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What Fort Knox Tried in 2024

Fort Knox tried 17 courts-martial in 2024. The median confinement was 50 days, compared with 6 months across the Army, and 15% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 72%.

Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read

Trends › By Installation › Fort Knox › 2024

Short answer: Fort Knox tried 17 courts-martial in 2024. The median confinement was 50 days, compared with 6 months across the Army, and 15% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 72%. Article 92 (orders violation) was charged in 44% of cases, compared with 12% Army-wide.

Based on 17 cases · 2024 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Short Confinement Terms

Of the 17 cases, 15 ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 11 of those sentences included confinement (73%). The median confinement was 50 days, shorter than the 6 months median across the Army. A quarter of the sentences that included confinement were 2 months or longer.

The figures are the sentences announced at trial. Later steps such as a plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal can lower them, and the records here do not track those steps.

Few Punitive Discharges

Bad-conduct and dishonorable discharges are the 2 punitive discharges available for enlisted members. At Fort Knox, 15% of enlisted convictions included one (1 bad-conduct and 1 dishonorable), compared with 72% in the Army as a whole.

The records show 2 convicted officers or warrant officers, and neither was dismissed. Leaving a court-martial without a punitive discharge can still be followed by an administrative separation.

Mostly Special Courts-Martial

Only 5 of the 17 cases were general courts-martial (29%), compared with 72% across the Army. The rest were special courts-martial. The 2 levels differ in sentencing power. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, while confinement at a special court-martial is capped at one year with no dishonorable discharge.

The accused were 2 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 13 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 2 officers or warrant officers. Across the Army, 53% of the accused were junior enlisted, so this group was more senior.

Orders and Trainee Offenses

Charges are listed in 16 of the 17 records. An article is counted once per case, even when charged more than once. Article 92 (orders violation) appeared in 7 cases (44%), compared with 12% across the Army. Article 93a (prohibited activities with recruit or trainee) appeared in 5 cases (31%), compared with 1%.

Article 134 (general article), Article 131b (obstructing justice), and Article 90 (willfully disobeying superior officer) each appeared in 2 cases (12%). Article 128 (assault) appeared in 1 case (6%), compared with 23% across the Army.

UCMJ ArticleCasesShare hereShare, Army-wide
Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation744%12%
Art. 93a Prohibited activities with recruit or trainee531%1%
Art. 134 General article212%21%
Art. 131b Obstructing justice212%6%
Art. 90 Willfully disobeying superior officer212%6%
Art. 108 Military property; loss, damage, destruction16%1%
Art. 128 Assault16%23%
Art. 112 Drunkenness and other incapacitation16%1%

Pleas and Forum

Guilty pleas resolved 14 cases, and 3 accused contested at least one charge. The contested share, 18%, is lower than the 27% across the Army. Of the 14 guilty pleas, 12 are recorded with a plea agreement and 2 have no entry. Army records say whether there was an agreement, not what it said.

Of the 2 contested cases that reached a verdict, 1 ended in a full acquittal. A military judge alone decided guilt in 15 of 17 cases (88%), and enlisted panels heard the other 2.

Kaiserslautern and Fort Campbell

In 2024, Fort Campbell tried 27 cases and Kaiserslautern (Europe) tried 25. Fort Knox had the shortest median confinement of the 3, 50 days, compared with 9 months and 8 months. Its enlisted punitive discharge share, 15%, was lower than the 87% and 91% at the other installations.

InstallationCasesContestedFull acquittals (decided contested)Median confinementPunitive discharge (enlisted)
Fort Knox1718%1 of 250 days15%
Kaiserslautern (Europe)2524%1 of 69 months87%
Fort Campbell2715%2 of 48 months91%

Law Changes and Record Limits

Rule changes took effect at the end of 2023. Special trial counsel took over prosecution decisions for covered offenses, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder, on December 28, 2023. For cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge now sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. Without offense dates, the records cannot sort 2024 trials into old-rule and new-rule cases.

Trial records show the charges, pleas, findings, and sentence. They do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or conduct handled outside a court-martial.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.

How We Counted

Every court-martial tried at Fort Knox with a trial date in 2024 (17 cases).

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.

Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Fort Knox, 2024

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.

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