Ronald C. Griffin
How Judge Griffin rules, drawn from 47 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Griffin
Ronald C. Griffin has served as a U.S. magistrate judge for the Western District of Texas since 2018. He earned an undergraduate degree from Texas Tech University and a law degree from Oklahoma City University School of Law. His work includes criminal matters and recommendations on civil motions referred by district judges.
Judge Griffin's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Griffin's own (checked October 8, 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 8, 2026).
- Standing Order Regarding Joint or Unopposed Request to Change Deadlines ↗
- Order Regarding Procedures for the Filing, Service and Management of Highly Sensitive Documents ↗
- General Order Regarding Electronic Filing of Transcripts ↗
- Standing Order Regarding Attorney Admissions and CLE Requirements ↗
- Privacy Policy and Public Access to Electronic Files ↗
- Standing Order Regarding the Electronic Submission of Sealed Civil Documents ↗
How Judge Griffin decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
In Rennaker, Magistrate Judge Griffin recommended liquidated damages equal to unpaid overtime after the defaulting employer failed to participate and offered no evidence of good faith.
“Here, because of Defendant’s failure to participate in this case, it has failed to meet its burden to show good faith.”
In Lakeview Loan Servicing v. Kelly, Magistrate Judge Griffin recommended judicial foreclosure after reviewing the note, lien, missed payments, and the property identity despite the defendants’ default.
“Because the Court finds Plaintiff sufficiently established it is the owner of the Note, part of the Note is due and unpaid, and the property subject to the lien is the same property it seeks to foreclose, Plaintiff can enforce its rights and properly elect to proceed with judicial foreclosure.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Court ORDERS that the Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge, is ADOPTED. LG Chem's motion to dismiss, is GRANTED. D&A Distribution's counterclaims for common law indemnification and statutory indemnification are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“Review for clear error reveals that Magistrate Judge Griffin's report and recommendation is correct and should be adopted. It is therefore ORDERED that the Report and Recommendation is ADOPTED. The Secretary's Motion to Dismiss is DENIED.”
“PfP Industries, LLC's partial motion to dismiss is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. PfP's motion is GRANTED as to Jackson's hostile work environment claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and Title VII. PfP's motion is DENIED as to Jackson's claims of a FLSA collective action, discrimination under § 1981, and retaliation under § 1981 and Title VII.”
“the Court ORDERS that the R&Rs of the U.S. Magistrate Judge are ADOPTED. The motions to dismiss filed by Defendants are GRANTED and Plaintiff's claims against all Defendants are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. ... The amendment is therefore futile and the request for leave to amend is DENIED.”
“The Report and Recommendation is therefore ADOPTED. The Motion for Remand is GRANTED.”
“the Court RECOMMENDS Defendant's Motion for Partial Judgment on the Pleadings be DENIED. (Doc. 32).”
“The Court finds that the Carr factors support allowing Pride to withdraw his guilty plea. ... The Report and Recommendation is ADOPTED, and the underlying Motion to Withdraw Guilty Plea is GRANTED.”
In this Midland/Odessa Division escape prosecution, the defendant consented to a felony plea proceeding before Judge Griffin. He conducted the Rule 11 colloquy and recommended that the district court accept the guilty plea. The available record does not establish whether the district judge adopted the recommendation.
“the Court ORDERS that the Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge is ADOPTED. Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED.”
In this Pecos Division drug prosecution, the defendant consented to a felony plea proceeding before Judge Griffin. He conducted the Rule 11 colloquy and recommended that the district court accept the guilty plea. The available record does not establish whether the district judge adopted the recommendation.
In this Midland/Odessa Division child-exploitation prosecution, the defendant consented to a felony plea proceeding before Judge Griffin. He conducted the Rule 11 colloquy and recommended that the district judge accept the plea agreement and guilty plea. The available record does not establish whether the district judge adopted the recommendation.
“Accordingly, the Court ADOPTS the Report and Recommendation and DISMISSES this case WITHOUT PREJUDICE for want of prosecution.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- Judge Griffin's directly assigned docket consists largely of Midland/Odessa criminal-duty matters, including illegal-entry and reentry prosecutions, initial appearances, and search or seizure warrants.
- His dispositive civil work generally comes through referrals that remain under the district judge's case assignment.
- The civil matters reviewed include product liability, personal injury, wage-and-hour and employment, securities, oil-and-gas contract, and Medicare and administrative-law disputes.
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 United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, not for Judge Griffin: 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 | 3,691 | 7.7 months |
| Closed with no court action | 1,171 | 5.5 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 2,115 | 7.5 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 366 | 14 months |
| Closed during trial | 39 | 30.6 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 3,691 | 7.7 months |
| Sep 2024 | 3,440 | 7.8 months |
| Sep 2023 | 3,823 | 7.2 months |
| Sep 2022 | 3,633 | 8.3 months |
| Sep 2021 | 3,178 | 8 months |
| Sep 2020 | 2,990 | 6.4 months |
| Sep 2019 | 2,854 | 7.1 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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