Army Domestic Violence Cases Against Officers: Outcomes and Sentences
From 2021 through 2025, 36 Army courts-martial charged officers and warrant officers with domestic violence under Article 128b. 58% of these cases were contested, compared with 30% in all Army Article 128b cases.
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Trends › By Offense › Article 128b › Officers
Short answer: From 2021 through 2025, 36 Army courts-martial charged officers and warrant officers with domestic violence under Article 128b. 58% of these cases were contested, compared with 30% in all Army Article 128b cases. The median confinement was 7 months, compared with 6 months in all Army Article 128b cases.
Most Officers Contested the Charge
21 of the 36 cases were contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge, and 15 were guilty pleas. The contested share was 58%, higher than the 30% in all Army Article 128b cases.
14 of the 15 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement, and 1 has no entry. The records show that an agreement existed, not its terms.
Verdicts in the Contested Cases
38% of the 21 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal, higher than the 31% in all Army Article 128b cases. 10 cases ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another. Army results list findings charge by charge, which is why partial acquittals are common.
These rates are based on a small number of cases, so a few verdicts can change them.
Officer Panels Heard Most Contested Cases
40% of cases with the forum listed went to members, all 14 of them officer panels. The other 21 were judge alone. Among contested cases, members heard 14 of 20 (70%).
The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel decides guilt. Guilty pleas usually go to a military judge alone, so the members share mostly follows the contested share.
Confinement After a Conviction
28 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 18 of those sentences included confinement (64%). The median confinement was 7 months, compared with 6 months for all Army Article 128b cases. A quarter of the sentences were 1.3 years or longer.
36% of convictions here had no confinement, compared with 17% in all Army Article 128b cases. 29% were sentenced to under 6 months, compared with 43%. 5 of 28 convictions (18%) were sentenced to more than one year, compared with 21% in all Army Article 128b cases. All are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.
Officers cannot receive a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. The officer equivalent is a dismissal, which these figures do not count. A sentence without a dismissal does not rule out a later administrative separation.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Army Article 128b cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 10 | 36% | 17% |
| Under 6 months | 8 | 29% | 43% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 5 | 18% | 19% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 3 | 11% | 17% |
| 5 years or more | 2 | 7% | 4% |
Court Level
33 of 36 cases were general courts-martial (92%). The rest were special courts-martial. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and dismissal. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year.
Most Cases Were in 2024 and 2025
The 36 cases were tried from April 2021 to November 2025: 1 in 2021, 2 in 2022, 5 in 2023, 14 in 2024, and 14 in 2025. Article 128b covers only offenses on or after January 1, 2019, so earlier conduct was charged under other articles. The records do not explain the higher counts in 2024 and 2025.
Officers are a small part of the cases for this offense. In all Army Article 128b cases, junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 55% of the accused.
Other Charges and Installations
Article 128b was the only charge in 16 of 36 cases. The most common other charges were Article 120 (sexual assault) in 6, Article 134 (general article) in 6, Article 128 (assault) in 5, Article 119b (child endangerment) in 4, and Article 121 (larceny) in 3.
Fort McNair and Fort Bragg had 4 cases each, and Fort Hood, Fort Lee, and Fort Leonard Wood 3 each. Together they account for 47% of the 36 cases. Counts this small do not show a problem at any single installation, and larger installations try more cases of every kind.
Rule Changes and Record Limits
Article 128b is a covered offense. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute it. New sentencing parameters apply when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. The records list trial dates, not offense dates, so the trials from 2024 and 2025 include cases under both sets of rules. The records cannot show whether the changes affected the count.
The records do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or cases handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 128b on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Army courts-martial tried 2021–2025 that charged officers and warrant officers under Article 128b (36 cases), compared with every Army Article 128b case.
Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in Military Trial Results, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.
Related Analysis
- Article 128b (Domestic Violence, Numbered Since 2019): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Army Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) Charged Under Article 128b in the Army
- Army Domestic Violence Cases Against NCOs (E-5 to E-9): Outcomes and Sentences
- What Happens to Air Force Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) Facing Domestic Violence Charges?
- Is Army Domestic Violence Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 128b, 2021–2025
- Air Force Article 128b Cases by the Numbers, 2016–2025
- Article 128b explained on the law firm's website
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.