Federal Assault Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025
In the District of Kansas, 44% of the 61 people sentenced for assault offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term, and 44% received probation only. For all 94 federal districts together, 90% of people sentenced in this offense type were sent to prison. The Kansas median prison term
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025 › Assault: District of Kansas
In brief: In the District of Kansas, 44% of the 61 people sentenced for assault offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term, and 44% received probation only. For all 94 federal districts together, 90% of people sentenced in this offense type were sent to prison. The Kansas median prison term was 50 months, compared with 42 months nationally.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 61 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Acquittals and dismissals come from a second source, the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. It is part of the Federal Prosecution Analysis series, which builds on Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System. How the numbers were built: How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built.
Prison Was Less Common, but Terms Were Longer at the Median
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 61 people sentenced in the District of Kansas under its "Assault" offense type. Of these, 27 (44%) received a prison term, and 27 (44%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
Nationwide, 7,573 people were sentenced in this offense type, and 90% were sent to prison. Prison was less common in Kansas than in the country as a whole.
The median prison term among those sent to prison in Kansas was 50 months (4.2 years), higher than the national median of 42 months. A quarter received 158 months or more, and a quarter received 25 months or less. The spread between those figures is wide.
Guilty Pleas and Trials
A total of 54 of 61 people (89%) pleaded guilty, and 7 were convicted after a trial. For all offenses in the district, 97% pleaded guilty, and the national figure for this offense type was 93%.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 50 months. After a trial it was 107 months, based on 4 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. That group is too small to support a firm comparison.
Among the guilty pleas, 46% had a written plea agreement and 19% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Primary Guidelines and the Meaning of the Offense Type
Assault is the Commission's category, assigned by the main guideline applied in each case. It is not one statute.
The most common primary guideline was §2A2.3 (Assault), with 33 cases. Next were §2A2.2 (Aggravated Assault) with 21, §2A2.1 (Assault with Intent to Commit Murder) with 2, and §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact) with 1.
These cases were 1% of the 4,217 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Mandatory Minimums and the Guideline Range
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 6 of the 56 people with that information recorded (11%).
Sentences within the guideline range were given to 33 of 57 people (58%). Sentences below the range at the government's request were given to 15 (26%), and 3 (5%) were below the range without a government request. Sentences above the range were given to 6 (11%).
For all districts, 48% of sentences in this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in the district, the figure was 42%.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 26 people (43%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 15 (25%), and restitution for 15 (25%).
On criminal history, 51% were in the lowest category, category I, and 12% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Cases by Fiscal Year
There were 25 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 36 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The table lists each year, with 3 to 9 people sentenced per year.
Median prison terms in the table range from 24 months in fiscal year 2025 to 180 months in fiscal year 2021. With groups this small, the year-to-year changes are not a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 5 | 6 months | 4 of 5 |
| 2017 | 7 | 26 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2018 | 7 | 150 months | 6 of 7 |
| 2019 | 6 | 111 months | 5 of 6 |
| 2020 | 5 | 50 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2021 | 5 | 180 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2022 | 3 | 28.5 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2023 | 5 | 41 months | 3 of 5 |
| 2024 | 9 | 160 months | 8 of 9 |
| 2025 | 9 | 24 months | 8 of 9 |
What Is Not in the Records
The data covers only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not counted, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
The records do not show what the assaults involved or why some cases ended in probation. Fort Leavenworth, Fort Riley, and McConnell AFB are in the district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal court.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Kansas (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Kansas") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Assault" (61). Offense types are the Commission's OFFGUIDE categories.
Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records.
What to Keep in Mind
No parole in federal prison; credit for good conduct. Federal prison has no parole for crimes committed on or after November 1, 1987. A federal prisoner can earn up to 54 days of good conduct credit for each year of the sentence the judge imposed, which is about 15%. Some federal prisoners can also earn First Step Act time credits, but many offenses make a person ineligible. The numbers in this post are the sentences judges imposed, not the time people actually served.
Federal supervised release. Most federal prison sentences are followed by a term of supervised release that the judge sets as part of the sentence. A person who violates it can be sent back to prison. A court-martial cannot sentence anyone to supervision after release. Military parole and mandatory supervised release are decided later by a board, not by the judge at trial.
Who decides the sentence, and under what rules. Federal judges sentence every federal case. They must calculate the Sentencing Guidelines range, which is advisory, and must impose any mandatory minimum the statute requires unless an exception applies. In courts-martial, the accused could choose sentencing by members until the rules changed. For cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense committed after December 27, 2023, a military judge sentences alone, within sentencing parameters. Courts-martial tried in 2024 and later include both old-rule and new-rule cases, and the data cannot tell them apart.
Time periods. Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually.
How life sentences and "time served" are counted. In the federal numbers, a life sentence is counted as 470 months, and any other sentence longer than 470 months is counted as just under 470 months. A sentence of "time served" is counted as one day (0.03 months). Averages are affected by these rules; medians much less.
Mandatory minimum sentences. Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge.
Related Analysis
- Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Federal Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles (source)
- Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants) (source)
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.