Army Cases Charging Both Article 90 and Article 92

Trends › By Offense › Article 90 › Army, with Article 92

Based on 23 cases · 2021–2026 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

A Higher Contested Share

Of the 23 accused, 8 contested at least one charge and 15 pleaded guilty. A contested case is one with a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share here, 35%, was higher than the 24% in all Army Article 90 cases from 2021–2026.

For 13 of the 15 guilty pleas, the records show a plea agreement. The other 2 have no entry. Army records state whether an agreement was made, but not its terms.

Charges That Appeared Alongside

No case charged Article 90 by itself. Besides Article 92, the most frequent other charges were Article 112a (drug) in 7 cases, Article 128b (domestic violence) in 7, Article 134 (general article) in 7, and Article 128 (assault) in 6.

A court-martial sentence covers every charge in the case. The sentences below reflect these other charges as well as Article 90 and Article 92.

Confinement After Conviction

A conviction on at least one charge came in 22 of the 23 cases. Confinement was part of 20 of those 22 sentences (91%). The median confinement was 8 months, close to the 7 months median for Army Article 90 cases overall. A quarter of the terms were 1.5 years or longer.

These are adjudged sentences: the sentence announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.

Sentence Bands Compared

Confinement of more than one year was adjudged in 7 of the 22 convictions (32%). For all Army Article 90 cases, the share was 30%, about the same. Under 6 months was the largest band, with 9 convictions (41%), compared with 40%.

Only 2 convictions (9%) carried no confinement, and 2 (9%) carried 5 years or more. The band from 6 months to 1 year held 4 convictions (18%), compared with 21% for all Army Article 90 cases. Confinement of more than one year can only come from a general court-martial.

Discharges for Enlisted Members and Officers

Of 20 convicted enlisted members, 15 received a punitive discharge: 11 bad-conduct discharges and 4 dishonorable discharges. The share in all Army Article 90 cases was 75%.

The records include 2 convicted officers or warrant officers. Neither was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation later.

Rank, Court Level, and Forum

By rank, there were 14 junior enlisted members, 6 NCOs, and 3 officers. The group is more senior than the accused in all Army Article 90 cases.

General courts-martial heard 18 cases and special courts-martial heard 4. The court level is not listed for 1 case. The general share, 82%, compares with 73% in all Army Article 90 cases. A special court-martial cannot adjudge more than one year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge. Since 2019, a special court-martial can also be tried by a military judge alone, with confinement capped at six months and no punitive discharge.

Members decided guilt in 22% of the cases with the forum listed, all 5 of them enlisted panels. A military judge alone decided the other 18. The accused usually chooses the forum, and most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas.

Years and Installations

The 23 cases run from March 2021 to February 2026. There were 6 in 2021, 3 in 2022, 9 in 2023, 4 in 2024, 0 in 2025, and 1 in 2026. The 2026 count is a partial year. Army records in this data are sparse before 2021.

Fort Bragg tried 4 cases. Fort Polk, Fort Knox, and Fort Hood tried 3 each, and Wheeler Army Airfield tried 2. These five installations account for 65% of the 23 cases. Large installations try more cases of all types.

Changes in the Law and Missing Details

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel rather than commanders decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. 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. The records give only trial dates, so they cannot show which rules governed these cases. The services were required to begin publishing trial records under Article 140a by December 2020. The records do not show the evidence, the plea terms, nonjudicial punishment, or administrative separations.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 90 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

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.