William P. Kelly
How Judge Kelly rules, drawn from 25 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Kelly
William P. Kelly serves as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Iowa. He earned a bachelor's degree from Brown University and a law degree from Drake University Law School.
Judge Kelly's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Kelly'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 Kelly decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
Kelly holds pro se litigants (including incarcerated plaintiffs) to the Federal and Local Rules. When the prisoner plaintiff filed discovery requests directly on the docket, Kelly issued a text order reminding all parties, 'including pro se parties', that discovery is not filed with the court and that everyone must know and follow the rules.
“Pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 26, 33, and 34, and Local Rule 26(f), discovery requests and discovery are not be to be filed with the Court or on the case docket. All parties, including pro se parties, are required to know and follow all Federal and Local Rules.”
In Arterberry’s prisoner case, Kelly granted a renewed motion to appoint counsel and directed the clerk to try to find counsel.
“ORDER granting 19 Motion to Appoint Counsel. See Order for particulars. The Clerk's Office is directed to attempt to find counsel.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“ORDER granting 34 Motion for Summary Judgment. See Order for particulars. Signed by Magistrate Judge William P. Kelly on 1/15/2026.”
“ORDER granting 19 Motion to Appoint Counsel. See Order for particulars. The Clerk's Office is directed to attempt to find counsel. Signed by Magistrate Judge William P. Kelly on 6/3/2025.”
“ORDER granting as modified 27 Plaintiff's Request for Discovery. See Order for specific direction and deadlines. Signed by Magistrate Judge William P. Kelly on 7/3/2025.”
“ORDER denying 37 Plaintiff's Motion to Compel. See Order for Particulars. Signed by Magistrate Judge William P. Kelly on 9/16/2025.”
“ORDER denying 43 Plaintiff's Motion for Sanctions filed as Request for Default Judgment. See Order for particulars. Signed by Magistrate Judge William P. Kelly on 11/10/2025.”
“TEXT ORDER granting 20 Motion for Intervention. The Movants having now complied with Text Order 24 and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(c) in 25, and Plaintiff filing no additional response, the Court grants the Motion for Intervention. Signed by Magistrate Judge William P. Kelly on 5/14/2024.”
“ORDER denying 27 Intervenors' Motion to Stay. See Order for particulars. Signed by Magistrate Judge William P. Kelly on 8/9/2024.”
“ORDER granting 15 Motion to Remand. Signed by Magistrate Judge William P. Kelly on 6/21/2024.”
“ORDER granting 18 Plaintiff's Motion for Attorney Fees. See Order for particulars. Signed by Magistrate Judge William P. Kelly on 10/4/2024.”
“IT IS ORDERED AND ADJUDGED: The final decision of the Commissioner is affirmed, and the case is dismissed. Judgment is in favor of the Defendant and against the Plaintiff.”
“JOINT PROTECTIVE ORDER. Signed by Magistrate Judge William P. Kelly on 2/12/2024.”
“TEXT ORDER granting 19 Motion for Substitution of Counsel. The Clerk's Office may terminate the appearance of Attorney Anne E. Updegraff for Defendant. The Court notes Attorney Veronica Kirk and Kerrie Murphy remain attorneys of record for Defendant. Signed by Magistrate Judge William P. Kelly on 9/25/2024.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 288 days (N = 3).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 22 days (N = 6).
- Sample of dockets listing William P.
- Kelly as the assigned/referral judge (filed 2024-2026).
- His docket is dominated by criminal-duty work, initial-appearance matters and miscellaneous criminal matters (same-day terminations), alongside civil referral/consent cases (prisoner civil rights, motor vehicle, personal property, healthcare contract).
- The nature-of-suit mix below counts only the non-duty civil matters in the sample.
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 |
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 Southern District of Iowa, not for Judge Kelly: 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 | 395 | 8 months |
| Closed with no court action | 161 | 9.1 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 222 | 5.8 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 4 | not reported |
| Closed during trial | 8 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 395 | 8 months |
| Sep 2024 | 360 | 7.6 months |
| Sep 2023 | 363 | 8.9 months |
| Sep 2022 | 311 | 10.5 months |
| Sep 2021 | 372 | 9.5 months |
| Sep 2020 | 339 | 7.7 months |
| Sep 2019 | 341 | 9.4 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 Kelly with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Kelly, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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