Inside 25 Courts-Martial at Fort Polk, 2024–2026
All 25 of Fort Polk's courts-martial from February 2024 to June 2026 ended in a conviction with confinement. Article 90 (disobeying a superior commissioned officer) was charged in 20% of cases, compared with 6% Army-wide.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Fort Polk › 2024–2026
Short answer: All 25 of Fort Polk's courts-martial from February 2024 to June 2026 ended in a conviction with confinement. Article 90 (disobeying a superior commissioned officer) was charged in 20% of cases, compared with 6% Army-wide. 64% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 73% across the Army.
Confinement in All 25 Cases
All 25 cases ended in a conviction, and all 25 sentences included confinement. Across the Army, 15% of convictions included no confinement. At Fort Polk the figure was 0%.
The median was 6 months, the same as the Army median. A quarter of those sentences were 1.2 years or longer. 32% of convictions included 6 months to 1 year, compared with 17% Army-wide. 7 of 25 convictions (28%) included more than one year, about the same as 30% Army-wide.
These are adjudged sentences, announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the whole Army docket |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 0 | 0% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 10 | 40% | 39% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 8 | 32% | 17% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 4 | 16% | 21% |
| 5 years or more | 3 | 12% | 9% |
Disobedience and Orders Charges
All 25 records list their charges. A case with several articles appears under each. Article 90 was charged in 20% of cases, compared with 6% across the Army. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) was charged in 24%, compared with 10%.
Article 120b (offenses against a child) was also charged more often: 20% compared with 8%. So was Article 134 (the general article): 28% compared with 21%. Domestic violence (Article 128b) was also charged in 28%, about the same as the 25% Army share. Assault (Article 128) was charged in only 8% of cases, compared with 20%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, Army-wide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 7 | 28% | 25% |
| Art. 134 General article | 7 | 28% | 21% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 6 | 24% | 10% |
| Art. 90 Willfully disobeying superior officer | 5 | 20% | 6% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 5 | 20% | 8% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 3 | 12% | 7% |
| Art. 109 Property other than military; waste, spoilage, destruction | 2 | 8% | 1% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 2 | 8% | 20% |
Few Contested Cases
A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Only 3 of the 25 were contested, and 22 ended in a guilty plea. The contested share was 12%, compared with 21% Army-wide. Of the 22 guilty pleas, 21 are recorded with a plea agreement and 1 has no entry. Army records show whether an agreement existed, not its terms.
None of the 3 contested cases ended in a full acquittal. The accused usually chooses the forum. A military judge alone decided 23 of 25 cases (92%). Members heard 2: 1 enlisted panel and 1 officer panel.
Punitive Discharges and Rank
A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge for an enlisted member. Among 25 enlisted members convicted, 16 received one (64%), compared with 73% across the Army. Of those, 6 were dishonorable. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
The accused were 19 junior enlisted members, 6 NCOs, and 0 officers. General courts-martial made up 19 of the 25 cases (76%), compared with 69% Army-wide. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
Compared With 2020–2023
Fort Polk tried 40 cases in 2020–2023, about 10 a year. The rate since then is about the same (full years only). There were 15 cases in 2024, 5 in 2025, and 5 in 2026, a partial year. These were 2% of the 1,252 Army courts-martial in the period.
Other measures changed between the periods. The contested share went from 35% to 12%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 9 of 14 to 0 of 3. Median confinement went from 1.3 years to 6 months. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 96% to 64%. The general court-martial share went from 95% to 76%. With groups this small, these changes show direction, not precise size.
| 2020–2023 | 2024–2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 40 | 25 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 35% | 12% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 9 of 14 | 0 of 3 |
| Convictions with confinement | 93% | 100% |
| Median confinement | 1.3 years | 6 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 96% | 64% |
| General courts-martial | 95% | 76% |
Fort Wainwright and Fort Sill
Fort Wainwright (25 cases) and Fort Sill (24 cases) tried a similar number of cases in the same years. Fort Polk had the lowest contested share of the 3. The share was 24% at Fort Wainwright and 46% at Fort Sill. Fort Polk's median confinement of 6 months was the highest of the 3, compared with 4 months and 5 months. Punitive discharge shares were about the same: 64% at Fort Polk, 59% at Fort Wainwright, and 65% at Fort Sill.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Polk | 25 | 12% | 0 of 3 | 6 months | 64% |
| Fort Wainwright | 25 | 24% | 3 of 6 | 4 months | 59% |
| Fort Sill | 24 | 46% | 2 of 11 | 5 months | 65% |
New Prosecution and Sentencing Rules
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding in a case is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters.
Both depend on offense dates, which the records do not give. The cases here include trials under both the old and new rules. The changes from the earlier period happened in the same years as these rule changes. The records cannot show whether one caused the other.
Limits of This Data
Only cases that reached a courtroom appear. Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, and cases closed without action are absent, and the records do not describe the evidence or the plea terms.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at Fort Polk with a trial date in 2024–2026 (25 cases), compared with all 1,252 Army trials in those years. Dates are trial dates.
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 Polk: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Army Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- Fort Polk Courts-Martial, 2020–2023: What 40 Cases Show (another period)
- Fort Wainwright, 2024–2026: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 25 Cases (same years, similar size)
- What Was Tried at Fort Sill, 2024–2026? 24 Courts-Martial (same years, similar size)
- Camp Humphreys, 2020–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 69 Cases
- Fort Bliss, 2020–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 102 Cases
- Fort Bragg Courts-Martial, 2020–2023: What 143 Cases Show
- Fort Carson, 2024–2026: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 45 Cases
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Fort Polk, 2024–2026
- Larry A. Babin Jr.
- Michael C. Friess
- Dasean A. Jones
- Maureen A. Kohn
- Javier E. Rivera Rosario
- Joseph K. Venghaus
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.