After graduation from law school he began his legal career in the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office in 1981.
He joined the law firm of Hall, Turner & Pike in Wichita after leaving the district attorney's office in 1983.
In 1989, he left Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman, and began a private practice with the firm of Blake & Uhlig, where he remained until February 2005, when he founded the firm of The Atcheson Law Office, Westwood, KS, where he was the sole practitioner and practiced until his appointment to the court.
[1] He was appointed to the court by Governor Mark Parkinson on July 14, 2010, to fill the vacancy created by the death of Jerry Elliott.
[2] Atcheson has been married to Cheryl A. Pilate, a principal at a Kansas City, MO law firm, since 1979.