Jeffrey T. Kuntz
How Judge Kuntz rules, drawn from 9 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Kuntz
Jeffrey Thomas Kuntz is a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Appointed by President Donald J. Trump, Judge Kuntz received a commission on August 10, 2026.
Judge Kuntz's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Kuntz's own (checked October 8, 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 8, 2026).
How Judge Kuntz decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Consuegra Perez, Kuntz distinguished an appellate decision involving entry without inspection and held that expiration of parole did not remove the petitioner from mandatory detention.
“cannot escape § 1225(b)(2)’s mandatory detention”
In Bernazal, Kuntz treated the petitioner’s current detention period separately from an earlier period when deciding the habeas petition. The order denied relief despite an asserted combined detention of more than 180 days.
“This Court interprets that each new detention period restarts the removal period.”
Procedural preferences
In Trump v. British Broadcasting Corporation, Kuntz granted an unopposed motion to seal by paperless order and specified that the information and exhibits identified in that motion would remain sealed.
“PAPERLESS ORDER Granting 130 Unopposed Motion to Seal. The information and exhibits identified in Defendant's Unopposed Motion to Seal shall remain sealed. Signed by District Judge Jeffrey T. Kuntz on 8/24/2026.”
In Trump v. British Broadcasting Corporation, Kuntz granted a joint request to extend pretrial deadlines and continue trial. The order set new discovery, expert discovery, mediation, and motions deadlines.
“ORDER granting 140 Joint Motion to Extend Certain Pretrial Deadlines and Continue Trial. Discovery due by 12/18/2026. Expert Discovery due by 12/18/2026. Mediation Deadline 1/8/2027. Motions due by 2/15/2027. Signed by District Judge Jeffrey T. Kuntz on 8/26/2026.”
In Trump v. British Broadcasting Corporation, Kuntz granted an unopposed motion for leave to file video exhibits by paperless order and directed the defendants to comply with Local Rule 5.3 for conventional exhibits.
“PAPERLESS ORDER granting 132 Unopposed Motion for Leave to File Video Exhibits. The Defendants may file their conventional exhibits in compliance with Local Rule 5.3. Signed by District Judge Jeffrey T. Kuntz on 9/8/2026.”
Cautions
In Reglero v. Universal Music Group, Kuntz denied a preliminary-injunction motion without prejudice because it failed to allege notice to the adverse party as Rule 65 requires. His paperless order cited Corrigan Dispatch on the notice requirement.
“PAPERLESS ORDER Denying 18 Motion for Preliminary Injunction without prejudice. The motion fails to allege notice as required by Rule 65. See Corrigan Dispatch Co. v. Casa Guzman, S. A., 569 F.2d 300, 302 (5th Cir. 1978) (‘It is not grounds for reversal that the trial court's interlocutory order was issued prior to the time that appellant was made a party by substitute service of process. Rule 65(a) does not require service of process. The Rule does require notice to the adverse party.’). Signed by District Judge Jeffrey T. Kuntz (JTK)”
In Alema Jimenez's habeas case, Kuntz denied the petition without prejudice because it lacked facts supporting relief from detention. He allowed an amended petition by September 9, 2026, and directed the clerk to close the case and deny pending motions as moot if none was filed.
“ORDERED and ADJUDGED that the Petition [ECF 1] is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. Should an amended petition be filed, it must be filed by September 9, 2026. Otherwise, the Clerk of Court must CLOSE this case and DENY AS MOOT all pending motions.”
In Altenor's immigration habeas case, Kuntz dismissed the case without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction and directed the clerk to close it.
“ORDER DISMISSING CASE FOR LACK OF JURISDICTION. This case be dismissed without prejudice. The Clerk is instructed to CLOSE this case. Signed by District Judge Jeffrey T. Kuntz on 9/2/2026.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Petition [ECF 1] is DENIED”
“motions are DENIED as moot.”
“Accordingly, it is ORDERED that Petitioner’s Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus [ECF No. 1] is DENIED.”
“ORDER DENYING 1 PETITION: The Clerk of Court is directed to CLOSE this case and DENY AS MOOT all pending motions. Closing Case. Signed by District Judge Jeffrey T. Kuntz on 10/7/2026.”
“recommendation the Court grant the motion to dismiss [ECF No. 5] is AFFIRMED AND ADOPTED.”
“Plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to File First Amended Complaint is GRANTED.”
“Plaintiff’s Motion to Amend Complaint [ECF No. 19] is GRANTED.”
“the motion to proceed in forma pauperis is also DENIED without prejudice.”
“the Petition [ECF 1] is DENIED.”
“the IFP Motion [ECF 3] is DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- The reviewed matters are limited to cases assigned to Judge Kuntz on or after his August 2026 commission, so that earlier work by predecessor judges in reassigned cases is not attributed to him.
- The mix is dominated by immigration-detainee habeas petitions, with a smaller set of employment, wage, consumer-credit, disability-access, contract, and product-liability suits, and a handful of inherited cases that arrived with motions already fully briefed.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, not for Judge Kuntz: 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 | 8,196 | 3.4 months |
| Closed with no court action | 848 | 3 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 7,287 | 3.5 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 16 | 10.1 months |
| Closed during trial | 45 | 17.1 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 8,196 | 3.4 months |
| Sep 2024 | 7,755 | 3.6 months |
| Sep 2023 | 20,408 | 0 months |
| Sep 2022 | 8,287 | 3.7 months |
| Sep 2021 | 8,536 | 3.2 months |
| Sep 2020 | 8,657 | 3.4 months |
| Sep 2019 | 9,471 | 3.7 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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