Kelly K.E. Mahoney
How Judge Mahoney rules, drawn from 8 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Mahoney
Kelly K.E. Mahoney has served as a U.S. magistrate judge for the Northern District of Iowa since 2017 and became chief magistrate judge in 2018. She previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Iowa. She earned degrees from Kansas State University and Washburn University School of Law.
Judge Mahoney's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Mahoney, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
- Judge Kelly K.E. Mahoney Preferences ↗
- Standing Order on Guilty Pleas Before Judge Mahoney ↗
- Standing Order on Criminal Suppression and Dismissal Motions ↗
Key rules
Contacting chambers
Copy the judicial assistant and all parties on email to Judge Mahoney, except permissible ex parte messages.
“When emailing Judge Mahoney, copy in her judicial assistant. Counsel of record and any unrepresented parties should also be included”
Motions
Put an oral argument request in both the caption and conclusion, with good cause.
“A request for oral argument must be noted separately in both the caption and the conclusion of the motion or resistance to the motion and must be supported by a showing of good cause.”
Motions
A criminal suppression motion must separately inventory the items or statements sought to be suppressed.
“Every motion to suppress must include, under a separate heading or attachment, an Inventory of Items to be Suppressed”
Motions
After the government responds to a criminal suppression or dismissal motion, confer and file a joint hearing notice within seven days.
“The joint notice must be filed no later than seven days after the Government files its resistance (including weekends and holidays).”
Other
File written consent to a magistrate judge plea hearing by noon on the last business day before it.
“By 12:00 p.m. on the last business day prior to the plea hearing, the defendant should file with the court a written consent to proceed before a magistrate judge.”
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 Mahoney decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
On a Bail Reform Act detention question, ordered a defendant released on conditions and held that the risk of ICE deporting him before trial does not justify pretrial detention; the conflict between prosecuting and deporting is for the Executive Branch agencies to resolve, not the court. (Her release order quoted verbatim in the district court's de novo review.)
“It is now up to the Government (both the [USAO] and ICE) to determine whether it is more important to prosecute Villatoro-Ventura for illegal reentry (after which they can resume removal proceedings), or expeditiously remove him from the country and risk dismissal of the indictment.”
When an administrative law judge finds medical opinions persuasive, the judge expects the resulting work-capacity assessment either to include those opinions' concrete task limits or to explain why they were omitted.
“The purpose of this regulation would be undermined if the ALJ could state a medical opinion was persuasive, well-supported, and consistent with the record, without adopting the limitations contained in that opinion or otherwise addressing them.”
Cautions
In one suppression recommendation, she found that a suspected drug violation and refusal of consent did not justify a weapons frisk without reasonable suspicion that the person was armed.
“I do not find reasonable suspicion supported the frisk for weapons.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
Mahoney recommended acceptance of the defendant’s guilty plea; Judge Strand adopted the recommendation without modification. No contested motion was resolved.
“I recommend GRANTING Negrete-Vaca’s motion to dismiss (Doc. 23).”
“I recommend reversing the ALJ’s decision and remanding for further proceedings.”
“I affirm the Commissioner’s decision. Judgment will enter in favor of the Commissioner.”
“I recommend affirming the Commissioner’s decision and entering judgment in”
“I recommend DENYING Eagleelk’s motion to dismiss (Doc. 41).”
“I recommend GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART Hernandez’s”
“I recommend reversing the Commissioner’s decision and remanding for further proceedings.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 182 days (N = 8).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 63 days (N = 28).
The sixteen reviewed consent-jurisdiction cases span Social Security appeals, personal-injury and product-liability disputes, civil-rights and employment claims, insurance coverage, and consumer or commercial matters. They cover filings from 2014 through 2025 and do not represent the full civil docket.
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 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2020 | 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 Northern District of Iowa, not for Judge Mahoney: 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 | 248 | 7.1 months |
| Closed with no court action | 62 | 8.9 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 184 | 5.8 months |
| Closed during trial | 2 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 248 | 7.1 months |
| Sep 2024 | 259 | 6.9 months |
| Sep 2023 | 270 | 8 months |
| Sep 2022 | 299 | 9.1 months |
| Sep 2021 | 287 | 8.5 months |
| Sep 2020 | 294 | 7.5 months |
| Sep 2019 | 266 | 9.9 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 Mahoney with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Mahoney, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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- Grounded in Judge Mahoney's own signed orders
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