Utah federal judge sets Nov. 20 hearing on CFTC TRO bid against state Kalshi cases

A federal judge in Salt Lake City has set a hearing date on the U.S. government’s bid to freeze Utah’s cases against prediction-market operator Kalshi.

According to Docket Entry 17 on the CourtListener docket for United States of America and Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. State of Utah et al., No. 2:26-cv-01055-RJS (D. Utah), Judge Robert J. Shelby held a status conference on November 6, 2026. The minute entry, entered the same day, says the court heard from counsel and set deadlines on the plaintiffs’ pending motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction (docket entry 7).

The minute entry schedules a motion hearing for November 20, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. in Room 3.100 before Judge Shelby. Briefing is set as follows: the defendants’ response is due by November 11; the plaintiffs’ reply is due November 16; and a limited surreply is due by November 18. A parallel track for a potential motion to dismiss runs on November 10, 17 and 19. The conference itself lasted from 1:00 to 1:32 p.m., according to the entry.

The United States and the CFTC sued Utah and Attorney General Derek Brown on October 26 and filed the emergency TRO and preliminary-injunction motion on October 29, arguing that the Commodity Exchange Act preempts Utah gambling laws as applied to event contracts on CFTC-regulated designated contract markets. Their proposed order would bar Utah from pursuing related criminal or civil enforcement and would direct the state to dismiss or seek stays of pending cases. Judge Shelby’s October 30 order set the November 6 conference without ruling on the motion.

The November 6 minute entry records scheduling only; it does not grant or deny the TRO or preliminary injunction. AskSpinner’s Kalshi and prediction market litigation tracker lists the suit as PML-011.

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