Jonathan W. Hitesman — Immigration judge records

From FY2021 to FY2025, 56 of 137 asylum grant-or-denial records under judge code JH1 at Sacramento · SMO were grants (40.88%) and 81 were denials (59.12%). In the same years, the court recorded 72.86% and the national figure was 37.33%. EOIR data through 2026-08-31; past records do not predict an individual case.

Recorded grant share · Sacramento · SMO

Period

40.88%Grants 56 · Denials 81 · N 137
95% interval: 33.00%–49.25%

Judge code JH1: 40.88%N 137
Sacramento · SMO: 72.86%N 5,191; No court figure for this period
United States · all courts: 37.33%N 367,995; No national figure is published for this period

Among comparable judge codes at this court

10 judge codes at this court have 100 or more grant-or-denial records in FY2021–FY2025. Their recorded grant shares range from 9.03% to 92.40%; the median is 76.41%.

Compare judges at this court

FY2026 so far: 14.85%101 records through 2026-08-31 · court: 29.27%
Record coverage: 5 courts with recordsFY2018–FY2026 · 11 court-years · Courts are not pooled
Hearing dates on calendar: 190 master · 4 individualSacramento · SMO · proceedings with hearing dates, 2026-09–2029-08Hearing schedule
Data through: 2026-08-31EOIR records · official listing: Adelanto · ADL · Las Vegas · Sacramento · SMO, checked 2026-09-16Data and sources

Historical outcomes by court

Each row is a fiscal year at the court stored on the dated record. Courts are not pooled; an official listing never moves old results to a new court. Small groups remain visible and are labeled.

Judge figures group saved asylum outcomes by the judge code on each EOIR proceeding. The code identifies the assigned judge; these records do not verify who personally made every application decision. How judge figures work

Recorded grant share by fiscal year at Sacramento · SMO

Judge code JH1
Sacramento · SMO
United States · all courts

National figures are published for FY2021–FY2025. A broken ring marks a value from fewer than 100 records.

Recorded grant and denial outcomes · EOIR dated records
Completion FY	Recorded grant share	Total (N)	Grant records	Denial records	95% interval
Sacramento · SMO Explore this court's full context
FY2026Partial year	14.85%	101	15	86	9.21%–23.07%
FY2025	17.65%Small sample	17	3	14	6.19%–41.03%
FY2024	22.22%Small sample	9	2	7	6.32%–54.74%
FY2023	59.09%Small sample	22	13	9	38.73%–76.74%
FY2022	90.91%Small sample	22	20	2	72.19%–97.47%
FY2021	26.87%Small sample	67	18	49	17.72%–38.52%
FY2018	0.00%Small sample	1	0	1	0.00%–79.35%
Imperial · IMP Explore this court's full context
FY2025	40.00%Small sample	5	2	3	11.76%–76.93%
Santa Ana · SNC Explore this court's full context
FY2025	0.00%Small sample	4	0	4	0.00%–48.99%
Tacoma · TAC Explore this court's full context
FY2025	0.00%Small sample	1	0	1	0.00%–79.35%
Los Angeles – N. Los Angeles Street · NLA Explore this court's full context
FY2024	50.00%Small sample	4	2	2	15.00%–85.00%

Small sample: fewer than 100 grant or denial records. This share can swing widely.

These records do not predict an individual result or measure judge quality. A person may have more than one proceeding.

Source cutoff: 2026-08-31 · eoir-2026-08-judge-records-v2 · Source files and checks · Attribution details

Historical grant and denial records by nationality

Nationality groups count grant and denial proceedings in FY2021–FY2025, not people.

The dated results have a different coverage period and do not contain individual nationality. Small groups can change sharply.

Recorded judge × court × nationality · FY2021–FY2025 and each fiscal year
Recorded nationality	FY2021–FY2025 · pooled	Total (N)	Court · same nationality	FY2025	FY2024	FY2023	FY2022	FY2021
Sacramento · SMO
Mexico	23.26%Small sample	43	26.45% · N 484	0 / 6	—	—	1 / 3	9 / 34
Russia	100.00%Small sample	21	93.74% · N 1,998	3 / 3	—	11 / 11	7 / 7	—
El Salvador	0.00%Small sample	14	39.52% · N 248	—	—	0 / 5	—	0 / 9
Honduras	30.77%Small sample	13	44.37% · N 151	0 / 3	—	1 / 1	3 / 3	0 / 6
Nicaragua	53.85%Small sample	13	52.07% · N 242	—	2 / 6	—	—	5 / 7
India	100.00%Small sample	9	74.04% · N 759	—	—	1 / 1	4 / 4	4 / 4
Guatemala	0.00%Small sample	7	37.50% · N 256	0 / 1	—	—	—	0 / 6
Colombia	0.00%Small sample	6	20.37% · N 54	—	0 / 2	0 / 4	—	—
Ukraine	100.00%Small sample	4	94.17% · N 120	—	—	—	4 / 4	—
Haiti	0.00%Small sample	2	0.00% · N 3	0 / 2	—	—	—	—
Chile	0.00%Small sample	1	50.00% · N 2	0 / 1	—	—	—	—
Fiji	0.00%Small sample	1	0.00% · N 1	—	—	—	—	0 / 1
Iraq	100.00%Small sample	1	58.97% · N 39	—	—	—	1 / 1	—
Peru	0.00%Small sample	1	18.75% · N 32	—	0 / 1	—	—	—
Venezuela	0.00%Small sample	1	57.58% · N 33	0 / 1	—	—	—	—
Imperial
Russia	100.00%Small sample	2	69.26% · N 296	2 / 2	—	—	—	—
El Salvador	0.00%Small sample	1	0.00% · N 52	0 / 1	—	—	—	—
Eritrea	0.00%Small sample	1	85.14% · N 74	0 / 1	—	—	—	—
Ethiopia	0.00%Small sample	1	67.31% · N 52	0 / 1	—	—	—	—
Los Angeles – N. Los Angeles Street · NLA
China	0.00%Small sample	2	51.39% · N 1,730	—	0 / 2	—	—	—
Russia	100.00%Small sample	2	71.03% · N 680	—	2 / 2	—	—	—
Santa Ana
Mexico	0.00%Small sample	4	5.33% · N 1,895	0 / 4	—	—	—	—
Tacoma
Vietnam	0.00%Small sample	1	9.09% · N 11	0 / 1	—	—	—	—

Small sample: fewer than 100 grant or denial records. This share can swing widely. Each fiscal year shows grants / N; — means no grant or denial record that year.

Judge means the code saved on the proceeding, not independently verified decision authorship. Flags are visual aids for mapped source categories; historical, unknown and non-geographic categories remain text-only.

EOIR CASE nationality aggregates · eoir-2026-08-nationality-complete-v1 · Download complete counts

Hearing schedule

One proceeding record is not necessarily a separate hearing session.

Asylum-associated records are a subset of All proceedings.

Schedule display range: 2026-09–2029-08 (36 months)

View monthly counts

Same count scale for both hearing types. Browse horizontally to see all 36 months.

Proceedings

Master Calendar Hearings

Individual / Merits Hearings

Months with no retained records show 0.

Adelanto · ADL

Retained: 0Excluded: 0Unable to confirm: 0Source files and checks

Florence · FLO

Retained: 0Excluded: 0Unable to confirm: 0Source files and checks

Imperial · IMP

Retained: 0Excluded: 0Unable to confirm: 0Source files and checks

Sacramento · SMO

Monthly counts

Jonathan W. Hitesman · JH1 · Sacramento · SMO · 2026-09–2029-08 · All proceedings · Asylum-associated proceedings · Proceedings with recorded hearing dates · EOIR · 2026-08 edition
Month	All proceedings · Master proceedings	All proceedings · Individual proceedings	Asylum-associated proceedings · Master proceedings	Asylum-associated proceedings · Individual proceedings
2026-09	140	0	67	0
2026-10	22	0	5	0
2026-11	26	0	10	0
2026-12	0	0	0	0
2027-01	2	1	2	1
2027-02	0	0	0	0
2027-03	0	0	0	0
2027-04	0	1	0	1
2027-05	0	0	0	0
2027-06	0	0	0	0
2027-07	0	0	0	0
2027-08	0	1	0	0
2027-09	0	0	0	0
2027-10	0	0	0	0
2027-11	0	0	0	0
2027-12	0	1	0	0
2028-01	0	0	0	0
2028-02	0	0	0	0
2028-03	0	0	0	0
2028-04	0	0	0	0
2028-05	0	0	0	0
2028-06	0	0	0	0
2028-07	0	0	0	0
2028-08	0	0	0	0
2028-09	0	0	0	0
2028-10	0	0	0	0
2028-11	0	0	0	0
2028-12	0	0	0	0
2029-01	0	0	0	0
2029-02	0	0	0	0
2029-03	0	0	0	0
2029-04	0	0	0	0
2029-05	0	0	0	0
2029-06	0	0	0	0
2029-07	0	0	0	0
2029-08	0	0	0	0

Retained: 194Excluded: 141Unable to confirm: 0Source files and checks

Santa Ana · SNC

Retained: 0Excluded: 0Unable to confirm: 0Source files and checks

Tacoma · TAC

Retained: 0Excluded: 0Unable to confirm: 0Source files and checks

West Los Angeles Immigration Court · WLA

Retained: 0Excluded: 0Unable to confirm: 0Source files and checks

Dated result records

Nationality and representation selections do not filter this list. Case identifiers and personal attributes are not included.

Historical record court

Saved application result

Completion fiscal year

Completed on or after

Completed on or before

Results for the current selection

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These dates belong to proceedings associated with the recorded judge code. They do not establish when that person served or who made the application decision.

Monthly record distribution for this selection

Granted
Denied
Recorded as abandoned
Recorded as withdrawn
Recorded as not adjudicated
Recorded as administratively closed
Other recorded categories
No application result recorded

Bar length shows total records, not grant share. Inspect a month to see every result category. Use arrow keys to explore values; Home and End jump to the first and last.

Exact monthly record counts
Calendar month	Granted	Denied	Recorded as abandoned	Recorded as withdrawn	Recorded as not adjudicated	Recorded as administratively closed	Other recorded categories	No application result recorded	Total records	Grant or denial results (N)	Recorded grant share

Grant share = grants ÷ (grants + denials). Other categories are excluded; a zero denominator is not calculable.

Empty months mean no eligible source rows in this selection, not verified inactivity.

Filtered records by court and fiscal year

All eight saved result categories · same filters as the result list
Historical record court	Fiscal year	Granted	Denied	Recorded as abandoned	Recorded as withdrawn	Recorded as not adjudicated	Recorded as administratively closed	Other recorded categories	No application result recorded	Total records

Each row totals its eight categories using the current filters. Fiscal years run from 10-01 through 09-30.

One row per eligible proceeding · latest completion date first
Proceeding completion date	Historical record court	Saved application result

Counts use stored proceeding completion dates and judge codes. Later source releases may revise earlier records.

Source cutoff: 2026-08-31 · eoir-2026-08-judge-records-v2 · Source files and checks

Recorded BIA appeals associated with this judge code

These records are linked to proceedings carrying this EOIR judge code in the 2026-08 source snapshot. The data do not establish that the coded judge personally issued the decision under BIA review.

Historical decision FY2021–FY2025 pooled · respondent-filed appeals (A)

Denominator: respondent-filed BIA IJ Case Appeal events with an exact proceeding link and stored judge code, with a recorded disposition during the displayed period.

Respondent-filed recorded BIA appeal events during FY2021–FY2025
Appeal events (denominator)	DIS · recorded dismissal/affirmance	REM · remand as recorded	SUS · appeal sustained as recorded	Other · mixed recorded dispositions
40	20	2	0	18

Small sample: N is below 100. Counts remain visible; a few events can change the pattern substantially.

About these records

Questions about these records

Is this the judge’s asylum approval or denial rate?

It is the recorded grant share: of 137 asylum grant-or-denial records under judge code JH1 at Sacramento · SMO in FY2021–FY2025, 56 were grants (40.88%) and 81 were denials (59.12%).

Withdrawals, abandonment, administrative closure and other outcomes are outside this denominator. The judge code identifies the assigned judge; it does not prove who decided each application.

Why do other websites show a different number?

Publications count different things. This page counts asylum applications that ended in a grant or a denial in EOIR’s public CASE data, by fiscal year, at the court stored on each proceeding, and never pools courts.

Other reports may count other relief, such as withholding of removal or protection under the Convention Against Torture, count decisions rather than proceedings, combine courts or use other years. Compare the period, the population and N before comparing percentages.

Why are courts listed separately?

Each record keeps the court stored on its proceeding. This judge code has grant or denial records at 5 courts. They are shown separately and never pooled, and the official listing does not move older records to a new court.

Why is FY2026 marked as a partial year?

Fiscal year 2026 runs from 2025-10-01 to 2026-09-30, and the source data end on 2026-08-31. FY2026 figures cover only part of the year, so they are not compared with complete years.

What does a small sample mean here?

When fewer than 100 grant or denial records stand behind a share, one or two decisions can move it by several percentage points. Such figures are marked † or labeled as a small sample, and the 95% interval shows how wide the uncertainty is.

Where does this judge hear cases now?

EOIR’s official hearing directory, checked 2026-09-16, lists this name at Adelanto · ADL · Las Vegas · Sacramento · SMO.

Under this judge code, the 2026-08 EOIR edition records hearing dates from 2026-09 to 2029-08 at Sacramento · SMO: 190 master and 4 individual proceedings.

A listing or a scheduled date does not establish a sole duty station.

Can these numbers predict my case?

No. They describe past records under a judge code. The outcome of a case depends on its own facts, evidence and law. For advice about your case, talk to a qualified lawyer or accredited representative.

Find qualified legal help

Data and sources

Source cutoff: 2026-08-31 · eoir-2026-08-judge-source-coverage-v1

Dated asylum records and recorded grants or denials are available by court and fiscal year.

Result record coverage

6,208Associated proceeding records

2,658Proceedings linked to asylum applications

1,140Eligible dated asylum records

253Dated grant or denial records

All courts and all stored dates in this source edition. These coverage counts do not change with the result-list filters.

Historical record courts: 22
Earliest recorded completion FY: FY1998
Latest recorded completion FY: FY2026 · Partial year

Why some source records are outside the dated results

1,518 eligible asylum records have no completion date.
1,706 eligible asylum records have no application result; 195 of them appear in the dated list. 1,511 records lack both a usable completion date and an application result. The missing-date and missing-result counts overlap.

A blank date or result does not establish a pending case, an undecided application, or the absence of a decision. Missing dates are not assigned to an assumed fiscal year.

All eligible dated result categories are included through the source cutoff, without aggregate suppression filters.

Source cutoff: 2026-08-31 · FY2026 is incomplete. Earlier stored dates may predate a judge’s appointment because assignment and saved completion date describe different events.

Nationality and representation selections do not filter this list. Case identifiers and personal attributes are not included.

Available historical coverage

Source coverage includes all normalized dated records for this identity. It is not verified decision authorship or a complete case history.

Coverage counting rules

Counts describe stored proceedings associated with the judge code, not unique cases, people, or verified decision authorship. Asylum applications are combined per proceeding using the same joins and conflict rules as the dated list.

2,658 asylum-linked proceedings meet the proceeding-type, case-link and result-consistency rules. These eligible records split into missing dates, invalid dates, dates after the cutoff, and dated records through the cutoff.

The dated list includes all saved result categories, including a blank result. Grant share uses only dated grants divided by dated grants plus denials; other categories are excluded.

These are saved results on proceedings assigned to the selected judge in EOIR data, not independently verified decision authorship. The application result has no separate decision timestamp. Completion dates may reflect a different event or later edits.

Each row represents one eligible proceeding after duplicate application rows are combined. Identical dates and results can appear multiple times. A person may have multiple proceedings. Within-day order does not indicate the sequence of decisions.

The public timeline includes all eight saved result categories and all stored completion years through the source cutoff. Conflicting application outcomes and inconsistent case joins remain excluded. Complete records can reconstruct counts hidden in legacy aggregate tables; those tables no longer provide a non-reconstruction guarantee.

Coverage counts Source files and checks

Official court listing

Directory checked: 2026-09-16EOIR hearing directory

On the checked official listing

Adelanto · ADL · ACIJ · EOIR hearing directory
Las Vegas · ACIJ · EOIR hearing directory
Sacramento · SMO · ACIJ · EOIR hearing directory

An official listing may include supervisory or multiple-court assignments; it does not establish a sole duty station.

Hearing schedule sources

Schedule filtering and source checks

The 2026-08 EOIR edition is grouped using a source cutoff of 2026-08-31. Counts describe proceeding records with retained future hearing dates, grouped by the judge and court codes stored on each schedule record. Records with a handling reason and other excluded records are kept outside the counts; records that cannot be confirmed are listed separately. All proceedings includes the reliably identified asylum-associated subset.

Later recorded hearing dates are included in the source coverage summary.

All proceedings · future hearing dates through 2036-08-31

These source coverage counts include all proceedings and do not change with the proceedings filter above.