Lee Ann Reno
How Judge Reno rules, drawn from 25 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Reno
Lee Ann Reno became a United States Magistrate Judge in the Amarillo Division of the Northern District of Texas in October 2017. She earned her undergraduate and law degrees from Texas Tech University and practiced law at Sprouse Shrader Smith before joining the bench.
Judge Reno's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Reno, 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
Be ready to provide a paper judge's copy promptly if chambers directs it.
“Counsel should be prepared to have a judge’s copy promptly delivered to the United States District Clerk’s office if directed to do so by chambers.”
Motions
A proposed order is generally unnecessary for criminal requests to extend a hearing or preindictment criminal filings unless chambers asks.
“Unless chambers contacts the filing attorney to request a proposed order, proposed orders are NOT required for any criminal filing requesting the extension of a hearing that is to be held before Judge Reno, nor for any criminal filing made prior to indictment.”
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).
- Special Order 19-2: Service, Access, and Management of Sealed Documents ↗
- Miscellaneous Order 61-1: Restrictions on Electronic Filing of Highly Sensitive Documents ↗
- Miscellaneous Order 61: Electronic Case Filing ↗
- Special Order 19-1: Second Amended Order Regarding Public Access to Certain Documents ↗
How Judge Reno decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Mendoza v. Amarillo Independent School District, Reno denied dismissal of disability-discrimination claims and declined to treat the disputed facts in an expert report from earlier state litigation as judicially noticeable facts.
“Judicial notice of Plaintiffs’ filings in other courts is appropriate, but judicial notice of the facts asserted in those filings is not.”
In Apollo MedFlight v. BlueCross, Reno recommended allowing claims under Texas Emergency Care Statutes to proceed because BlueCross had not established that those statutes lacked a private right of action; she separately recommended dismissing claims brought directly under the related administrative regulations.
“Accordingly, the undersigned recommends that BlueCross’ motion to dismiss Apollo’s claims under the Emergency Care Statutes on the ground that the statutes do not create a private right of action be denied.”
Procedural preferences
In Rodriguez v. Enertis Solar, Reno denied a complete stay of a civil case during a parallel criminal prosecution, protecting the individual defendant’s Fifth Amendment interests through limited discovery while allowing discovery from the company and other witnesses to proceed.
“A complete stay of the case would prejudice Plaintiffs from proceeding in discovery as to Defendant Enertis, as well as with respect to non-party witnesses.”
Cautions
In a later Mendoza order, Reno barred experts from stating legal conclusions under disability statutes but rejected the school district’s request to exclude the experts and their opinions in full.
“Defendant’s motions are DENIED to the extent that they ask the Court to exclude Plaintiffs’ experts and their opinions in their entirety.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Further, the Court should DENY Castillo's remaining habeas claim as meritless.”
“So construed the motion to amend should be DENIED as futile.”
“It is further RECOMMENDED that Sheriff Riley's Motion for Summary Judgment be GRANTED on the claim of failure to intervene as it relates to the use of force against Plaintiff Ramirez by Deputy Killian.”
“the Court recommends that the Objections be GRANTED in part and OVERRULED in part, the Motion to Strike be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part, and the Motion for Summary Judgment be GRANTED.”
“it is the RECOMMENDATION ... that the complaint filed by plaintiff NORMAN L. AGNEW be DISMISSED as barred by the three strikes provision of 28 U.S.C. 1915(g). This dismissal should be without prejudice to plaintiff's right to reopen the case if he pays the $400.00 filing and administrative fees ...”
“it is the RECOMMENDATION ... that the complaint filed by plaintiff REIDIE JACKSON be DISMISSED as barred by the three strikes provision of 28 U.S.C. section 1915(g). This dismissal should be without prejudice to plaintiff's right to reopen the case if he pays the $400.00 filing and administrative fees ...”
Reno recommended accepting the defendant's felony guilty plea under 21 U.S.C. § 841. Judge Kacsmaryk adopted the recommendation in full, adjudged the defendant guilty, and referred the mandatory-detention issue back to Reno. This ministerial plea proceeding is not treated as a contested merits motion.
“For the above reasons, it is the RECOMMENDATION of the United States Magistrate Judge to the United States District Judge that the City’s Motion to Dismiss [ECF 3] be DENIED without prejudice as moot.”
“For the above reasons, it is the RECOMMENDATION of the United States Magistrate Judge to the United States Senior District Judge that Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss [ECF 9] be DENIED without prejudice as moot.”
“It is the RECOMMENDATION of the United States Magistrate Judge to the United States Senior District Judge that Defendant's Motion to Dismiss [ECF 15] be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part as follows: granted as to Apollo's claims under the Texas Administrative Code alleged in Count I., but denied as to Apollo's claims under the Emergency Care Statutes alleged in Count I.; granted as to Apollo's claims under the ACA in Count V.; and denied as to Apollo's claims under Insurance Code Chapter 541 in Count II.”
“It is the RECOMMENDATION of the United States Magistrate Judge to the United States District Judge that the federal habeas corpus application (ECF 3) filed by Petitioner Augustin Pineda be DISMISSED.”
“it is the RECOMMENDATION of the United States Magistrate Judge to the United States District Judge that the Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus by a Person in State Custody filed by Petitioner be DISMISSED as moot.”
“Defendants are not in default and, contrary to Slate's representation in his motion (ECF 18 at 1), default has not been entered by the Clerk. The motion for default judgment should be DENIED.”
“The motion for summary judgment is premature, but in any event fails to establish that Slate is entitled to judgment. The motion for summary judgment should be DENIED.”
“For the reasons discussed herein, it is the RECOMMENDATION of the United States Magistrate Judge to the United States District Judge that Plaintiff's pending motions be DENIED, and that the claims of plaintiff, John Slate, be DISMISSED.”
“As set forth above, the U.S. Magistrate Judge recommends that Defendants' Motion to Dismiss be GRANTED pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1); specifically, that the Court dismiss without prejudice all claims for monetary damages against Defendants in their official capacities. The U.S. Magistrate Judge recommends that Defendants' Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) be GRANTED as to all claims against Defendants Lumpkin, Gonzales, Williamson and T. King and that it otherwise be denied. Lastly, the U.S. Magistrate Judge recommends allowing Herod to amend his pleading within 20 days of the District Judge ruling on this FCR solely for the purpose of specifying the injunctive relief he seeks against Defendants, and repleading his cause of action against T. King for failing to render aid. The only claims not recommended for dismissal are those claims against Defendant J. King in her individual capacity.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The caseload description is illustrative rather than a complete census. Many consent Social Security cases in the sample ended within four to seven months, while criminal-duty matters were generally pending procedural cases.
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 | 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 Northern District of Texas, not for Judge Reno: 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 | 4,103 | 5.9 months |
| Closed with no court action | 829 | 4 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 3,228 | 6.3 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 11 | 16.1 months |
| Closed during trial | 35 | 19.3 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 4,103 | 5.9 months |
| Sep 2024 | 3,648 | 5.6 months |
| Sep 2023 | 3,808 | 6.5 months |
| Sep 2022 | 8,698 | 56 months |
| Sep 2021 | 6,094 | 19.4 months |
| Sep 2020 | 6,294 | 13.3 months |
| Sep 2019 | 3,367 | 6.9 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 Reno with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Reno, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
Opens in Ezel Pro.
- Grounded in Judge Reno's own signed orders
- Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
- Chat, drafting and research in one workspace