Cecilia M. Romero
How Judge Romero rules, drawn from 25 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Romero
Cecilia M. Romero has served as a United States magistrate judge for the District of Utah since June 2019 and as its chief magistrate judge since January 2026. She earned a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from the University of Utah. Before joining the court, she practiced employment and commercial litigation.
Judge Romero's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Romero, 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
Contacting chambers
Put the case name and number in chambers email subjects and generally copy opposing counsel.
“Please include case name and number in the email subject line. Except in rare circumstances, opposing counsel should be copied on all email correspondence with chambers.”
Trial
Expect a civil pretrial order about 90 days before trial with trial procedures and deadlines.
“Ninety (90) days prior to trial in civil cases, the court will issue a Pretrial Order explaining the court's trial procedures and setting deadlines for pre-trial matters.”
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 Romero decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
In Tracy v. Stephens, she recommended denying leave to amend because the proposed constitutional claims against a COVID-era school mask policy would still fail. She recommended dismissal with prejudice, and the district judge adopted the recommendation.
“recommending that the court deny the Plaintiffs' motion to amend their amended complaint and dismiss the Plaintiffs' case with prejudice”
Cautions
In Reynolds, the district judge adopted Judge Romero’s recommendation in part, dismissed the complaint without prejudice, and allowed the plaintiff 30 days to amend after the related state case was resolved.
“the court ... adopts and affirms the Report and Recommendation in part and dismisses the complaint without prejudice as to all Defendants. Plaintiff will have 30 days after the underlying state case is fully resolved to file an amended complaint.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Magistrate Judge Romero issued a Report and Recommendation recommending that the court grant in part Defendants' motions and dismiss the complaint without prejudice ... the court ... adopts and affirms the Report and Recommendation in part and dismisses the complaint without prejudice as to all Defendants. Plaintiff will have 30 days after the underlying state case is fully resolved to file an amended complaint. ... the court GRANTS Defendants' motions in part, and dismisses the case without prejudice.”
“United States Magistrate Judge Cecilia M. Romero issued a Report and Recommendation (R&R) recommending that the court deny the Plaintiffs' motion to amend their amended complaint and dismiss the Plaintiffs' case with prejudice. ... the court ADOPTS the R&R (ECF No. 69). The court DENIES the Plaintiffs' Motion to Amend (ECF No. 64) and DISMISSES this action WITH PREJUDICE.”
“United States Magistrate Judge Cecilia M. Romero issued a Report and Recommendation (R&R) recommending that the court deny Plaintiff Kathryn Betts's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 27), finding that Ms. Betts failed to meet her burden that she was entitled to judgment as a matter of law on her claims. ... the court adopts the R&R ... in its entirety. ... The Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 27) is DENIED.”
“United States Magistrate Judge Cecilia M. Romero issued a Report & Recommendation (R&R) recommending that the court deny Plaintiff Robert Louis Brown's Motion to Dismiss Case in 4th District Court, Provo, UT (ECF No. 5) and dismiss this case without prejudice. ... the court adopts the R&R (ECF No. 11) in its entirety. ... The court DISMISSES this action without prejudice.”
“Magistrate Judge Cecilia M. Romero issued a Report and Recommendation that the court ... deny ... Club Pilates Millcreek's Motion to Dismiss, ultimately recommending that the entire action be dismissed without prejudice. ... The court DENIES Club Pilates Millcreek's Motion to Dismiss (ECF 20) as moot. ... The court DISMISSES this action without prejudice.”
“The undersigned therefore RECOMMENDS that the court GRANT Cache County Defendants' Motion (ECF 61), GRANT Clerk Defendant's Motion (ECF 72), and GRANT the Federal Defendants' Motion (ECF 73) and DISMISS WITHOUT PREJUDICE Plaintiff's Complaint.”
“Based on Plaintiffs' failure to prosecute this case and abide by the rules and orders of this court, the undersigned RECOMMENDS the court GRANT the Motion (ECF 25); the case be DISMISSED without prejudice; Plaintiffs be ordered to pay Defendant's attorney fees incurred in connection with Plaintiffs' discovery failures.”
“Magistrate Judge Romero granted Ms. Pingree's motion in part but ordered that the temporal scope of the deposition would be limited to 2014 and thereafter and that Topics 8 and 9 would be excluded. ... For the reasons stated herein, Plaintiff's Objection (ECF No. 67) to Magistrate Judge Romero's Order (ECF No. 63) is OVERRULED.”
“Based on the foregoing, Plaintiffs' Motion to Strike (ECF 41) is DENIED, and Defendant's Motion to Amend (ECF 47) is GRANTED.”
“For the reasons above, the court GRANTS Defendants' Partial Motion to Dismiss. Plaintiffs' claim under the Utah Antidiscrimination Act is dismissed.”
“the court hereby DENIES Plaintiff’s Motion for Review of Agency Action (ECF 13) and AFFIRMS the decision of the Commissioner.”
“IT IS HEREBY RECOMMENDED that Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (ECF 20) be GRANTED and this action be DISMISSED without prejudice.”
“the undersigned further recommends denying Plaintiff’s request for default judgment (ECF 15) as moot.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- Salt Lake City magistrate (since June 2019; Chief Magistrate Judge since January 2026).
- Her enumerable assigned-case slice (2026, pending) is a broad civil mix where she is the assigned magistrate: Social Security disability appeals, immigration, FDCPA consumer-credit, copyright, employment, and pro se police civil-rights matters.
- Her referral merits Reports & Recommendations (motions to dismiss, summary judgment, leave to amend, dismissals) are reviewed by the district judges and appear among the published orders.
- Composition only; not a grant rate.
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 | 1 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| 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 District of Utah, not for Judge Romero: 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 | 1,120 | 8.5 months |
| Closed with no court action | 343 | 7 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 764 | 9 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 3 | not reported |
| Closed during trial | 10 | 59 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,120 | 8.5 months |
| Sep 2024 | 1,141 | 9.3 months |
| Sep 2023 | 1,035 | 10.6 months |
| Sep 2022 | 1,092 | 12.3 months |
| Sep 2021 | 1,128 | 12.7 months |
| Sep 2020 | 951 | 10.4 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,085 | 9.7 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 Romero with the record in hand
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