What Changed at Fort Carson After 2024? 76 Cases vs. 45
Fort Carson held 45 courts-martial from January 2024 through August 2026, compared with 76 in 2020–2023. In the later period, 40% of cases were contested, compared with 21% Army-wide. Of 18 contested cases that reached a verdict, 8 ended in a full acquittal.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Fort Carson › Before and after 2024
Short answer: Fort Carson held 45 courts-martial from January 2024 through August 2026, compared with 76 in 2020–2023. In the later period, 40% of cases were contested, compared with 21% Army-wide. Of 18 contested cases that reached a verdict, 8 ended in a full acquittal. The median confinement fell from 7 months to 4 months.
More Contested Cases, Fewer Guilty Pleas
The largest change at Fort Carson is in how often the accused contested the charges. In 2024–2026, 18 of 45 accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge, a contested share of 40%. Across the Army in those years, the share was 21%.
The other 27 pleaded guilty, and 26 of those pleas are recorded with a plea agreement. Army records say whether an agreement existed, not what it said.
Comparing 2020–2023 With 2024–2026
The earlier period held 76 cases, about 19 a year, compared with about 20 a year since, counting full years only. The later cases were 30 in 2024, 11 in 2025, and 4 in 2026, a partial year.
The contested share increased from 29% to 40%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 6 of 22 to 8 of 18. The median confinement fell from 7 months to 4 months. The enlisted punitive discharge share fell from 89% to 78%. The general court-martial share fell from 84% to 61%.
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses, and new sentencing rules apply to offenses after December 27, 2023. These changes came in the same period. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, and cannot show whether the rules had any part in them. These groups are also small, so a few cases can change the figures.
| 2020–2023 | 2024–2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 76 | 45 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 29% | 40% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 6 of 22 | 8 of 18 |
| Convictions with confinement | 91% | 92% |
| Median confinement | 7 months | 4 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 89% | 78% |
| General courts-martial | 84% | 61% |
How the Contested Cases Ended
Of the 18 contested cases that reached a verdict, 8 ended in a full acquittal (44%), compared with 40% Army-wide. Another 7 ended in a partial acquittal, with a not-guilty finding on at least one charge and a guilty finding on another. Army results list findings charge by charge.
Members heard 9 of 16 contested cases with the forum listed (56%). Overall, members heard 21% of cases, through 8 enlisted panels and 1 officer panel, and a military judge alone heard 34. The accused usually chooses the forum, and most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas.
Sexual Assault and Larceny Charges
Article 120 (sexual assault) was charged in 22% of cases here, compared with 11% Army-wide. Article 121 (larceny) was charged in 16%, compared with 7%. Article 128b (domestic violence) was charged less often, in 11% compared with 25%.
Results differed by charge. Article 134 ended in a conviction on that article in 9 of 9 cases. Article 120 did so in 5 of 10, and the median confinement for those convictions was 3 years. Cases charging Article 128 ended in a guilty plea 40% of the time. Cases charging Article 120 did so 20% of the time.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, Army-wide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 10 | 22% | 11% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 10 | 22% | 20% |
| Art. 134 General article | 9 | 20% | 21% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 7 | 16% | 7% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 6 | 13% | 5% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 6 | 13% | 10% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 5 | 11% | 25% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 5 | 11% | 8% |
Results Charge by Charge
Article 128 (assault) ended in a conviction on that article in 6 of 10 cases, with a median confinement of 1.3 years for those convicted of it. A conviction on one article and an acquittal on another can happen in the same case, so these rows overlap.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 10 | 5 (50%) | 3 years |
| Art. 128 Assault | 10 | 6 (60%) | 1.3 years |
| Art. 134 General article | 9 | 9 (9 of 9) | 9 months |
Shorter Confinement Than the Army Median
Of 37 convictions, 34 carried confinement. The median was 4 months, compared with 6 months Army-wide. A quarter of the sentences were 2 years or longer. Sentences longer than one year were imposed in 9 of 37 convictions (24%), compared with 30%.
At the 27 general courts-martial, 100% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 10 months. At the 17 special courts-martial, 81% did, with a median of 2 months. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, Army-wide |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 3 | 8% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 20 | 54% | 39% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 5 | 14% | 17% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 8 | 22% | 21% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 3% | 9% |
Discharges and Rank
Of 36 convicted enlisted members, 28 received a punitive discharge: 21 bad-conduct and 7 dishonorable. Army-wide, the share was 73%. The 1 convicted officer was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
The accused were 32 junior enlisted soldiers, 11 NCOs, and 2 officers, a more junior group than Army-wide.
Compared With Similar Installations
Fort Drum and Kaiserslautern (Europe) each tried 45 cases in the same years. Fort Carson's 40% contested share was higher than Fort Drum's 11% and Kaiserslautern's 20%, and its median confinement of 4 months was the shortest of the three.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Carson | 45 | 40% | 8 of 18 | 4 months | 78% |
| Fort Drum | 45 | 11% | 3 of 4 | 11 months | 95% |
| Kaiserslautern (Europe) | 45 | 20% | 4 of 9 | 5 months | 79% |
What the Records Omit
The records do not describe the evidence or the plea terms, and they do not include cases handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Fort Carson in 2020–2023 (76) and 2024–2026 (45).
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
- Fort Carson: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- Inside 76 Courts-Martial at Fort Carson, 2020–2023
- Fort Carson, 2024–2026: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 45 Cases
- 17 Assault Courts-Martial at Fort Carson, 2021–2023: What the Records Show
- Camp Humphreys, 2020–2023 vs. 2024–2026: A Side-by-Side Look
- Fort Benning, 2021–2023 vs. 2024–2026: A Side-by-Side Look
- Fort Bliss, 2020–2023 vs. 2024–2026: A Side-by-Side Look
- Fort Bragg, 2020–2023 vs. 2024–2026: A Side-by-Side Look
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Fort Carson, 2024–2026
- John H. Cook
- Jacqueline L. Emanuel
- Anne C. Hsieh
- John R. Longley III
- Scott A. Oravec
- Alexander N. Pickands
- Kenton E. Spiegler
Names and links only. Each judge's record of pleas, findings, and sentences is on their Know Your Judge page, part of the Court-Martial Characters membership.
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.