Karen Ballard Molzen
How Judge Molzen rules, drawn from 9 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Molzen
Karen B. Molzen became a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of New Mexico in April 1999. She served as the district’s Chief Magistrate Judge from April 2011 until February 2018. Before joining the bench, she clerked for U.S. District Judge John E. Conway.
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 Molzen decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
In Maloy, Judge Molzen recommended denying pauper status where the financial showing did not establish inability to pay and recommended dismissal without prejudice because the sparse civil-rights allegations did not invoke federal jurisdiction.
“Maloy has failed to show that he cannot, because of poverty, provide himself with the necessities of life and pay the filing fee. ... his sparse allegations do not invoke the subject-matter jurisdiction of the court ... and border on being delusional.”
In Cowgill, Judge Molzen used an order to show cause to address defective service and recommended dismissal without prejudice after the self-represented plaintiff did not respond.
“the Chief Magistrate Judge entered an Order to Show Cause ... Cowgill did not respond, and ... Chief Magistrate Judge Molzen sua sponte proposed that the Court dismiss the case without prejudice”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Magistrate Judge Karen B. Molzen filed her PF&RD on March 9, 2018, in which she recommended that the Order Dismissing Bankruptcy Case be affirmed and this bankruptcy appeal dismissed. ... the bankruptcy appeal is DISMISSED with prejudice”
“the Honorable Karen B. Molzen, Chief United States Magistrate Judge, recommends that the Court deny the pro-se Plaintiff's Application to Proceed ... without Prepaying Fees or Costs ... and dismiss without prejudice his Civil Rights Complaint Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983 ... the Plaintiff's Civil Rights Complaint ... is dismissed without prejudice.”
“Chief Magistrate Judge Molzen sua sponte proposed that the Court dismiss the case without prejudice because of Cowgill's apparent lack of interest in properly litigating this matter. ... this case is dismissed without prejudice”
“the Honorable Karen B. Molzen ... recommended that the Court deny the relief requested in the Defendant's Letter[s] to the Honorable James O. Browning ... without prejudice, and open a new civil case pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983 ... the relief requested ... is denied without prejudice; and ... the Clerk of the Court is directed to open a new civil case pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983”
“Magistrate Judge Molzen issued her PFRD on June 7, 2018 in which she recommends granting the Motion in part and denying it in part. ... IT IS ORDERED that: (i) Magistrate Judge Molzen's Proposed Findings and Recommended Disposition on Petitioner's Motion to Substitute the Current Governor as the Successive Officer in the Above-Captioned Case, filed June 7, 2018 (Doc. 34), is adopted; (ii) Thomas Moquino, Jr., in his official capacity as Governor of the Kewa Pueblo, is substituted as a Respondent in place of Robert B. Coriz, in his official capacity as Governor of the Kewa Pueblo; (iii) Robert B. Coriz remains a Respondent in his official capacity as Tribal Court Judge; and (iv) Respondent Kewa Pueblo is dismissed.”
“this Court hereby reverses the Commissioner's decision and remands this matter to the Commissioner.”
“this Court hereby reverses the Commissioner's decision and remands this matter to the Commissioner.”
“it is ORDERED that ¶ 8(G) of Plaintiff's Complaint be dismissed with prejudice pursuant to F.R.C.P. 12(b)(1).”
“this Court hereby REVERSES the Commissioner's decision under sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) with a REMAND to the Commissioner for further administrative proceedings.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 347 days (N = 10).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 252.5 days (N = 2).
Judge Molzen's work includes substantial Albuquerque criminal and immigration duty, final decisions by consent in Social Security disability appeals, and recommendations in bankruptcy appeals, prisoner and other pro se cases, and immigration habeas matters. This describes the composition of her 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 | 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 | 1 | 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 District of New Mexico, not for Judge Molzen: 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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