Dale Albert Kimball
How Judge Kimball rules, drawn from 36 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Kimball
Dale A. Kimball is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah. Appointed by President William J. Clinton, Judge Kimball received a commission on October 24, 1997. Judge Kimball assumed senior status on November 30, 2009.
Judge Kimball's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Kimball, 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
Email editable Word proposed orders directly to chambers as well as attaching them to the motion.
“In addition to attaching a copy of the order to the motion, a copy of all proposed orders must be directly e-mailed to chambers at the following address: [email protected]. Proposed orders e-mailed to chambers must be editable and submitted in Word format.”
Filing
Provide a paper courtesy copy of dispositive motions and related materials when filing.
“At the time of filing, parties are required to provide one courtesy hard copy of dispositive motions and related exhibits and memoranda.”
Motions
An overlength document may be filed with its motion for leave, before the court decides the motion.
“Parties may simultaneously file the motion and the overlength document.”
Motions
For an emergency injunction motion, file proof of service before asking for a hearing.
“The court will not schedule a hearing on the motion until Plaintiff files a proof of service of the motion on Defendant(s).”
Trial
Under Judge Kimball’s civil trial order, deliver the exhibit list to the courtroom deputy on the first trial morning without filing it.
“Do NOT file the exhibit list or the exhibits. The exhibit list is to be provided to the Courtroom Deputy Clerk on the first morning of trial.”
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 Kimball decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
In two sentence-reduction requests by the same defendant, Judge Kimball required proof of administrative exhaustion before considering compassionate release.
“Because there is no proof of exhaustion, Defendant’s motion cannot proceed in this court.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the District's Motion is hereby GRANTED. Plaintiffs' causes of action against the District are hereby DISMISSED with prejudice. ... the court concludes that dismissal with prejudice is the only appropriate sanction under Rule 37.”
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss [ECF No. 17] is GRANTED as to Plaintiff's Count IV (Retaliation for Reporting Government Waste) and DENIED as to Plaintiff's Failure to Pay Wages claim.”
“Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment is DENIED, and Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED. Because this ruling disposes of all of the claims at issue in the case, the Clerk of Court is directed to close the case and enter judgment in favor of Defendants.”
“Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED. ... the court concludes that the officers are entitled to qualified immunity on the Dettles' Section 1983 claims. ... Therefore, the entity Defendants are immune from the Dettles' state law tort claims [under the Utah Governmental Immunity Act].”
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. No. 9) is GRANTED. The Clerk of Court is directed to enter judgment in favor of Defendant and close the case. ... Because all of Kitches' claims rely on the mistaken premise that the statute of limitations has passed, the court GRANTS MSNI's motion to dismiss.”
“Thus, the court GRANTS Defendants' motions in part, and dismisses the case without prejudice. Plaintiff will have 30 days after the underlying state case is fully resolved to file an amended complaint.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendant's Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED. Plaintiff's case is dismissed with prejudice.”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment Against Mark H. Olsen and Clint Boswell [Docket No. 69] is GRANTED.”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Discovery Sanctions Against Shane Lamb [Docket No. 72] is DENIED; however, Plaintiff and Lamb shall conduct Lamb's deposition within 30 days of the date of this Order.”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment Against Shane Lamb [Docket No. 74] and Defendant Shane Lamb's Motion for Summary Judgment [Docket No. 89] are DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE at this time, to be renewed after the parties conduct Lamb's deposition.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the court DENIES Defendants’ request to reopen this matter. The case, therefore, remains closed and dismissed without prejudice.”
“It is therefore ORDERED that the motion to dismiss is GRANTED. The Petition for habeas corpus is DENIED and the action is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant's Motion to Suppress is DENIED.”
“Based on the above reasoning, Plaintiffs' Motion for Class Certification is GRANTED. The court certifies two subclasses--a Damages Class and an Injunctive Class, as defined above.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff's motion for preliminary injunction is DENIED. Plaintiff has not clearly and unequivocally demonstrated that it is likely to succeed on the merits of its claims or that there is irreparable harm.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 312 days (N = 9).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 19 days (N = 15).
The reviewed matters include habeas, labor, insurance, environmental administrative review, employment, ERISA and civil-rights cases, alongside the later Mintz insurance dispute. They are a selected set and do not measure the frequency of case types or outcomes.
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 | 2 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 5 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 6 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 3 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 3 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 2 |
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 Kimball: 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).
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