Howard D. McKibben
How Judge McKibben rules, drawn from 21 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge McKibben
Howard D. McKibben is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, Judge McKibben received a commission on October 4, 1984. Judge McKibben assumed senior status on April 1, 2005.
How Judge McKibben decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In post-conviction review, alleged error does not warrant relief without actual prejudice; a claimed credibility issue failed where it did not affect the court's independent basis for upholding the stop.
“Thus, as Hylton cannot show actual prejudice, he has not established a due process violation and is not entitled to relief on this ground.”
Procedural preferences
In Hylton v. United States, McKibben denied an evidentiary hearing on the § 2255 motion because the motion and existing case record conclusively showed Hylton was not entitled to relief.
“Because the motion and files and records of this case conclusively show that Hylton is not entitled to relief, his request for an evidentiary hearing will be denied.”
Cautions
Ineffective-assistance arguments must show both deficient performance and a reasonable likelihood of a different result; omitting a weak appellate issue does not satisfy that standard.
“It is not reasonably likely, then, that any such argument would have been successful on appeal, and Hylton therefore cannot establish prejudice.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“ORDER ADOPTING AND ACCEPTING 50 REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS. Defendants' mtn for summ jdgmt 36 is GRANTED and plaintiff's mtn for summ jdgmt 41 is DENIED. Signed by Judge Howard D. McKibben on 8/9/07.”
“Defendants' mtn for summ jdgmt 36 is GRANTED and plaintiff's mtn for summ jdgmt 41 is DENIED. Signed by Judge Howard D. McKibben on 8/9/07.”
“ORDERED that respondents' motion to dismiss (ECF No. 43) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART WITHOUT PREJUDICE as specified herein. Signed by Judge Howard D. McKibben on 10/15/2019.”
“The Second Amended Petition (ECF No. 32) is DENIED, and this action is DISMISSED with prejudice. Young is DENIED a Certificate of Appealability. ... Signed by Judge Howard D. McKibben on 3/31/2020.”
“Therefore, Enterprise's motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 89) is GRANTED and judgment shall be entered in favor of Enterprise and against plaintiff Robert M. Goggin.”
“The defendant's motion for attorney's fees and other nontaxable costs (#74) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. It is DENIED as to the request for expert witness fees and other nontaxable costs. It is GRANTED as to the request for attorney's fees, which are hereby awarded in the amount of $32,754.50.”
“In accordance with the foregoing, the defendants' motion for summary judgment is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. The motion is denied as to the plaintiff's Title VII retaliation claim but is granted as to plaintiff's Title VII gender discrimination claim and her First Amendment retaliation claim.”
“Accordingly, and based on the foregoing, defendant U.S. Bureau of Land Management's motion for summary judgment (# 54) is GRANTED.”
“Plaintiff Western Watershed Project's motion for summary judgment (# 45) is DENIED.”
“IT THEREFORE IS ORDERED that the petition for a writ of habeas corpus shall be DENIED and that this action shall be DISMISSED with prejudice on the merits.”
“IT FURTHER IS ORDERED that a certificate of appealability is DENIED.”
“Because the plaintiff has not obtained a judgment against FTDC, she is not a named insured or specific intended beneficiary of the contract, and she has not alleged any acts or representations of the insurer that caused her to act in reliance on them, the defendants' motions to dismiss (#15, #22) are GRANTED.”
“Plaintiff's request for leave to amend is DENIED, and this action is hereby DISMISSED.”
“In accordance with the foregoing, the Suzuki defendants' motion to dismiss is GRANTED as to the fraudulent transfer claim, and such claim is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. Sterling Escrow's motion to dismiss the fraud and § 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 claims against it is GRANTED, and said claims are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. In all other respects, the motions to dismiss (# 161, # 170 & # 171) are DENIED.”
“Plaintiffs' motion for preliminary injunction (# 10) is DENIED.”
“Therefore, Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED.”
“The Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
As a long-serving senior judge in Reno, McKibben's reviewed recent docket is heavily weighted toward prisoner motions to vacate under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, with occasional criminal matters. Older terminated civil cases include HOA-foreclosure and prisoner civil-rights litigation, although several older case timelines are incomplete.
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 | 2 | 1 |
| 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 Nevada, not for Judge McKibben: 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 | 2,100 | 8 months |
| Closed with no court action | 290 | 5.4 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 1,769 | 8.4 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 28 | 8 months |
| Closed during trial | 13 | 62 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 2,100 | 8 months |
| Sep 2024 | 2,177 | 8.5 months |
| Sep 2023 | 2,000 | 8.4 months |
| Sep 2022 | 2,030 | 8.8 months |
| Sep 2021 | 2,291 | 8.6 months |
| Sep 2020 | 2,392 | 10.4 months |
| Sep 2019 | 2,679 | 11.5 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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