Judge Crockenberg was appointed by Governor Owens in December 2002, and started serving his term on February 18, 2003. He is the presiding Judge in Division D and hears criminal and juvenile cases.

He began his career as an Assistant District Attorney with the Pueblo County District Attorneys Office in 1974. He left the District Attorneys Office in 1977 and entered private practice. Judge Crockenberg spent almost all of his time in private practice with the law firm of Petersen & Fonda, P.C. in Pueblo, Colorado where he practiced in the areas of insurance defense, employment and civil rights law.