Susan Bronwyn Owens Hickey
How Judge Hickey rules, drawn from 22 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Hickey
Susan Owens Hickey is a judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Hickey received a commission on October 19, 2011. Judge Hickey assumed senior status on April 14, 2026.
Judge Hickey's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Hickey's own (checked October 9, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026).
How Judge Hickey decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In an FLSA collective action, she denied dismissal under the first-to-file rule because the earlier California case had settled, closed, and entered final judgment.
“there is no longer a first-filed action.”
Procedural preferences
In a personal injury case, she permitted voluntary dismissal without prejudice after limited discovery, but conditioned any refiling on payment of the defendant’s additional costs.
“the Court finds that Plaintiff should be required to pay any additional costs Defendant may incur”
Cautions
In a compassionate release case, she rejected the defendant’s family care argument where he offered little support for his claim that siblings could not assist his parents.
“Defendant offers little to support his assertions that his siblings are incapable”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Court finds that Plaintiff's Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 16) should be and hereby is GRANTED. This case is hereby DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE,”
“Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 10) and Plaintiff's Motion for Leave to File an Amended Complaint (ECF No. 13) are hereby DENIED as MOOT.”
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 16) hereby is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Plaintiff's official capacity claim, claim for compensatory damages, and request for relief in the form of parole are DISMISSED. Defendant's motion is denied in all other respects.”
“the Clark County Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgement (ECF No. 43) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART”
“Separate Defendant Tommy Waldron's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 47) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART”
In a pro se Section 1983 prisoner suit, Hickey dismissed sua sponte under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) and Local Rule 5.5(c)(2) for failure to prosecute and comply with court orders after the plaintiff ignored multiple deadlines and an order to show cause. She did not reach the defendants' pending summary-judgment motions. Magistrate Judge Barry A. Bryant was assigned.
In a pro se Section 1983 prisoner suit, Hickey dismissed without prejudice under Rule 41(b) and Local Rule 5.5(c)(2) for failure to prosecute after the plaintiff ignored the deadline to respond to a defense exhaustion-only summary-judgment motion and an order to show cause. She applied the Rodgers factors and declined the harsher with-prejudice dismissal because little had been expended on discovery. The court did not reach the defense motion.
“the Court finds that the motion should be and hereby is GRANTED. Accordingly, the Indictment as to Stephen Haden Sullivan is DISMISSED.”
“Based on the order entered today, judgment is entered DISMISSING WITH PREJUDICE this Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus. The relief sought is denied. The certificate of appealability is denied.”
“the Court finds that Defendant's Motion for Compassionate Release (ECF No. 45) and Supplemental Motion to Reduce Sentence (ECF No. 49) should be and hereby are DENIED.”
“Defendant's Motion to Reduce Sentence (ECF No. 55) should be and hereby is DENIED.”
“the Court ADOPTS IN PART Judge Bryant's R&R (ECF No. 10). Jones's petition (ECF No. 1) is hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“Finally, because the Court dismisses Jones's petition with prejudice, Jones's request to amend that petition (ECF No. 14) is DENIED AS MOOT.”
“Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 19) is hereby GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Defendant's request that the fluctuating workweek method be applied to any calculation of pay rate is granted. All of Defendant's other requests for relief are denied.”
“the Court finds that Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Class and Collective Action Claims (ECF No. 9) should be and hereby is DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Nine terminated cases filed in 2022 provide a non-random duration sample. The median is roughly 1.3 to 1.5 years; the longest, CCRD Global, ran 825 days, while Weaver terminated after 118 days.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, not for Judge Hickey: median time from filing to disposition of the civil cases the court closed in the 12 months ending September 30, 2025, as reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
| Cases | Median time | |
|---|---|---|
| All civil cases closed | 468 | 9.5 months |
| Closed with no court action | 38 | 3.9 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 341 | 8.8 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 85 | 11.4 months |
| Closed during trial | 4 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 468 | 9.5 months |
| Sep 2024 | 465 | 9.4 months |
| Sep 2023 | 555 | 10.1 months |
| Sep 2022 | 564 | 11.9 months |
| Sep 2021 | 517 | 9.8 months |
| Sep 2020 | 556 | 10.5 months |
| Sep 2019 | 727 | 11.2 months |
The table leaves out prisoner petitions, land condemnations, deportation reviews, recovery of overpayments and enforcement of judgments, and reports no median for fewer than 10 cases. A district that closed a large multidistrict litigation in the period shows very large counts and long medians for that year. Source: Table C-5, U.S. District Courts (spreadsheet).
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