How Has Article 131b Changed in Army Courts-Martial Since 2021?

Trends › By Offense › Article 131b › Army

Based on 110 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Cases and Convictions by Year

There were 25 cases in 2021, 26 in 2022, 15 in 2023, 29 in 2024, and 15 in 2025. The latest trial was in November 2025. The 110 cases were 5% of the 2,422 Army courts-martial in those years.

Convictions that included Article 131b were 3% of Army convictions with offenses listed in 2021, 4% in 2022, 2% in 2023, 5% in 2024, and 3% in 2025. The highest yearly number of these convictions was 20, in 2024. Shares keep years with larger or smaller total caseloads comparable.

Other Charges in Almost Every Case

Article 131b was the only charge in 1 of the 110 cases. The most common other charges were Article 134 (the general article) in 29 cases, Article 128 (assault) in 29, Article 92 (orders violation) in 26, Article 120 (sexual assault) in 25, and Article 128b (domestic violence) in 20.

A sentence covers every charge in a case. The confinement and discharge figures below therefore describe whole cases, not the obstruction charge alone.

Contested Cases and Acquittals

A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. There were 46 contested cases and 64 guilty pleas. The contested share was 42%, compared with 30% across the Army.

Of the 64 guilty pleas, 58 are recorded with a plea agreement and 6 have no entry. Army records show whether an agreement existed, not its terms.

Full acquittals were 28% of the 46 contested cases that reached a verdict. That is lower than the 38% Army-wide. Another 29 cases ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge and guilty of another. Army records list findings charge by charge, so partial acquittals appear often.

Contested cases decided by members ended in a full acquittal 43% of the time (10 of 23). Contested cases decided by a military judge alone ended in a full acquittal 5% of the time (1 of 21). The records do not show the reason for the difference.

Who Decided Guilt?

The accused usually chooses whether a judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. A judge alone decided 85 cases. Enlisted panels decided 17 and officer panels decided 6.

Members decided 21% of cases, compared with 18% across the Army. In contested cases, members decided 23 of 44 (52%).

Confinement After Conviction

Confinement was part of 85% of the 97 convictions. The median confinement was 9 months, compared with the Army median of 6 months. A quarter of the sentences were 2.8 years or longer.

Sentences longer than one year were more common than Army-wide: 34 of 97 convictions (35%), compared with 28%. Sentences of 5 years or more were 11%, compared with 8%. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.

Court Level and Rank

A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. A special court-martial can impose no more than one year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

General courts-martial were 82 of the 108 cases with a court level listed (76%), compared with 73% across the Army. The court level is not listed for 2 cases. At general courts-martial, 88% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 1.5 years. At the 26 special courts-martial, 77% did, and the median was 3 months.

The accused were more senior than in the Army overall. NCOs were 51% of the accused, junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 41%, and officers were 8%. Across the rest of the Army, junior enlisted members were 55%.

Discharges and Dismissals

Of 89 convicted enlisted members, 60 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (67%). That is lower than the 73% in the rest of the Army. Of those, 22 were dishonorable discharges.

Of 8 convicted officers or warrant officers, 7 were sentenced to dismissal. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Rule Changes in the Same Years

The services were required to begin publishing trial records under Article 140a by December 2020. Army records in this data are sparse before 2021.

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. Judges sentence within new parameters when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. Both rules depend on offense dates, which these records do not give. Trials from 2024 on therefore include cases under the old rules and the new rules.

The highest yearly count, in 2024, came in the same period as these changes. The records cannot show whether one caused the other.

Installations and What the Records Do Not Show

Fort Bliss (12), Fort Bragg (9), Joint Base Lewis-McChord (9), Fort Hood (6), and Fort Carson (6) had the most of these cases. Together they had 38% of the total. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not include the evidence, plea terms, or matters handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.

Compare: federal court. Obstruction of Justice: Federal Sentences vs. Army Courts-Martial

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.