Kelly H. Rankin
How Judge Rankin rules, drawn from 23 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Rankin
Kelly Harrison Rankin is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming. Appointed by President Joseph R. Biden, Judge Rankin received a commission on March 12, 2024.
Judge Rankin's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Rankin, 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.
- Rule 26(f) Conference Checklist ↗
- Case Management Plan ↗
- Guidelines for Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law for Bench Trials ↗
- Final Pretrial Order for Jury Trial ↗
- Final Pretrial Order for Bench Trial ↗
- Procedure for Direct Testimony by Written Statement ↗
- Civil Trial Conferral Table ↗
Key rules
Trial
In a bench trial, the plaintiff files proposed findings and conclusions first, then the defendant responds.
“Plaintiff shall first serve and file proposed findings and conclusions. Defendant shall then”
Trial
Number proposed factual findings so the opposing party can admit or deny each sentence.
“the opposing parties will be able to admit or deny each separate sentence of the”
Trial
The defendant’s factual response must use the corresponding numbers from the plaintiff’s proposed findings.
“shall bear the same number as the corresponding sentence in Plaintiff=s narrative”
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 Rankin decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Ready v. Natrona County School District No. 1, he granted defendants partial summary judgment on a former employee's due-process claims after finding that the agreement's disciplinary procedures did not alter his at-will employment status or create a property interest.
“It is clear that the District meant to provide its employees with certain procedural protections while not altering their at-will status.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“IT IS ORDERED Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment on the Entitlement to Procedural Due Process and Motion for Summary Judgment on the Adequacy of Due Process are DENIED.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED Defendant’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment is GRANTED. Claims 3 and 4 are dismissed.”
“The Court grants MMC Defendants' Motion to Dismiss as to the perpetrator liability claims for forced labor and trafficking and denies it as to the beneficiary liability claims under those provisions.”
“The Court grants SOLT's Motion to Dismiss in its entirety. The Amended Complaint simply does not contain factual content such that SOLT could be held liable under any relevant theory.”
“NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED Plaintiff's Motion to Supplement Verified Complaint is GRANTED.”
“ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT, CERTIFYING THE CLASS FOR SETTLEMENT PURPOSES, APPROVING FORM AND MANNER OF NOTICE, AND SETTING DATE FOR FINAL FAIRNESS HEARING”
“For the above stated reasons, the Court finds the BLM acted within its scope of authority and declares the BLM, as designated by Congress, is permitted to regulate subsurface activity in protection of federal minerals as it did here.”
“NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED Plaintiff's Emergency Motion for a Rule 65(b)(1) Temporary Restraining Order, Asset Freeze, and Other Emergency Relief [ECF No. 5] is GRANTED.”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgment as to Liability Against Defendant AmeriStar, LLC [35] is GRANTED. Default judgment is entered finding that AmeriStar violated Sections 5(a) and (c) and Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 [15 U.S.C. §§ 77e(a) and (c); 77q(a)], and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act of 1934 [15 U.S.C. § 78j(b)], and Rule 10b-5 thereunder [17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5].”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiff is awarded attorney fees in the amount of $8,000.00 under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412, as the prevailing party herein, and court costs of $405.00, which is to be paid from the Department of Justice's Judgment Fund, 28 U.S.C. § 2412, not agency funds.”
“The Court entered an Order granting Defendants' Motion to Dismiss on May 27, 2025. [ECF No. 41]. Accordingly, it is therefore ORDRED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that this matter is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“After reviewing the relevant law and the facts of this case, the Court finds Defendant's Motion should be granted as the FSMA provides an administrative remedy, barring a claim for retaliatory discharge under Wyoming law. Plaintiff's claim for retaliatory discharge is dismissed with prejudice.”
“ORDER by the District Judge Kelly H Rankin granting Defendant's Second Motion for Partial Summary Judgment. IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff's claim for breach of implied employment contract is DISMISSED with prejudice.”
“ORDER by the District Judge Kelly H Rankin denying Motion for Partial Summary Judgment. Plaintiff's Motion is denied because there are disputed material facts.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Ready ran 557 days from filing to termination, and Rhodes ran 151 days. These two terminated matters are too few to describe case duration across the full docket.
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 | 1 |
| 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 Wyoming, not for Judge Rankin: 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).
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Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Rankin, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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