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Updated June 2026 · SSA Public

Hearing Office

PHOENIX DOWNTOWN

Region 09Rank #113 of 160

Avg processing

273days

+7 vs national

Processing time

273

9.1 months

Hearing wait

10.0

months (current)

Cases pending

1,507

FY receipts

1,438

FY dispositions

1,337

Active judges

6

Video hearings

Avg approval rate

62.3%

+4.6 vs avg

Backlog ratio

1.08

Growing

Rank

#113

of 160

Processing time in context

Fastest · 72 daysAvg · 266 daysSlowest · 680 days

The draw · approval spread across 6 judges

34%
75%
0%Median 65.6%100%

At PHOENIX DOWNTOWN, approval rates range from 33.7% (Alegre, Dante M.) to 75.5% (Davis, Charles) — a 42-pointspread. Assignment is effectively the luck of the draw, so the judge a case lands with can matter more than the office’s average. Plan for the median (65.6%), not the best case.

Judges at PHOENIX DOWNTOWN (6)

JudgeApprovalDecisionsFavorableDeniedTrend
Davis, Charles75.5%30222874
Gaffney, John75.4%35026486
Fletcher, Guy E.72.8%15811543
Paternoster, Sasha58.3%1086345
Waters, Carla L44.8%232104128
Alegre, Dante M.33.7%19967132