Alexander C. Ekstrom
How Judge Ekstrom rules, drawn from 9 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Ekstrom
Alexander C. Ekstrom has served as a United States Magistrate Judge in Yakima for the Eastern District of Washington since June 13, 2022. Before joining the federal bench, he was a Washington superior court judge for Benton and Franklin Counties and a federal prosecutor. He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Washington.
Judge Ekstrom's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Ekstrom'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 Ekstrom decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a Social Security appeal, the recommendation associated with this case called for reversal of the Commissioner’s decision and remand for calculation and award of benefits.
“The Commissioner's decision is REVERSED and this matter is REMANDED for the calculation and award of benefits.”
Procedural preferences
In this defendant’s felony plea proceeding, Ekstrom accepted a written waiver of the right to plead before the district judge and a written consent to proceed before a magistrate judge.
“Defendant executed a written waiver of the right to enter his plea of guilty before the presiding United States District Judge and a written consent to proceed before a United States Magistrate Judge.”
Cautions
In Ibarra, Ekstrom allowed an unopposed change to release conditions after the prosecution and pretrial services raised no objection.
“The United States Attorney's Office and the United States Probation/Pretrial Services Office have no objection to Defendant's request.”
In an Arredondo release order, he kept GPS monitoring despite reported employment, treatment, and compliance because the charged conduct still presented a community safety concern and monitoring may itself have supported compliance.
“safety of the community without GPS monitoring.”
In a later Bernal order, he replaced home detention with a curfew but retained GPS monitoring after pretrial services documented late returns. He said full compliance over the following months could support a later request to remove GPS.
“Defendant has room for improvement.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 11, is GRANTED. The Commissioner's decision is REVERSED and this matter is REMANDED for the calculation and award of benefits.”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 15, is GRANTED. The Commissioner's decision is REVERSED and this matter is REMANDED for 1) an immediate calculation of benefits for the childhood disability claim; and 2) further proceedings as of age 18.”
“United States Magistrate Judge Alexander C. Ekstrom filed a Report and Recommendation on May 9, 2025, ECF No. 280, finding that Defendant is fully competent and capable of entering an informed plea ... and is supported by an independent basis in fact establishing each of the essential elements of the crime. The Court adopts the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation, ECF No. 280, and accepts Defendant's plea of guilty.”
“Defendant's Motion to Modify Conditions of Release (ECF No. 37) is GRANTED.”
“Defendant’s Motion to Modify Conditions of Release (ECF No. 59) is GRANTED.”
“Defendant’s Motion to Modify Conditions of Release (ECF No. 164) is GRANTED.”
“Defendant’s Motion to Expedite (ECF No. 145) is GRANTED.”
“is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART.”
“Plaintiff’s Motion, ECF No. 13, is GRANTED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The docket is heavily weighted toward consented Social Security disability appeals resolved on cross-motions for summary judgment (frequently ending in a sentence-four remand rather than an outright affirmance), supplemented by a general civil docket of insurance, personal-injury, and removal/remand matters and a separate stream of magistrate criminal duty-calendar matters; several sampled Social Security cases were originally filed before other judges and only reassigned to him later.
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 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 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 Eastern District of Washington, not for Judge Ekstrom: 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 | 620 | 6.2 months |
| Closed with no court action | 56 | 4.6 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 554 | 6.3 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 3 | not reported |
| Closed during trial | 7 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 620 | 6.2 months |
| Sep 2024 | 700 | 7.2 months |
| Sep 2023 | 694 | 8.2 months |
| Sep 2022 | 890 | 8.3 months |
| Sep 2021 | 852 | 9 months |
| Sep 2020 | 963 | 7.4 months |
| Sep 2019 | 954 | 9.4 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 Ekstrom with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Ekstrom, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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