David P. Rush
How Judge Rush rules, drawn from 11 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Rush
David P. Rush has served as a United States magistrate judge in the Western District of Missouri since 2012. He earned his law degree from the University of Iowa in 1986 and previously worked as an assistant United States attorney in the district.
Judge Rush's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Rush, as published on the court's website (checked October 11, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Filing
Represented criminal defendants must file through counsel under the form.
“For defendants who are represented by counsel, the Court will only accept pretrial filings made by counsel.”
Motions
The criminal scheduling form sets pretrial motions 20 days after the order and oppositions ten days later.
“On or before twenty days from the date of this order, the parties shall file any relevant pretrial motions. Any suggestions in opposition shall be filed on or before ten days thereafter.”
Motions
The form sets motions in limine seven days before trial and opposition three days after filing.
“No later than seven days prior to trial, the parties should file any motions in limine seeking to exclude evidence from trial. (Once the motion is filed, copies should be faxed to opposing counsel and the Court.) Any suggestions in opposition to the motions in limine should be filed within three days after the motion is filed.”
Discovery
The criminal scheduling form calls for the government to provide Jencks Act material at least 14 days before trial.
“Counsel for the government and defendants agreed to voluntarily provide Jencks Act material at least 14 days prior to trial.”
Discovery
The form calls for the government to disclose favorable Brady evidence within ten days of the order.
“Within ten days from the date of this order, the Government is directed to disclose all evidence favorable to the defendant within the meaning of Brady v. Maryland.”
Discovery
The form calls for government impeachment disclosures at least 14 days before trial.
“No later than fourteen days prior to trial, the Government is directed to disclose all evidence which may tend to adversely affect the credibility of any person called as a witness by the government”
Discovery
The proposed civil scheduling form asks the parties to identify issues and proposals concerning electronic discovery.
“Are there any issues about disclosure, discovery, or preservation of electronically stored information, including the form or forms in which it should be produced?”
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 Rush decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a motel-room suppression dispute, he found that concern an informant might warn the suspect did not, without more, justify warrantless entry. The recommendation partly excluded statements taken before a later search warrant.
“This evidence alone is not sufficient to show that there was an objectively reasonable justification for entering the room.”
Procedural preferences
For late medical-record disclosure, he ordered proportionate remedies that addressed prejudice and allowed the case to proceed; he rejected dismissal as too severe on that record.
“Defendant seeks dismissal, but the Court does not agree that such a harsh remedy is appropriate.”
He denied a request for a more definite statement where the complaint identified the alleged discrimination and the attached administrative charge well enough to permit an answer. Questions about timeliness or exhaustion did not make the pleading unintelligible.
“The Court finds a more definite statement unnecessary.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Based on the foregoing, it is RECOMMENDED that the Motion to Suppress Evidence be DENIED.”
“Defendant’s Motion for Reconsideration of Pretrial Release is DENIED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, it is hereby RECOMMENDED that Defendant’s Motion to Suppress Evidence be DENIED.”
“For the reasons below, it is RECOMMENDED that Defendant’s Motion to Suppress be DENIED.”
“Based on the foregoing, it is RECOMMENDED that Defendant’s Motion to Quash Search Warrant and Suppress Evidence on the Basis of an Unlawful Search and Seizure under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution (doc. 21) be DENIED.”
“It is therefore ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion for Sanctions is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART.”
“It is further ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Cross Motion for Sanctions is DENIED.”
“Defendant’s Motion to Suppress Evidence (doc. 22) be DENIED”
“Defendant’s Motion to Suppress Statements (doc. 51) be GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART.”
“Defendant Diaz-Ortiz’s Motion to Suppress, (Doc. 46), be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part; and that Defendant’s statements to officers after the warrantless entry, but before the execution of the search warrant, be SUPPRESSED.”
“Defendant’s Motion to Stay Case Pending Proper Service on Other Defendants (doc. 18) is DENIED.”
“Defendant’s Motion for Extension of Time (doc. 24) is therefore GRANTED.”
“Plaintiff’s Motion for Entry of Default (doc. 21) is DENIED”
“Plaintiff’s Renewed Motion for Default Judgment (doc. 22) is DENIED.”
“Defendant’s Motion for More Definite Statement (doc. 3) is DENIED.”
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 | 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 Western District of Missouri, not for Judge Rush: 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 | 1,429 | 6.7 months |
| Closed with no court action | 520 | 5.7 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 876 | 7.2 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 19 | 49.3 months |
| Closed during trial | 14 | 22.7 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,429 | 6.7 months |
| Sep 2024 | 1,461 | 6.9 months |
| Sep 2023 | 1,502 | 6.2 months |
| Sep 2022 | 1,738 | 7.3 months |
| Sep 2021 | 1,341 | 8.2 months |
| Sep 2020 | 1,312 | 6.9 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,485 | 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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