Gregory J. Fouratt
How Judge Fouratt rules, drawn from 29 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Fouratt
Gregory J. Fouratt has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of New Mexico since 2016, with chambers in Las Cruces. Before joining the federal bench, he served as United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico and as New Mexico Secretary of Public Safety.
Judge Fouratt's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Fouratt, 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.
- Rules and Courtroom Decorum for All Cases ↗
- Procedures for Civil Discovery ↗
- Procedures for Civil Consent Cases ↗
- Judge Fouratt Preliminary Jury Instructions ↗
- Judge Fouratt End of Trial Stock Jury Instructions ↗
- Exhibit List ↗
- Witness List ↗
Key rules
Contacting chambers
Copy opposing counsel on emails to Fouratt’s court, except settlement communications.
“Opposing counsel must be copied on all email communications that counsel initiate with the Court, with the exception of settlement-related communications.”
Filing
Send proposed orders after filing an unopposed motion in Word format using Fouratt’s stated layout.
“Proposed orders must be sent to [email protected] after the filing of any unopposed motion. They should be submitted in Microsoft Word format (as .docx files), should have 1” margins, be justified, and use Times New Roman Font, size 12.”
Motions
For an opposed motion before Fouratt, say in the brief whether a hearing is requested and in what format.
“For any opposed motion, counsel should indicate in their briefing whether they request a hearing on the motion and, if so, whether they request it be conducted telephonically, by Zoom, or in person.”
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 Fouratt decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
In Harris, Fouratt denied production of redacted summary slides after an in camera review found the material concerned a later incident on a different rig and was outside proportional discovery.
“the information about the X53 incident is neither relevant nor proportional to Plaintiffs’ claims or to Nabors’ defenses here.”
In Alabi, Fouratt declined to consider an argument first raised in the plaintiff’s reply brief and denied the plaintiff’s cross-motion for summary judgment.
“The Court will not consider arguments raised for the first time in a reply.”
In a dismissal recommendation, Fouratt declined to resolve an asserted failure to exhaust from counsel’s description of an EEOC charge that was outside the pleadings; the district judge adopted his recommendation.
“this representation by counsel as to the contents of Plaintiff’s EEOC charge does not constitute evidence before the Court”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Magistrate Judge Gregory J. Fouratt filed his Proposed Findings and Recommended Disposition ... in which he recommended that the decision of the Administrative Law Judge be affirmed. ... Plaintiff's Motion to Remand [ECF 24] is DENIED; and ... DISMISSING THIS CASE WITH PREJUDICE.”
“United States Magistrate Judge Gregory J. Fouratt's Proposed Findings and Recommended Disposition ... recommended that the Commissioner's final decision be affirmed. ... Plaintiff's Objections (Doc. 36) are OVERRULED and ... the PFRD (Doc. 35) is ADOPTED in its entirety. ... Plaintiff's Motion to Remand or Reverse Agency Decision (Doc. 27) is DENIED, and ... this case is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“Judge Fouratt examined Defendants' Partial Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 57) and recommends granting it in part ... Defendants' Partial Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 57) is GRANTED IN PART as follows: (1) ... DISMISSES WITH PREJUDICE Claim II brought under 18 U.S.C. 242 ... (2) ... DISMISSES WITHOUT PREJUDICE all claims against Defendants Romero, Ramirez, Chacon, Verrett, Garcia, Bourne, and Gallegos ... (3) ... DISMISSES WITH PREJUDICE all claims against CNMCF or NMCD”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Medical Examination and X-Ray Transport [ECF 9] is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. ... Before ordering discovery or substantive relief, the Court must screen the Amended Complaint ... pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1915(e).”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the PFRD is ADOPTED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Salas's Motion to Vacate under 28 U.S.C. Section 2255 (Doc. 1) is DENIED and this case is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“On reference from the undersigned (Doc. 10), United States Magistrate Judge Gregory J. Fouratt issued his PFRD recommending that this Court deny the instant ‘Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus Under 28 U.S.C. § 2254’ with prejudice. Doc. 13. Judge Fouratt recommended that this Court conclude that the Petition is barred by the limitations period set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1) and further conclude that Petitioner has not met his burden to show his entitlement to equitable tolling of the limitations period. ... Having conducted a de novo review of the Objections, the Court overrules them, adopts the PFRD in its entirety, and denies the Petition.”
“On August 7, 2019, Judge Fouratt filed his Proposed Findings and Recommended Disposition (‘PFRD’). ... The PFRD recommended that this Court deny Defendant's Motion and decline to issue a certificate of appealability. ... Having reviewed de novo the portions of the PFRD to which Defendant objects, the Court now overrules the objections and adopts the PFRD. Accordingly, the Court will deny Defendant's Motion, dismiss this action with prejudice, and deny Defendant a certificate of appealability.”
“After conducting this de novo review, the Court will adopt the PFRD that the Honorable Gregory J. Fouratt, United States Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, proposed, overrule the Plaintiff Bernadette S.' Objections, affirm the Defendant's decision, deny Plaintiff's Motion to Reverse and Remand to Agency, filed November 12, 2024 (Doc. 23)(‘Motion to Reverse and Remand’), and dismiss this case with prejudice.”
“the Motion to Strike [ECF 37] is GRANTED, and the portion of ECF 36 identified as R&M's ‘Counterclaim in Reply’ is STRICKEN.”
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss is [ECF 101] is GRANTED.”
“Defendants' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment No. 1 [ECF 48] and Defendants' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment No. VII [ECF 55] are GRANTED.”
“IT IS THEREFORE RECOMMENDED that the Commissioner's decision be AFFIRMED, Plaintiff's Motion to Reverse and Remand to Agency [ECF 16] be DENIED, and this case be DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 442.5 days (N = 10).
- By party consent, Judge Fouratt enters final decisions in a steady stream of Social Security disability appeals under Titles II and XVI.
- He also writes recommendations in prisoner civil-rights and Social Security cases and handles criminal duty in Las Cruces, including initial appearances, detention matters, and border-zone misdemeanors.
- This describes the composition of his work, 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 | 2 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 2 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 1 | 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 District of New Mexico, not for Judge Fouratt: 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 | 908 | 8.2 months |
| Closed with no court action | 150 | 4.1 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 511 | 7 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 242 | 13.8 months |
| Closed during trial | 5 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 908 | 8.2 months |
| Sep 2024 | 918 | 8 months |
| Sep 2023 | 835 | 10.6 months |
| Sep 2022 | 973 | 11.7 months |
| Sep 2021 | 909 | 9.6 months |
| Sep 2020 | 957 | 9 months |
| Sep 2019 | 965 | 9.6 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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