Fort Hood After 2009: What Its Courts-Martial Look Like Now

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Based on 285 cases · 2020–2026 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

From 2009 to Recent Cases

The podcast episode S1 E50 looks back at the November 5, 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood. This page covers the courts-martial held at the installation more recently. The public trial records used here begin in 2020, so they describe the routine cases of the years since, not that case.

By year, the records show 5 cases in 2020, 45 in 2021, 53 in 2022, 44 in 2023, 56 in 2024, 48 in 2025, and 34 in 2026, a partial year. Army records in this data are thin for 2020 and more complete from 2021. They give trial dates rather than offense dates.

Longer Sentences Than the Army Overall

Of the 241 convictions, 77% included confinement. The median confinement was 10 months, compared with a 6 months median in all Army cases in those years. A quarter of terms were 2.7 years or longer, and 2 were life sentences.

These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in a case. Sentences longer than one year were imposed in 79 of 241 convictions (33%), compared with 29%. Sentences of 5 years or more were 12% of convictions, compared with 8%. At the low end, 23% of convictions carried no confinement, more than the 16% Army-wide.

Discharges and Dismissals

For enlisted members, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. Of 217 convicted enlisted members, 179 received one: 118 bad-conduct and 61 dishonorable. In all Army cases in those years the share was 73%.

The records list 24 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 14 were dismissed, the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Which Charges Came to Court?

Charge shares use the 270 cases whose records list charges, and one case can count under several articles. The Fort Hood charges were close to the Army's. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was charged in 23% of cases, compared with 19%. Article 134 was charged in 22%, the same as the Army, and Article 128b (domestic violence) in 18%, also the same. Article 128 (assault) was less common, at 21% compared with 26%.

Conviction rates differed by charge. Article 128b ended in a conviction on that article in 44 of 48 cases (92%), with a median confinement of 4 months. Article 128 (assault) cases did so in 48 of 57 (84%), with a median of 8 months. Article 134 cases did so in 48 of 59 (81%), with a median of 1.1 years. Article 120 cases ended in a conviction on that article in 37 of 61 cases (61%), with a median of 2.3 years.

Pleas by Charge

A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Of 283 records listing a plea, 188 were guilty pleas and 95 were contested, a contested share of 34%, compared with 29% in all Army cases. Of the 188 guilty pleas, 174 are recorded with a plea agreement and 14 have no entry. Army records do not give the terms.

Guilty plea rates differed by charge. Cases charging Article 128b ended in a guilty plea 83% of the time (40 of 48), while cases charging Article 120 did so 28% of the time (17 of 61). The records do not say why an accused pleaded guilty or contested the charges.

Verdicts, Judges, and Panels

Of 89 contested cases that reached a verdict, 36% ended in a full acquittal, close to the 38% across the Army. Another 31 were partial acquittals: not guilty of something but guilty of something else. Army results list findings charge by charge, which is why partial acquittals appear often.

The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. Members heard 19% of cases with the forum listed: 45 with enlisted panels and 8 with officer panels. Members heard 52 of 95 contested cases (55%). Full acquittals were 22 of 46 contested cases decided by members (48%) and 10 of 43 contested judge-alone cases (23%). The records do not show whether the cases that went to each forum were comparable.

Court Level and Rank

A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. Fort Hood had 221 general and 63 special courts-martial, a general share of 78%, compared with 72% Army-wide. The general courts-martial had a median confinement of 1.1 years and were 38% contested. The special courts-martial had a median of 2 months and were 18% contested.

The accused included 165 junior enlisted members, 93 NCOs, and 27 officers or warrant officers, a group similar to the Army as a whole, where 55% were junior enlisted.

Rule Changes and Record Gaps

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. Offenses after December 27, 2023 fall under new sentencing parameters. Both depend on offense dates, which these records do not give. The trials from 2024 on include cases under both the old and the new rules.

The records also omit the evidence, plea terms, and conduct handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: 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.