
“I urged the White House to nominate him, and I’m confident Mr. Mattivi will serve Kansans well performing this role,” Moran said.
Mattivi, 61, is the second of President Donald Trump’s Kansas judicial nominees to be confirmed to the bench this month, joining Great Bend attorney Jeffrey Kuhlman. A third nominee, Kansas Solicitor General Anthony Powell, is awaiting a confirmation vote.
After starting his career in the Shawnee County District Attorney’s office and the Kansas Attorney General’s office, Mattivi went on to serve 22 years with the U.S. Department of Justice before retiring in 2020.
He gained prestige for his role in major counterterrorism cases, including leading the prosecution against the alleged mastermind of a 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, which left 17 American sailors dead.
After Mattivi lost out to Kris Kobach in the Republican primary for attorney general in 2022, Kobach named his former rival to head the state’s premier law enforcement agency.
Mattivi is married to Shawnee County District Court judge Mary E. Mattivi. Federal judgeships are lifetime appointments.
During his confirmation hearing in April, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois asked Mattivi to explain the KBI’s involvement in the August 2023 raid of the Marion County Record newspaper that has been roundly condemned as an attack on the free press.
“There was no KBI agent present in the raid,” Mattivi responded. “I have to be careful about talking about the raid itself, because there is still litigation pending. Of all the litigation that took place in that case, the KBI was not a party to it.”
Marion County officials retained Kuhlman to serve as their attorney in a string of civil cases brought by the newspaper owner and employees. Kuhlman, 36, also represented Sedgwick County in the civil rights lawsuit brought by the brother of 17-year-old Cedric Lofton, who was fatally restrained in a Wichita juvenile detention facility in 2021.
This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 5:57 PM with the headline "U.S. Senate votes to make Kansas Bureau of Investigation director a federal judge."
