Richard T. Gurley
How Judge Gurley rules, drawn from 1 signed order. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Gurley
Richard T. Gurley serves as a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Colorado. His chambers are in Grand Junction at the Wayne Aspinall Federal Building.
Judge Gurley's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Gurley'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 Gurley decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Cautions
On 28 U.S.C. 1915(e)(2)(B)/1915A screening of a pro se prisoner complaint, recommends dismissing a time-barred claim that lacks an arguable basis in law and dismissing Rule 8-deficient claims without prejudice.
“it is respectfully recommended that ... Claim 1 be dismissed as untimely and for failure to allege an arguable basis in law pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1915(e)(2)(B) ... Claims 2 and 3 be dismissed without prejudice for failure to comply with Rule 8; and the amended Prisoner Complaint (ECF No. 8) and this action be dismissed”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
Screening recommendation on a pro se prisoner civil-rights complaint under 28 U.S.C. 1915(e)(2)(B) and 1915A. The magistrate recommended dismissing the entire action: the lead breach-of-settlement claim as time-barred under Colorado's three-year limitations period and as lacking an arguable legal basis; the claims against the federal-judge defendants on judicial and sovereign immunity; and the remaining two claims for failure to meet the Rule 8 pleading standard. A recommendation to the district judge, not a final ruling, and rules on no party motion, so it is excluded from motion statistics.
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 | 2 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
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 Colorado, not for Judge Gurley: 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 | 2,669 | 7.7 months |
| Closed with no court action | 497 | 7.6 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 2,076 | 7.2 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 63 | 26.2 months |
| Closed during trial | 33 | 39.3 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 2,669 | 7.7 months |
| Sep 2024 | 2,704 | 7.4 months |
| Sep 2023 | 2,560 | 8.5 months |
| Sep 2022 | 2,614 | 9 months |
| Sep 2021 | 2,637 | 8.1 months |
| Sep 2020 | 2,637 | 7.6 months |
| Sep 2019 | 2,577 | 7.5 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).
Draft for Judge Gurley with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Gurley, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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