Ronald A. White
How Judge White rules, drawn from 15 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge White
Ronald A. White is a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Appointed by President George W. Bush, Judge White received a commission on October 2, 2003. Judge White assumed senior status on January 27, 2026.
Judge White's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge White, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Filing
Send completed change of plea forms in PDF by email at least three business days before the hearing.
“Forms shall be signed and completed (by all parties) at least three (3) business days prior to the Change of Plea Hearing.”
Filing
Submit an applicable plea agreement or supplement at the same time as the change of plea forms.
“If a Plea Agreement/Supplement is applicable, those completed forms shall be submitted at the same time as the other forms.”
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 White decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Faced with a defendant's invitation to revisit a prior ruling of his own, the judge engaged with the request on the merits rather than treating it as settled, before reaffirming the original result.
“The court has revisited its ruling in Ross and finds that the Defendant's motion must be denied.”
Procedural preferences
On a multi-defendant summary-judgment order, the judge worked through each defendant and each cause of action separately rather than resolving the motions as a block, dismissing legally deficient claims (like fraud without evidence of concealment) while preserving contract and tort theories that turned on factual disputes.
“As there are genuine issues of material fact aplenty, the motion is denied.”
Cautions
In McCoy v. Sipes, the court declined to dismiss a failure-to-protect claim on qualified-immunity grounds because that defendant offered only a bare assertion of the defense. The ruling addressed the sufficiency of that motion, not the ultimate merits of immunity.
“This argument falls short of adequately presenting a qualified immunity defense.”
In the reviewed employment case, an employee handbook’s express at-will and no-contract disclaimer defeated a pleaded implied-contract claim; the FLSA retaliation claim against the Board remained. A handbook theory needs contract language that survives the disclaimer.
“a clear disclaimer that it is not intended to be a contract of employment”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Defendant's motion to dismiss the Indictment [Docket No. 19] is hereby DENIED.”
“The Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Count Four [Docket No. 47] is hereby DENIED.”
“Defendant Mustang Gas Products, LLC's Motion to Dismiss and/or Transfer and Supporting Brief [Docket No. 16] and Defendant Mustang Fuel Corporation's Motion to Transfer and Supporting Brief [Docket No. 18] are hereby DENIED.”
“the motion for summary judgment by Hassell [Docket No. 80] is hereby granted.”
“The motion for summary judgment by MoistureShield and Oldcastle APG [Docket No. 78] is hereby moot in part and denied in part as stated above ... the motions for summary judgment by Aaron Equipment [Docket No. 79] and the PPL Defendants [Docket No. 81] are hereby granted in part and denied in part as stated above. They are granted as to claims by CSR Worldwide. They are granted as to the claims for actual fraud, constructive fraud, and fraudulent inducement. In all other respects, the motions are denied.”
“Accordingly, the Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge is hereby AFFIRMED and ADOPTED as this court's Findings and Order. The decision of the Commissioner is AFFIRMED.”
“Jantran’s motion for summary judgment [Docket No. 152] is DENIED.”
“Marquette’s motion for summary judgment [Docket No. 153] is GRANTED in part, in that summary judgment be entered in Marquette’s favor on the claims of negligence asserted against it by the other parties, and DENIED in all other respects.”
“STC’s motion to strike late disclosed expert Darin M. Adrian [Docket No. 154] is DENIED.”
“CGB’s motion for summary judgment against Oakley [Docket No. 156] is DENIED.”
“Oakley’s motion for partial summary judgment [Docket No. 159] is DENIED.”
“STC’s motion for summary judgment [Docket No. 160] is GRANTED in part, in that Oakley cannot recover from STC the costs of voluntarily removing the barges and repairing the Webbers Falls Lock and Dam, and DENIED in all other respects.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”
“Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 24) is granted in part and denied in part.”
“Defendant Holland’s Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 26) is granted.”
“Defendant’s motion to dismiss (#11) is granted.”
“Defendant’s motion to dismiss (#17) is granted.”
“Defendants’ motion to dismiss (#11) is granted.”
“the objection of the plaintiff (#17) is hereby denied.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The sampled caseload spans Social Security disability appeals, state- and federal-prisoner habeas petitions (a recurring pattern of time-barred dismissals), commercial trade-secrets and insurance litigation, and general civil-rights suits removed from state court.
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 | 4 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 5 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 7 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 4 | 7 |
| Sep 2025 | 59 | 12 |
| Mar 2025 | 42 | 12 |
| Sep 2024 | 17 | 18 |
| Mar 2024 | 20 | 18 |
| Sep 2023 | 39 | 13 |
| Mar 2023 | 12 | 6 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2022 | 5 | 1 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 5 |
| 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 U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, not for Judge White: 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 | 329 | 7.8 months |
| Closed with no court action | 12 | 2.4 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 309 | 7.7 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 3 | not reported |
| Closed during trial | 5 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 329 | 7.8 months |
| Sep 2024 | 375 | 9.6 months |
| Sep 2023 | 327 | 13.5 months |
| Sep 2022 | 290 | 15.4 months |
| Sep 2021 | 326 | 13 months |
| Sep 2020 | 325 | 12.6 months |
| Sep 2019 | 370 | 11.8 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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