Guilty Pleas in Army Domestic Violence Cases: How Often, and What Came Next
Army guilty pleas that included Article 128b (domestic violence) went from 26 in 2021 to 88 in 2025, for 288 cases in all. Sentences were similar to other Army guilty pleas.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read
Trends › By Offense › Article 128b › Guilty Pleas in Army Domestic Violence C
Short answer: Army guilty pleas that included Article 128b (domestic violence) went from 26 in 2021 to 88 in 2025, for 288 cases in all. Sentences were similar to other Army guilty pleas. The median confinement was 5 months in both groups, and 76% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 75%.
More Cases Each Year
This page covers only Army cases in which the accused pleaded guilty to charges that included Article 128b. The records show 288 such cases from January 2021 to December 2025, and the count was higher each year: 26 in 2021, 41 in 2022, 61 in 2023, 72 in 2024, and 88 in 2025.
The counts follow trial dates. The services were required to begin publishing trial records under Article 140a by December 2020, and Army records in this data are sparse before 2021. The records do not show the reason for the higher counts.
Sentences Similar to Other Guilty Pleas
All 288 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 248 of those sentences included confinement (86%). The median confinement was 5 months, the same as for all Army guilty pleas. A quarter of the sentences were 1 year or longer.
Long sentences were less common. 53 of 288 convictions (18%) were sentenced to more than one year, compared with 24% in all Army guilty pleas. 1% were sentenced to 5 years or more, compared with 6%. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and they cover every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Army guilty pleas in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 40 | 14% | 14% |
| Under 6 months | 132 | 46% | 44% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 63 | 22% | 18% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 49 | 17% | 17% |
| 5 years or more | 4 | 1% | 6% |
Punitive Discharges
208 of 273 convicted enlisted members received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (76%), about the same as in all Army guilty pleas (75%). 24 of those were dishonorable discharges.
6 of 15 convicted officers or warrant officers were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Plea Agreements in Nearly Every Case
271 of the 288 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement, and 17 have no entry. Army records say whether there was an agreement, not what it said. Any cap on confinement or limit on discharge in an agreement does not appear in the data.
A military judge alone decided 286 of the 288 cases. Members heard 2, both enlisted panels. Guilty pleas are usually heard by a military judge alone.
General and Special Courts-Martial
185 of the 284 cases with a court level listed were general courts-martial (65%), and 99 were special courts-martial. The court level is not listed for 4 cases. At general courts-martial, 92% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 7 months. At special courts-martial, 76% did, and the median was 3 months.
A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
Other Charges in the Same Cases
Article 128b was the only charge in 150 of the 288 cases. When other articles were charged, the most common were Article 128 (assault) in 41 cases, Article 90 (disobeying an officer) in 36, Article 92 (orders violation) in 33, Article 134 (general article) in 24, and Article 115 (communicating threats) in 17. Each sentence covers all charges in its case.
Who Pleaded Guilty, and Where
The accused were 183 junior enlisted members, 90 NCOs, and 15 officers, That group is more junior than all Army guilty pleas in those years.
Fort Hood had the most of these cases (33). Fort Bragg had 32, Joint Base Lewis-McChord 28, Fort Bliss 21, and Fort Stewart 15. Together they account for 45% of the 288 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not mean a base has a problem with this offense.
Rule Changes
Article 128b applies only to offenses on or after January 1, 2019. Earlier conduct was charged under other articles. Article 128b is also a covered offense. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute it. When every guilty finding in a case is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters.
Both rules depend on the offense date, which these records do not give. Trials from 2024 on therefore include old-rule and new-rule cases. The records cannot show whether either change affected the counts or sentences here.
What the Records Do Not Show
The records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, the terms of any plea agreement, or domestic violence 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: where the accused pleaded guilty to charges including Article 128b (domestic violence) (288 cases), compared with all Army guilty pleas in those years.
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)
- Sentences (hub)
- Is Army Domestic Violence Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 128b, 2021–2025
- What Sentence Follows an Army Domestic Violence Conviction?
- Fighting an Army Domestic Violence Charge: How Contested Cases Ended
- When Air Force Accused Plead Guilty to Domestic Violence (another service)
- When Navy-Marine Corps Accused Plead Guilty to Domestic Violence (another service)
- 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.