Kevin R. Sweazea
How Judge Sweazea rules, drawn from 34 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Sweazea
Kevin R. Sweazea has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of New Mexico since May 2017, with chambers in Las Cruces. Before joining the federal court, he was a judge of New Mexico's Seventh Judicial District Court from 2001 to 2017.
Judge Sweazea's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Sweazea'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 Sweazea decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Kardinia M. A., Sweazea remanded a Social Security case because the administrative law judge had not adequately linked the assessment of subjective symptoms to substantial record evidence.
“The Court must thus remand in the absence of a close and affirmative link to substantial evidence in the record.”
Procedural preferences
In Pallottino, Sweazea recommended quashing defective service proofs while declining to dismiss the claims against the homeowners-association defendants for insufficient service.
“and DENYING the request to dismiss Plaintiff’s claims in the Amended Complaint (Doc. 14)”
In Montoya's Social Security appeal, he granted remand after finding that the administrative law judge erred.
“the Court concludes that the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) erred in her decision and will therefore GRANT Montoya's motion and remand this case back to the SSA”
In Palczynsky, the court required a proposed replacement schedule with specific dates after denying the parties’ joint extension motion without prejudice.
“The parties are directed to file a renewed motion that includes a proposed amended scheduling order with specific deadlines that do not depend on any future events that are expected to or might occur on as-yet unknown dates.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the magistrate judge recommended that Plaintiff's motion for a temporary restraining order (Doc. 3) be denied. ... 2. Plaintiff's motion for a temporary restraining order (Doc. 3) is DENIED”
“Judge Sweazea recommended that the Court deny Mr. Martin's motion for preliminary injunction (Doc. 18) without prejudice; grant Mr. Martin's motion for partial dismissal (Doc. 16) ... Mr. Martin's motion for preliminary injunction (Doc. 18) is DENIED”
“the Honorable Kevin R. Sweazea, United States Magistrate Judge ... recommends dismissal with prejudice of the petition for writ of habeas corpus that Petitioner Santana Serrano filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2254. ... The Court will overrule Serrano's Objections, adopt the PFRD, dismiss ... [the] Petition Under 28 U.S.C. 2254 ... with prejudice, and deny the certificate of appealability.”
“Pursuant to the power of this Court to enter a judgment affirming, modifying, or reversing the Commissioner’s decision with remand in Social Security actions under sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), and in light of the Commissioner’s request for remand of this action for further proceedings, 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.”
“Pursuant to the power of this Court to enter a judgment affirming, modifying, or reversing the Commissioner’s decision with remand in Social Security actions under sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), and in light of the Commissioner’s request for remand of this action for further proceedings, 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 as set forth above.”
“With the consent of the parties to conduct dispositive proceedings in this matter, see 28 U.S.C. § 636(c); FED. R. CIV. P. 73(b), the Court has considered the parties’ filings and has thoroughly reviewed the administrative record. Having done so, the Court concludes that the ALJ erred in his decision and will therefore GRANT Plaintiff’s motion. ... Accordingly, Plaintiff’s Motion to Reverse and Remand for a Rehearing (Doc. 19) is GRANTED, and the Court remands this case back to the SSA for proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
“With the consent of the parties to conduct dispositive proceedings in this matter, see 28 U.S.C. § 636(c); FED. R. CIV. P. 73(b), the Court has considered the parties’ filings and has thoroughly reviewed the administrative record. Having done so, the Court concludes that the Commissioner erred in his decision and will therefore GRANT Plaintiff’s motion. ... Accordingly, Plaintiff’s Motion to Reverse and Award Benefits, or for Rehearing (Doc. 20) is GRANTED, and the Court remands this case back to the SSA for proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
“With the consent of the parties to conduct dispositive proceedings in this matter, see 28 U.S.C. § 636(c); FED. R. CIV. P. 73(b), the Court has considered the parties’ filings and has thoroughly reviewed the administrative record. Having done so, the Court concludes that the ALJ erred in his decision and will therefore GRANT Benally’s motion and remand this case back to the SSA for proceedings consistent with this opinion. ... Accordingly, Benally’s Motion to Reverse and/or Remand (Doc. 24) is GRANTED, and the Court remands this case back to the SSA for proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
“With the consent of the parties to conduct dispositive proceedings in this matter, see 28 U.S.C. § 636(c); FED. R. CIV. P. 73(b), the Court has considered the parties’ filings and has thoroughly reviewed the administrative record. Having done so, the Court concludes that the ALJ erred in his decision and will therefore GRANT Plaintiff’s Motion and remand this case back to the SSA for proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
“Plaintiff Victoria A. E.'s Motion for Reversal and Remand to the Social Security Administration, (Doc. 14), is GRANTED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Commissioner's final decision is REVERSED and this matter is REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this Memorandum Opinion and Order.”
“the Court finds that the settlement is fair, reasonable, and in the minor Plaintiff's best interests ... The Joint Motion to Approve Minor Settlement (Doc. 25) be granted.”
“the amended proofs of service fail to establish service was effected. Accordingly, the Motion (Doc. 39) is GRANTED.”
“the undersigned further RECOMMENDS that Plaintiff's claims against Defendants Todd Danley, Deanna Preston, Brendan Rodella, and Bryce Bailey be dismissed without prejudice.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 365.5 days (N = 10).
By party consent, Judge Sweazea enters final decisions in Social Security disability appeals. He also writes recommendations in state- and federal-prisoner habeas cases and prisoner civil-rights matters. 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 | 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 District of New Mexico, not for Judge Sweazea: 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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