ROXANA HEGEMAN, Associated Press

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The looming departures of two senior federal judges in Kansas in the next couple of months are expected to exacerbate a backlog of cases in U.S. District Court in Kansas. Their loss is expected to create heavier caseloads at a time civil litigation oftentimes already languishes for years in the federal courts.

U.S. District Judge Monti Belot will join in September the ranks of senior judges leaving the federal bench. The 72-year-old Wichita judge’s full retirement comes just a month after his 93-year-old colleague in Topeka, U.S. District Judge Richard Rogers, also goes on inactive status.

Their loss will leave Kansas with just five active district judges handling all the criminal cases in the federal courts, and three remaining senior judges who have opted to hear only civil cases.