Shon T. Erwin
How Judge Erwin rules, drawn from 18 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Erwin
Shon T. Erwin serves as a United States magistrate judge for the Western District of Oklahoma. He has chambers in Lawton and Oklahoma City.
Judge Erwin's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Erwin'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 Erwin decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Ishman v. Ballard, Erwin recommended treating a dismissal motion as one for summary judgment and granting it because the prisoner did not complete the required grievance process. The district judge adopted the recommendation.
“Judge Erwin has recommended that the Case 5:18-cv-00893-G Document 72 Filed 03/23/21 Page 2 of 4 Court convert Defendant Braggs’ Motion into one for summary judgment and grant it based on Plaintiff’s failure to exhaust administrative remedies.”
Procedural preferences
In Arnett v. Gabriel, he recommended denying dismissal for defective service, quashing the attempted service, and giving the plaintiff 30 days to serve the defendants properly.
“Based on the foregoing, the Court should: (1) deny the Motions to Dismiss to the extent they seek dismissal of the action due to untimely and improper service; (2) quash the original service attempt on Defendants Gabriel, Hamilton, Hagen, Peek, and Amason in their individual capacities; and (3) allow Mr. Arnett 30 days to effectuate proper service on these Defendants in their individual capacities or risk dismissal of the claims against them.”
Cautions
In Plater v. Topping, Erwin recommended that the claim against Case Manager Rowley survive a combined dismissal and summary judgment motion. The district judge adopted that recommendation.
“The Court therefore ADOPTS Judge Erwin’s recommendation that the motion to dismiss/motion for summary judgment be denied with respect to the claim asserted against Defendant Rowley.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the claims asserted against GEO Group are dismissed without prejudice for failure to state a claim, (2) the claim against Defendant Topping is dismissed without prejudice for failure to state a claim”
“(3) summary judgment is granted in favor of Defendant Garrett, and (4) dismissal and summary judgment are denied with respect to the claim asserted against Defendant Rowley in her individual capacity.”
“Defendant Braggs' Motion (Doc. No. 61), considered as a Motion for Summary Judgment, is GRANTED in its entirety.”
“the Report [Doc. #37] is ADOPTED as to plaintiff's claims against defendants Gray and Fowler, and defendants' motion for summary judgment [Doc. 25] is DENIED as to them. ... the recommendation of the Report is ADOPTED as to plaintiff's claims against defendants Lindsey and Allbaugh and defendants' motion is GRANTED as to those defendants.”
“The Court should grant Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment regarding non-exhaustion of administrative remedies, but only as to Plaintiff Johnson. As to the remaining Plaintiffs, the Court should deny summary judgment and conclude that administrative remedies were effectively unavailable to them.”
“it is recommended that Petitioner’s Motion, (ECF No. 7) be DENIED and that he be ordered to prepay the full $5.00 filing fee for this action to proceed.”
“the undersigned magistrate judge recommends that the decision of the Commissioner be REVERSED AND REMANDED.”
“the undersigned recommends the Court GRANT Petitioner’s habeas petition, in part, and order Respondents to bring Petitioner before an immigration judge (IJ) for a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) within seven business days or otherwise release Petitioner if he has not received a lawful bond hearing within that period.”
Section 1915A screening R&R recommending dismissal of a pro se Section 1983 complaint for failure to state a claim because it did not make clear which defendant did what. Zero-motion screening disposition; quote: “The Court should DISMISS Plaintiff’s Complaint (ECF No. 1) for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.” District-judge order confirms Erwin as author.
Section 1915A / 1915(e)(2)(B) screening R&R on a pro se Section 1983 prisoner complaint recommending dismissal of all individual-capacity claims and the official-capacity injunctive claims (some with, some without prejudice). Zero-motion screening disposition; quote: “Based on that review, it is recommended that the Court: (1) dismiss the individual capacity claims for injunctive relief, against all Defendants, with prejudice”. District-judge referral confirms Erwin as author.
Sua sponte R&R recommending dismissal without prejudice of a pro se Section 1983 action for failure to cure filing deficiencies and comply with the court's order. Zero-motion case-management disposition; quote: “it is recommended that this action be DISMISSED without prejudice for Plaintiff’s failure to comply with this Court’s orders.” Companion district-judge order confirms the R&R was issued by Magistrate Judge Shon T. Erwin on June 20, 2025.
“Based on the foregoing, the Court should: (1) deny the Motions to Dismiss to the extent they seek dismissal of the action due to untimely and improper service; (2) quash the original service attempt on Defendants Gabriel, Hamilton, Hagen, Peek, and Amason in their individual capacities; and (3) allow Mr. Arnett 30 days to effectuate proper service on these Defendants in their individual capacities or risk dismissal of the claims against them.”
“Based upon the foregoing analysis, it is recommended that the Amended Petition (ECF No. 7) be DISMISSED.”
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 | 1 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 3 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 3 | 1 |
| Mar 2022 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 1 | 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 Western District of Oklahoma, not for Judge Erwin: 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 | 1,011 | 6.8 months |
| Closed with no court action | 361 | 5 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 461 | 6.6 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 185 | 12.3 months |
| Closed during trial | 4 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,011 | 6.8 months |
| Sep 2024 | 1,062 | 7.3 months |
| Sep 2023 | 863 | 9 months |
| Sep 2022 | 932 | 10.1 months |
| Sep 2021 | 958 | 9.6 months |
| Sep 2020 | 944 | 8.3 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,040 | 8.5 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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