Kirtan Khalsa
How Judge Khalsa rules, drawn from 24 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Khalsa
Kirtan Khalsa has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of New Mexico since 2014. Based in Albuquerque, she handles criminal duty matters, civil referrals, and Social Security appeals in cases assigned to her by consent. Magistrate judges are appointed by the district court.
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 Khalsa decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In DeGroat, Khalsa granted an officer summary judgment on an excessive-force claim after finding the evidence insufficient for a favorable verdict and no identified clearly established law giving fair warning.
“Officer Cordero is therefore entitled to qualified immunity”
In Palomarez, she recommended Social Security remand because omitted moderate concentration limits could change the residual functional capacity and available work; she found the error could not be treated as harmless.
“Thus, I cannot say that the ALJ’s errors were harmless.”
Procedural preferences
In Jacobs, Khalsa recommended treating the plaintiffs’ requested one-day reply extension as moot after they sought to amend their summary-judgment motion instead.
“DENY AS MOOT Plaintiffs’ Amended Motion to Extend the Deadline by One Day”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss ... is granted in part and denied in part as follows: (a) ... NMHRA ... is dismissed without prejudice for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction pursuant to rule 12(b)(1) ...; (b) Moody's prima facie tort claims are dismissed with prejudice for failure to state a claim pursuant to rule 12(b)(6) ...; (c) Moody's claim under the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act ... is dismissed without prejudice for failure to state a claim”
“Petitioner's Motion Under 28 U.S.C. 2255 to Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct Sentence ... is DENIED, and this case is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“I RECOMMEND that the Court DENY Mr. Cales's Petition (Doc. 1) and DISMISS the Petition WITH PREJUDICE.”
“I recommend that the Court DENY Petitioner's request for a hearing and Petitioner's Motion Under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct Sentence by a Person in Federal Custody (Docs. 1, 3) and DISMISS this matter with prejudice.”
“I RECOMMEND that Mr. Vigil's Petition Under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 for Writ of Habeas Corpus by a Person in State Custody (Doc. 1) be DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“I further RECOMMEND that Mr. Vigil's Pro Se Motion to Dismiss § 2254 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus and to Grant Stay [of] Time Bar to [Exhaust] State [Remedies] (Doc. 27) be DENIED.”
“FINDS that Defendant's Motion is well-taken and should be GRANTED.”
“the Court FINDS that Plaintiff's motion is well taken and, therefore, will GRANT the Motion to Amend the Amended Complaint.”
“The Court denies Plaintiff's motion to appoint counsel.”
“Plaintiff’s Notice of Ethical Concern and Motion for Leave to File Under Seal, Doc. 15, filed April 21, 2026, is DENIED.”
“Defendants’ Motion is well-taken in part and RECOMMEND that it be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART”
“DENY Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 213);”
“DENY AS MOOT Plaintiffs’ Amended Motion to Extend the Deadline by One Day”
“DENY Plaintiffs’ Motion for Leave to Amend Motion for Summary Judgment”
“I recommend that the Court GRANT Plaintiff’s Motion (Doc. 11), REVERSE”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 333.5 days (N = 10).
By party consent, Judge Khalsa enters final decisions in Social Security disability appeals. She also handles criminal preliminary and detention hearings and forfeiture matters, and writes recommendations in diversity insurance, consumer-credit, and civil-rights cases. 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 | 7 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 7 | 6 |
| Sep 2025 | 1 | 4 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2024 | 3 | 4 |
| Mar 2024 | 1 | 3 |
| Sep 2023 | 6 | 2 |
| Mar 2023 | 11 | 3 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 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 New Mexico, not for Judge Khalsa: 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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