Peter David Welte
How Judge Welte rules, drawn from 16 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Welte
Peter David Welte is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota. Appointed by President Donald J. Trump, Judge Welte received a commission on August 5, 2019.
Judge Welte's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Welte'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 Welte decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Fraase v. Advantage Credit, Welte granted summary judgment on an FCRA claim after finding that the reporting agency used reasonable procedures when checking the court record and that the plaintiff had not proved actual damages. He denied the plaintiff’s motion to strike a witness declaration after finding no bad faith.
“So, Advantage’s motion for summary judgment is granted because Fraase did not suffer any actual damages.”
In a professional-liability coverage dispute, treated an attorney's pre-policy knowledge of a missed trial and resulting judgment as enough for a reasonable attorney to anticipate a malpractice claim.
“Upon entry of judgment against the Legacy Defendants after no one appeared at the trial, a reasonable attorney in the same position would have recognized the potential for a resulting malpractice claim.”
Procedural preferences
In Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians v. Jaeger, Welte denied the Legislative Assembly’s request to stay discovery pending mandamus review and set subpoena-compliance deadlines before the scheduled trial.
“On these facts, a stay pending review of the petition for a writ of mandamus is not warranted, and the Assembly's motion (Doc. No. 82) is DENIED.”
In National Farmers Union Property & Casualty Co. v. Prochnow, Welte resolved the federal declaratory claim on summary judgment, then declined supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state-law third-party claims. He cited the rule that the relevant factors typically weigh against retaining state claims once federal claims are eliminated before trial.
“When all federal claims are eliminated before trial, the balance of the factors to be considered in deciding whether to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over state-law claims typically weighs against exercising jurisdiction.”
Cautions
In East Central Regional Water District v. City of Grand Forks, Welte denied partial summary judgment because disputes over indebtedness and service boundaries affected the statutory claim. He also denied a request to certify questions to the state supreme court as premature while those factual issues remained.
“East Central's motion for partial summary judgment (Doc. No. 28) is DENIED.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“East Central's motion for partial summary judgment (Doc. No. 28) is DENIED.”
“Additionally, the City's motion to certify (Doc. No. 34) is DENIED.”
“And in turn, the Turtle Mountain plaintiffs' motion to set deadlines (Doc. No. 75) is GRANTED.”
“On these facts, a stay pending review of the petition for a writ of mandamus is not warranted, and the Assembly's motion (Doc. No. 82) is DENIED.”
“Fraase's motion for partial summary judgment (Doc. 64) is DENIED, and Advantage's motion for summary judgment (Doc. 66) is GRANTED.”
“Advantage's motion for summary judgment is granted because Fraase did not suffer any actual damages.”
“Petitioner’s petition for writ of habeas corpus (Doc. 1) is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“For the reasons above, ALPS’s motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. 23) is GRANTED.”
“Considering the comprehensive briefing submitted, Legacy’s motion for hearing (Doc. No. 30) is DENIED.”
“For the reasons above, National Farmers’ motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. 44) is GRANTED.”
“Farmers Union’s motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. 40) is DENIED AS MOOT.”
“Petitioner’s petition for writ of habeas corpus (Doc. 1) is GRANTED. Respondents are ENJOINED from detaining Petitioner unless she is provided with a bond hearing within seven calendar days of the filing date of this Order.”
“Respondents’ motion to strike (Doc. 5) is MOOT.”
“Warren’s motion to dismiss (Doc. 462) is DENIED.”
“Petitioner’s petition for writ of habeas corpus (Docs. 1; 8) is GRANTED. Respondents are ENJOINED from detaining Petitioner unless he is provided with a bond hearing within seven calendar days of the filing date of this Order.”
“Rousseau’s and Valescu’s motion to dismiss (Doc. 18) is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. The conversion and trespass to chattels claims are DISMISSED as to Rousseau and Valescu. The Plaintiffs may proceed on all of the remaining claims.”
“Trustees’ motion for partial summary judgment as to liability under the 2024-2026 ICA (Doc. 14) is GRANTED.”
“Plaintiff’s motion to dismiss without prejudice under Rule 41(a)(2) (Doc. 25) is GRANTED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Durations span a fast alien-detainee habeas (12 days) to a 5.6-year prisoner-civil-rights case (2047 days). EEOC v. LM Wind Power remains pending (filed 2023-05-04, no termination). Small keyword sample; not a representative caseload.
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 | 3 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 3 | 4 |
| Sep 2025 | 3 | 2 |
| Mar 2025 | 7 | 3 |
| Sep 2024 | 21 | 4 |
| Mar 2024 | 76 | 3 |
| Sep 2023 | 5 | 3 |
| Mar 2023 | 1 | 1 |
| Sep 2022 | 11 | 2 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2021 | 1 | 1 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 1 |
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 District of North Dakota, not for Judge Welte: 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 | 200 | 8.7 months |
| Closed with no court action | 5 | not reported |
| Closed before pretrial | 188 | 8.5 months |
| Closed during trial | 7 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 200 | 8.7 months |
| Sep 2024 | 186 | 11.6 months |
| Sep 2023 | 169 | 12.2 months |
| Sep 2022 | 190 | 13.4 months |
| Sep 2021 | 202 | 11.7 months |
| Sep 2020 | 234 | 11 months |
| Sep 2019 | 229 | 10.9 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).
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