How Fort Hood Handled Domestic Violence Cases (Article 128b), 2024–2026

Trends › By Installation › Fort Hood › Article 128b, 2024–2026

Based on 31 cases · 2024–2026 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Most Cases Ended in Guilty Pleas

This post covers Fort Hood courts-martial from May 2024 through October 2026 that charged Article 128b. Few of these cases were contested. Of 31 cases, 26 ended in a guilty plea and 5 were contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge.

That 16% contested share is lower than the 24% in the rest of the Army. All 26 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement. Army records say whether an agreement existed, not what it said, so any limits on confinement or discharge are not visible.

With only 5 contested cases, the records are too few to show how contested domestic violence cases end at this installation. This post does not give an acquittal rate.

Sentences by Court Level

General courts-martial handled 18 of the 31 cases (58%), and special courts-martial the other 13. 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.

Sentences differed by court level. At general courts-martial, 88% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 1 year. At special courts-martial, 75% did, with a median of 53 days.

Sentence Lengths Close to the Army's

Of the 29 convictions, 83% included confinement. The median confinement was 5 months, the same as the Army median. A quarter of terms were 1.5 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. They cover every charge in the case.

Sentences longer than one year were as common as in Army-wide Article 128b cases: 6 of 29 convictions (21%), compared with 21%. Fort Hood had slightly more sentences of more than 1 year but under 5 years (21%, compared with 17%). It had none of 5 years or more, compared with 4% Army-wide. Convictions with no confinement were 17%, compared with 15%.

Mostly Bad-Conduct Discharges

Of 25 convicted enlisted members, 18 received a punitive discharge. Only 1 of those was dishonorable. The other 17 were bad-conduct discharges. Across Army Article 128b cases in 2024–2026, the punitive discharge share was 72%.

The group included officers. Of 4 convicted officers or warrant officers, 3 were dismissed, the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Domestic Violence Usually Charged on Its Own

Article 128b was the only charge in 18 of the 31 cases. Across the Army, 169 of 306 Article 128b cases charged it alone. No other charge was common: Article 128 (assault) in 3 cases, and Article 115 (communicating threats), Article 134 (general article), Article 119b (child endangerment), and Article 131b (obstruction) in 2 each.

A sentence covers every charge in a case. In most of these cases, domestic violence was the only charge. The other cases added charges such as assault, threats, or obstruction.

Who Was Charged, and Who Decided

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 48% of the accused, NCOs 39%, and officers 13%. In the rest of the Army, junior enlisted members were 53% of those charged under this article.

A military judge alone decided 27 cases, and enlisted panels heard 4. Members heard 13% of the cases, compared with 16% in the Army as a whole. The accused usually chooses the forum, and most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas.

Cases by Year

By year, 18 cases were tried in 2024, 5 in 2025, and 8 in 2026, a partial year. Together they make up 22% of all 138 courts-martial at Fort Hood in 2024–2026.

Rules That Depend on Dates the Records Lack

Article 128b only covers offenses on or after January 1, 2019. Earlier conduct was charged under other articles. It is a covered offense, so since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel rather than commanders decide whether to prosecute it. When every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the judge also sentences within new sentencing parameters.

These rules depend on the offense date, which the records do not give. Trials in this period include cases under both the old and the new rules. The records also leave out the evidence, the plea terms, and anything handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 128b 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.