Kevin R. Sweazea

How Judge Sweazea rules, drawn from 34 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Court
United States District Court for the District of New Mexico
Position
Magistrate judge
Commissioned
May 3, 2017
Education
New Mexico State University, Bachelor of Accountancy, 1985; Baylor University School of Law, J.D., 1988
Signed orders read
34

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).

Key rules from these orders · The court's local rules ↗

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.

Walker v. Genesis Extractions, LLC
2:20-cv-00164-MV-KRS
Motion for tro (plaintiff) Denied

“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”

Martin v. Vigil et al.
1:19-cv-00884-RB-KRS
Preliminary injunction (plaintiff) 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”

Serrano v. Ortiz-Lucero et al.
1:18-cv-00740-JB-KRS
Habeas petition (petitioner) 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.”

Saiz v. Social Security Administration (Levi A. Saiz)
· 2019-09-23
Motions to remand (defendant (Commissioner of Social Security)) Granted

“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.”

Derby, Sr. v. Social Security Administration (Robert A. Derby, Sr.)
· 2019-11-13
Motions to remand (defendant (Commissioner of Social Security)) Granted

“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.”

Carrillo v. Saul (Daniel J. Carrillo)
· 2020-10-19
Motions to remand (plaintiff) Granted

“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.”

Guzman Chavez v. Saul (Francisco Javier Guzman Chavez)
· 2020-10-20
Motions to remand (plaintiff) Granted

“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.”

Benally v. Kijakazi (Jayson Benally)
· 2022-05-02
Motions to remand (plaintiff) Granted

“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.”

Anderson v. Kijakazi (Linda M. Anderson)
· 2022-07-25
Motions to remand (plaintiff) Granted

“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.”

Victoria A. E. v. Bisignano
1:24-cv-01237
Social security appeal (plaintiff) Granted

“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.”

Begay v. Allstate Fire and Casualty Company
1:24-cv-01223
Motion to approve minor settlement (plaintiff) Granted

“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.”

Reyes v. Bailey
2:24-cv-00831
Motion to quash (defendant) Granted

“the amended proofs of service fail to establish service was effected. Accordingly, the Motion (Doc. 39) is GRANTED.”

Failure to serve dismissal 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 months0
Bench trials submitted more than six months0
Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months0
Social Security appeals pending more than six months0
Civil cases pending more than three years0
ReportMotions over six monthsCases over three years
Mar 202600
Sep 202500
Mar 202500
Sep 202400
Mar 202400
Sep 202300
Mar 202300
Sep 202200
Mar 202200
Sep 202100
Mar 202100
Sep 202000

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.

CasesMedian time
All civil cases closed9088.2 months
Closed with no court action1504.1 months
Closed before pretrial5117 months
Closed during or after pretrial24213.8 months
Closed during trial5not reported
12 months endingCases closedMedian time
Sep 20259088.2 months
Sep 20249188 months
Sep 202383510.6 months
Sep 202297311.7 months
Sep 20219099.6 months
Sep 20209579 months
Sep 20199659.6 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).

Draft for Judge Sweazea with the record in hand

Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Sweazea, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.

Opens in Ezel Pro.

  • Grounded in Judge Sweazea's own signed orders
  • Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
  • Chat, drafting and research in one workspace