Mark A. Roberts
How Judge Roberts rules, drawn from 19 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Roberts
Mark A. Roberts has served as a U.S. magistrate judge for the Northern District of Iowa since 2018. Before joining the bench, he practiced law in Cedar Rapids for twenty-five years. He earned degrees from Iowa State University and the University of Nebraska College of Law.
Judge Roberts's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Roberts, 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.
- Standing Order on Guilty Pleas Before Judge Roberts ↗
- Standing Order on Suppression Hearings Before Judge Roberts ↗
Key rules
Motions
Identify suppressed physical items and statements in a separate inventory attached to the criminal suppression motion.
“Every motion to suppress must include under a separate heading or attachment an Inventory of Items to be Suppressed”
Conferences
Confer about a criminal suppression motion before the government files its response.
“Counsel for the parties must meet and confer regarding the motion to suppress prior to the Government filing its resistance.”
Other
For a guilty plea before Judge Roberts, finalize and fully execute any plea agreement before the hearing.
“any plea agreement between the parties has been finalized and will be fully executed by both the defendant and the Government prior to the plea hearing.”
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 Roberts decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
In Prescott v. Alem, Roberts granted a motion for a protective order.
“PROTECTIVE Order granting 29 Motion for Protective Order. Signed by Magistrate Judge Mark A Roberts on 6/16/2023.”
In United States v. Cerebral, Roberts granted the government's notice declining intervention and directed partial unsealing of the complaint and related filings for service.
“ORDER granting 11 Notice of Election to Decline Intervention and Motion to Partially Unseal by United States of America: The 1 Complaint, 11 Notice and this Order are unsealed and to be served on Defendants by the relator. Signed by Magistrate Judge Mark A Roberts on 10/16/2023.”
Cautions
In Mullins’s Social Security appeal, Roberts recommended affirming the administrative law judge’s decision after concluding that the challenged residual-functional-capacity assessment rested on a sufficiently developed record.
“For the foregoing reasons, I respectfully recommend that the District Court AFFIRM the decision of the ALJ.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
Roberts recommended accepting Hobbs’s guilty plea; Judge Williams adopted the recommendation after no objections were filed. No contested motion was resolved.
Roberts otherwise presided by consent over this auto-insurance coverage case as the parties' final judge of record, but co-defendant Rachel Ann Flash never appeared, answered, or consented to magistrate jurisdiction. Because Flash had not consented, Roberts filed an R&R recommending that the district court grant the plaintiff's amended motion for default judgment against her. With no objections, Judge C.J. Williams reviewed for clear error and adopted the recommendation in full on April 21, 2023, entering default judgment while the rest of the case remained referred to Roberts. R&R quote: 'I respectfully recommend that the District Court grant Plaintiff's Amended Motion for Default Judgment of Rachel Ann Flash (Doc. 40) and enter default judgment against Rachel Ann Flash.' Adoption quote: 'the Court adopts Judge Roberts' R&R (Doc. 41) without modification ... the Court grants plaintiff's Amended Motion for Default Judgment as to defendant Rachel Ann Flash.'
“ORDER granting 11 Notice of Election to Decline Intervention and Motion to Partially Unseal by United States of America: The 1 Complaint, 11 Notice and this Order are unsealed and to be served on Defendants by the relator. Signed by Magistrate Judge Mark A Roberts on 10/16/2023.”
“PROTECTIVE Order granting 29 Motion for Protective Order. Signed by Magistrate Judge Mark A Roberts on 6/16/2023.”
“For the reasons set forth above, I respectfully recommend the District Court grant Defendant’s Motion to Suppress. (Doc. 28.)”
“For the foregoing reasons, I respectfully recommend that the District Court REVERSE and REMAND the decision of the ALJ for further consideration as discussed herein.”
“For the foregoing reasons, I respectfully recommend that the District Court REVERSE and REMAND the decision of the ALJ for further development of the record as discussed herein.”
“I respectfully recommend that the Motion for Sanctions (Doc. 23) filed by the Defendant be granted. I further recommend that Plaintiff’s complaint be dismissed with prejudice.”
“I finally recommend that Plaintiff’s pending motion at Doc. 24 seeking to reconsider his failed attempts to obtain discovery be denied as moot.”
Roberts recommended denying the facial challenge to the firearm-possession charge and holding the as-applied challenge in abeyance. The recommendation did not finally dispose of the motion.
“For the reasons set forth above, I respectfully recommend the District Court DENY Defendant’s Pro Se Motion to Quash the Arrest and Suppress Evidence Resulting from Execution of Search Warrant. (Doc. 50.)”
“For the reasons set forth above, I respectfully recommend the District Court deny Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss. (Doc. 32).”
“For the reasons set forth above, I respectfully recommend the District Court deny Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 35) and deny Defendant’s Motion to Suppress (Doc. 39).”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 521 days (N = 7).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 85 days (N = 6).
- Roberts sits as the final judge of record on a modest civil docket by the parties' consent (28 U.S.C. 636(c)), Social Security disability appeals, insurance and contract disputes, and personal-injury removals, alongside a larger volume of referral (636(b)) scheduling/discovery work and felony plea duty.
- Composition and durations from a sample of his terminated cases filed in his tenure (2018+); not a grant rate.
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 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 4 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| 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 Roberts: 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 Roberts with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Roberts, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
Opens in Ezel Pro.
- Grounded in Judge Roberts's own signed orders
- Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
- Chat, drafting and research in one workspace