> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Federal Prison Offense Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-prison-offenses-sentences-district-of-kansas/ - Published: 2026-11-04T11:10:02.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T11:10:01.000Z - Description: Prison offense cases were 4% of the 4,217 people sentenced in the District of Kansas in fiscal years 2016 to 2025: 148 people. The median prison term was 12 months, compared with 10 months across all 94 federal districts. Of the 148, 41% were in the highest criminal history category. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [Federal Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-kansas/) › Prison Offense: District of Kansas **In brief:** Prison offense cases were 4% of the 4,217 people sentenced in the District of Kansas in fiscal years 2016 to 2025: 148 people. The median prison term was 12 months, compared with 10 months across all 94 federal districts. Of the 148, 41% were in the highest criminal history category. Updated November 4, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 148 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/). ## Criminal History in These Cases In criminal history, the highest category, category VI, applied to 41% of the people in these cases. The lowest category, category I, applied to 1%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so there is no military number to set beside these. The categories run from category I to category VI, and the Commission assigns them from a person's earlier convictions. ## Prison Terms Of the 148 people, 142 (96%) received a prison term and 5 (3%) received probation only. For all districts, 96% were sent to prison. The median prison term was 12 months. A quarter received 18 months or more, and a quarter received 8 months or less. The district's median for all offense types was 46 months. ## Escape and Contraband Guidelines "Prison Offenses" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type, assigned by the primary guideline. The most common was §2P1.1 (Escape, Instigating or Assisting Escape), with 124 people. Another 23 were sentenced under §2P1.2 (Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison). ## Guilty Pleas All but 1 of the 148 people pleaded guilty (more than 99%). The one person convicted after a trial had a prison term of 11 months, compared with 12 months for the guilty pleas. That single trial cannot show a pattern. A straight plea is a guilty plea without a written agreement with the government. Among the guilty pleas, 79% had a written plea agreement and 21% were straight pleas with no agreement. ## Position Against the Guideline Range The guideline range was recorded for all 148 people. For 62% (92), the sentence was within the range, compared with 63% in all districts. It was below the range at the government's request for 22% (32) and below it without a government request for 13% (19). It was above the range for 3% (5). No mandatory minimum applied to anyone. ## Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution Supervised release followed prison for 113 people (76%), with a median term of 24 months. No fine and no restitution was ordered. Supervised release is a period of supervision that follows a prison term. ## Yearly Counts The district sentenced 36 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 112 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. Fiscal year 2024 had the most, 35 people. Yearly medians ranged from 10.5 months to 16 months. A fiscal year begins on October 1. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 6 | 14 months | 6 of 6 | | 2017 | 6 | 12 months | 6 of 6 | | 2018 | 15 | 15 months | 100% | | 2019 | 9 | 12 months | 9 of 9 | | 2020 | 10 | 13.5 months | 100% | | 2021 | 17 | 12 months | 100% | | 2022 | 19 | 12 months | 100% | | 2023 | 15 | 10.5 months | 100% | | 2024 | 35 | 16 months | 100% | | 2025 | 16 | 12 months | 94% | ## Installations and What Is Not Counted Fort Leavenworth, Fort Riley, and McConnell AFB are in the district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts and are not part of these federal numbers. The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Dismissals and acquittals are not in the records, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. ### 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 "Prison Offenses" (148). 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. ## Related Analysis - [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article) - [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts) - [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method) - [Federal Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-kansas/) (overview) - [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-district-of-kansas/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-district-of-kansas/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-district-of-kansas/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-district-of-kansas/) (same district, other offense type) - [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) - [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.