David Charles Bury
How Judge Bury rules, drawn from 15 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Bury
David Charles Bury is a senior judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. President George W. Bush appointed him to the court, and he received his commission on March 19, 2002. He took senior status on December 31, 2012.
Judge Bury's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Bury, as published on the court's website (checked October 8, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Trial
List every exhibit the party intends to offer at trial in the joint proposed pretrial order.
“Each party shall list the exhibits it intends to offer at trial.”
Trial
List every witness the party intends to call at trial in the joint proposed pretrial order.
“Each party shall list the witnesses it intends to call at trial.”
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 8, 2026).
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Partial Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 46) is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART”
“the Plaintiff’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. 104) is DENIED.”
“the Pima County Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 135, 136) is GRANTED.”
“the Federal Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 146) is GRANTED.”
“the motions asking the Court to expand the administrative record relevant to issues not reached herein (D Interv. (Docs. 104 (R); 122 (S) and Plaintiffs’ (Doc. 108) are DENIED AS MOOT.”
“the Motion to Strike (Doc. 173) Plaintiffs’ Statement of Material Facts (Docs. 156 (R); 167 (S)) is DENIED”
“the Crossmotion for Summary Judgment (Docs. 170 (R); 198 (S)) filed by the EPA is DENIED.”
“the Motion for Summary Judgment (Docs. 174 (R); 197 (S)) filed by Intervenor Defendants is DENIED.”
“the Motion for Summary Judgment (Docs. 155 (R); 167 (S)) filed by Plaintiffs is GRANTED.”
“both motions for summary judgment (Docs. 62, 64) are GRANTED in favor of both Defendants and against Plaintiff.”
“the Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 12) is GRANTED.”
“the Court denies the Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings and grants the Motion to Amend the Complaint.”
“the Motion for Leave to Amend the Complaint (Doc. 25) is GRANTED.”
In school desegregation oversight, the court adopted the special master's reports, declined to find noncompliance with the intervention plan, and directed further monitoring.
“The Court denies him intervention.”
“As a non-party he may not seek dismissal of the action. ... IT IS ORDERED that Daniel Gabino Marines is denied intervention in this action and the Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 8) is DENIED.”
“IT IS ORDERED that the Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 11) is GRANTED.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Motion to Strike (Doc. 37) is GRANTED.”
“IT IS ORDERED that the Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel access to SSU and STG files (Doc. 30) is DENIED.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Plaintiff’s Motion for Extension of time to file the Response to Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 36) is GRANTED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The nine sampled civil dockets include prisoner civil-rights and habeas matters, a medical-malpractice claim, contract and motor-vehicle disputes, and a property case. The selection is narrow and closed-case weighted.
Pending matters in the official report
Reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Civil Justice Reform Act, as of March 31, 2026.
| Motions pending more than six months | 0 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 0 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2023 | 3 | 1 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2022 | 3 | 3 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 8 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 8 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 6 |
A snapshot on that date: matters listed may since have been decided or reassigned. A motion referred to a magistrate judge is counted for both judges. Motions in multidistrict litigation, section 2255 cases and Social Security appeals are not counted, and a very large three-year count is generally a multidistrict docket. Source: Appendix A of the report (PDF); about the report.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of United States District Court for the District of Arizona, not for Judge Bury: 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 | 2,485 | 6 months |
| Closed with no court action | 135 | 2.2 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 2,001 | 5.2 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 335 | 15.2 months |
| Closed during trial | 14 | 32.4 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 2,485 | 6 months |
| Sep 2024 | 2,278 | 6.7 months |
| Sep 2023 | 2,126 | 8.3 months |
| Sep 2022 | 2,181 | 9.4 months |
| Sep 2021 | 3,857 | 20.9 months |
| Sep 2020 | 8,128 | 12.2 months |
| Sep 2019 | 2,842 | 9.6 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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