Alan Bond Johnson
How Judge Johnson rules, drawn from 13 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Johnson
Alan Bond Johnson is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, Judge Johnson received a commission on December 17, 1985.
Judge Johnson's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Johnson, 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.
- Court Procedures Manual ↗
- Rule 26(f) Conference Checklist ↗
- Joint Discovery and Case Management Plan ↗
- Discovery and Dispositive Motions Order ↗
- Joint Final Pretrial Memorandum ↗
- Final Pretrial Conference Order ↗
Key rules
Contacting chambers
Do not ask chambers staff about the status of a pending motion.
“Inquiries as to the status of the case or pending motions should not be made to the Court’s Judicial Assistant or Law Clerks.”
Filing
Send chambers any filing longer than 20 pages on the day it is filed.
“All documents filed containing more than 20 pages are required to be sent to Chambers the day of filing.”
Motions
Every motion other than a Rule 12(b)(6) or Rule 56 motion needs a separate proposed order.
“All motions except motions pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. Rule 12(b)(6) and Rule 56 must include a separate proposed order granting or denying the relief requested.”
Motions
Non-dispositive motion briefs and opposition briefs are limited to 10 pages absent permission.
“Each non-dispositive motion, and memorandum or brief, as well as briefs in opposition to non-dispositive motions filed in this Court shall be limited to 10 pages.”
Discovery
Confer with opposing counsel and obtain court approval before filing a written discovery motion.
“No written discovery motions shall be filed without the prior approval of the Court. A party with a discovery dispute must first confer with the opposing party in a good”
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 Johnson decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Eaton v. Wilson, Johnson found that both trial and appellate counsel had provided constitutionally deficient representation that prejudiced the petitioner. He conditionally granted habeas relief and vacated the death sentence, allowing Wyoming 120 days to hold a new sentencing proceeding.
“the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 by Dale W. Eaton, Petitioner, is GRANTED, and the sentence of death of the Petitioner, Dale W. Eaton is VACATED”
Procedural preferences
In BTU Western Resources, Inc. v. Berenergy Corp., Johnson dismissed a coalbed-methane dispute for lack of federal-question jurisdiction. He found that federal law did not create the claim and that relief did not necessarily require resolving a substantial federal question.
“Defendants' Motions to Dismiss for Lack of Federal Question Jurisdiction, ECF Nos. 64 and 66, are hereby GRANTED. Plaintiffs Complaint is hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
Cautions
In Von Schultz v. United States, Johnson dismissed a Section 2255 motion as time-barred after finding it was filed more than four years late. He rejected equitable tolling and actual-innocence arguments and denied an evidentiary hearing and a certificate of appealability.
“The Court therefore DISMISSES Von Schultz's § 2255 motion (ECF No. 1), DENIES an evidentiary hearing, and DENIES a certificate of appealability.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendants' Motions to Dismiss for Lack of Federal Question Jurisdiction, ECF Nos. 64 and 66, are hereby GRANTED. Plaintiffs Complaint is hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“Plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment, ECF No. 52, is rendered MOOT and therefore DENIED.”
“the Court concludes that Unova has failed to assert a meritorious defense and therefore DENIES Unova's motion to set aside the default.”
“The Court therefore DISMISSES Von Schultz's § 2255 motion (ECF No. 1), DENIES an evidentiary hearing, and DENIES a certificate of appealability.”
“Because reasonable jurists could not debate the correctness of the Court's procedural ruling, the Court denies petitioner a certificate of appealability.”
“Accordingly, the Court GRANTS Defendants' motions to dismiss, ECF Nos. 68, 69, 78, 80, the Amended Complaint and orders that the Amended Complaint be DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE as to all Defendants.”
“His motion for leave to amend, ECF No. 136, is, therefore, DENIED.”
“The Court, therefore, also DENIES Plaintiffs motions to strike or deny, ECF Nos. 85, 90, 96, 98, Defendants' respective motions to dismiss.”
“NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 by Dale W. Eaton, Petitioner, is GRANTED, and the sentence of death of the Petitioner, Dale W. Eaton is VACATED”
“For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS defendants' motion.”
“the Court GRANTS Defendant’s motion and DISMISSES all of Plaintiff’s claims.”
“The Court therefore GRANTS Deacon Stewart's motion (ECF No. 83).”
“ORDERED that the motion (Doc. No. 8) seeking dismissal of Plaintiff's Complaint in its entirety with prejudice shall be, and is, GRANTED.”
“Therefore, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendants', Kappa Kappa Gamma, Rooney, and KKG Building Co., Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 19) is GRANTED.”
“Finally, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant Langford's Motion to Dismiss with Prejudice (ECF No. 22) is DISMISSED AS MOOT.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED Plaintiff's Motion to Vacate and/or Amended Complaint (ECF No. 3) is DENIED AS MOOT.”
“the Court DENIES Plaintiff's IFP Motion finding he has not shown an inability to pay the filing fee.”
“The Court also DENIES Plaintiff's Motion for Temporary Restraining Order for failure to show a likelihood of success on the merits and irreparable harm.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The sampled assigned dockets do not provide a representative distribution of terminated civil-case durations. Eight motion observations carry filing-to-ruling intervals.
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 | 1 |
| Mar 2025 | 3 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 11 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2023 | 2 | 2 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 1 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 2 | 1 |
| Mar 2021 | 4 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 5 | 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 Wyoming, not for Judge Johnson: 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 | 240 | 9.1 months |
| Closed with no court action | 74 | 4.9 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 70 | 5 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 86 | 15.9 months |
| Closed during trial | 10 | 21.7 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 240 | 9.1 months |
| Sep 2024 | 184 | 9 months |
| Sep 2023 | 202 | 10.3 months |
| Sep 2022 | 219 | 12 months |
| Sep 2021 | 210 | 11.7 months |
| Sep 2020 | 189 | 8.9 months |
| Sep 2019 | 195 | 8.9 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 Johnson with the record in hand
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