Hon. Martina Peterson receives 2026 Diversity Champion Award
Hon. Martina Peterson will receive this year’s Missouri Bar Diversity Champion Award for her dedication to inclusion and gains toward increasing the retention, advancement, and promotion of diversity in the legal profession.
The annual Diversity Champion Award recognizes a lawyer who demonstrates a true commitment to an inclusive legal profession which reflects the diverse constituencies that Missouri lawyers serve, and achieves gains toward increasing retention, advancement, and promotion of lawyers across multiple dimensions of diversity.
A graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, Peterson serves as a municipal court judge for Kansas City, currently presiding over the Kansas City Municipal Court Community Court and the Community Assistance Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) Court. Prior to serving as municipal judge, she was a family court commissioner and an assistant public defender.
Peterson said receiving this year’s Diversity Champion Award was “very special.”
“[I]t means that some of the efforts that I have initiated to increase the stability of people [in] our community, increase attorney community engagement, and increase minority participation in the legal profession and legal activities are … valued, appreciated, and encouraged,” she said.
While presiding over the Kansas City Municipal Court Mental Health Court, Peterson said she saw firsthand how warrants impact individuals, from limiting their access to treatment and transitional living programs to hindering their applications for drivers’ licenses and employment.
These revolving issues inspired her to restructure the municipal court’s Community Engagement Initiatives Program into a four-pronged approach:
Municipal court judges and staff began attending community programs and activities to provide warrant relief, case resolution, and information about court processes, specialty courts, and the court’s warrant relief dockets.
Peterson helped develop, and now presides over, the Community Court at the Kansas City Municipal Court to provide warrant relief, legal aid for case resolution, food baskets, a clothing closet, and utility assistance. Several treatment providers also attend to assist individuals with referrals for drug treatment, housing, and mental health assistance.
Peterson helped establish the CARE Court, which she now presides over, to offer those experiencing homelessness a pathway to stability. The CARE Court works directly with treatment providers by receiving requests to set aside warrants and dismissing cases once individuals begin consistently working with treatment providers.
Peterson helped the Kansas City Municipal Court coordinate its first Law Day event in 2025, which had more than 500 participants, 50-plus volunteer lawyers, dozens of resource fair agencies, and more. During the event, pro bono lawyers with diverse backgrounds and from various bar associations and legal entities helped indigent individuals resolve cases. The court offered a free CLE to lawyer volunteers, and it held a Treatment Provider Fair during the event to assist with referrals for mental health, physical health, substance misuse, housing, employment, and other community services.
“Our Community Engagement Initiatives Program not only helps reduce the significant impact the justice system has on marginalized communities, (but) it also impacts the defendant’s stability and trust in the justice system, collaboration in the legal profession, and collaboration between the legal profession and the treatment profession,” Peterson said.
Peterson encouraged new lawyers to “look outside of the box” and “follow your heart.”
“We get so caught up in the court process, procedures, and expectations that we sometimes fail to see the human factor of what we are doing and how the system can impact individuals, and indirectly, their families,” she said. “Sometimes creative ideas are met with apprehension ... Don’t be afraid to shine and shoot for the stars.”
Peterson will accept the Diversity Champion Award in Kansas City during the Annual Meeting of The Missouri Bar and Judicial Conference, Sept. 16-18.
Click here to learn more about annual awards presented by The Missouri Bar, the Missouri Bar Foundation, and other entities. Read about other 2026 award winners here.