Comparing Fort Polk and Fort Knox: Army Courts-Martial, 2020–2023
Fort Polk had 40 courts-martial from 2020–2023, and Fort Knox had 39. At Fort Polk, 96% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, against 54% at Fort Knox, and the median confinement was 1.3 years, against 5 months at Fort Knox.
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Trends › By Installation › Fort Polk › vs. Fort Knox
Short answer: Fort Polk had 40 courts-martial from 2020–2023, and Fort Knox had 39. At Fort Polk, 96% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, against 54% at Fort Knox, and the median confinement was 1.3 years, against 5 months at Fort Knox.
Punitive Discharges in Almost Every Enlisted Conviction
Among 28 enlisted members convicted at Fort Polk, 27 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (96%). At Fort Knox, the share was 54%. 10 of the Fort Polk discharges were dishonorable.
2 convicted officers or warrant officers appear in the Fort Polk records, and 1 was dismissed. A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge for an enlisted member, and a dismissal for an officer. A sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Longer Confinement Than at Fort Knox
Confinement was part of 93% of the 30 Fort Polk convictions. The median confinement was 1.3 years. At Fort Knox, the median was 5 months.
15 of the 30 Fort Polk convictions carried more than one year of confinement (50%), against 21% at Fort Knox. The band from more than 1 year to under 5 years held 43% of Fort Polk convictions and 15% of Fort Knox convictions. 7% of Fort Polk convictions carried no confinement, against 21% at Fort Knox.
Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Fort Knox cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 2 | 7% | 21% |
| Under 6 months | 8 | 27% | 42% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 5 | 17% | 15% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 13 | 43% | 15% |
| 5 years or more | 2 | 7% | 6% |
Almost All Cases Were General Courts-Martial
Fort Polk held 38 general courts-martial and 2 special courts-martial. The general share was 95%, against 79% at Fort Knox. 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.
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 65% of the accused at Fort Polk, NCOs 28%, and officers 8%. At Fort Knox, junior enlisted members were 15% of the accused.
Assault and Domestic Violence Charges
The charge lists cover 39 of the 40 Fort Polk cases. One case can appear under several articles.
Article 128 (assault) was the most common charge at Fort Polk, in 31% of cases, against 18% at Fort Knox. Article 128b (domestic violence) appeared in 23%, against 10%. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) also appeared in 23%, against 18%.
Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) was less common at Fort Polk: 10% of cases, against 33% at Fort Knox.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, Fort Knox in the same years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 12 | 31% | 18% |
| Art. 134 General article | 10 | 26% | 21% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 9 | 23% | 10% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 9 | 23% | 18% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 7 | 18% | 13% |
| Art. 90 Willfully disobeying superior officer | 5 | 13% | 10% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 4 | 10% | 33% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 4 | 10% | 5% |
Results in Contested Cases
A contested case is one with a not-guilty or mixed plea. Of 14 contested cases with a verdict at Fort Polk, 9 ended in a full acquittal (64%). At Fort Knox, the rate was 60%, or 6 of 10.
3 more Fort Polk contested cases (21%) were partial acquittals: not guilty of at least one charge or specification, but guilty of another. Army results list findings charge by charge, which is why partial acquittals are common in Army records.
Conviction on Each Top Charge
Article 128b ended in a conviction on that article in 8 of 9 cases, with a median confinement of 1.3 years. Article 134 (the general article) ended in a conviction in 8 of 10 cases (80%), with a median of 1.7 years.
Article 128 ended in a conviction in 8 of 12 cases (67%), with a median of 3 months. Article 120 ended in a conviction on that article in 4 of 9 cases, the fewest among the top charges, and those 4 convictions carried a median of 3 years. 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. 128 Assault | 12 | 8 (67%) | 3 months |
| Art. 134 General article | 10 | 8 (80%) | 1.7 years |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 9 | 8 (8 of 9) | 1.3 years |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 9 | 4 (4 of 9) | 3 years |
Pleas and Who Decided Guilt
26 accused at Fort Polk pleaded guilty and 14 contested at least one charge. The contested share was 35%, against 26% at Fort Knox. 24 of the 26 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement, and 2 have no entry. Army records say whether an agreement existed, not what it said.
Cases charging Article 134 ended in a guilty plea 70% of the time (7 of 10), the most among the top charges. Cases charging Article 128 did so 58% of the time (7 of 12).
A military judge alone decided guilt in 30 of 40 cases (75%). Members heard 10: 8 enlisted panels and 2 officer panels. Among contested cases, members heard 10 of 14 (71%).
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Polk | 40 | 35% | 9 of 14 | 1.3 years | 96% |
| Fort Knox | 39 | 26% | 6 of 10 | 5 months | 54% |
Years and Limits
The Fort Polk records run from November 2020 through December 2023. By year: 2020: 1, 2021: 10, 2022: 6, 2023: 23. The services were required to begin publishing trial records under Article 140a by December 2020, and Army records in this data are sparse before 2021.
The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or the plea terms, and they do not show 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 Polk (40) and Fort Knox (39) with trial dates in 2020–2023. Each figure for Fort Polk is set beside the same figure for Fort Knox.
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)
- Fort Knox: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
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- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Fort Polk, 2020–2023
- Lanny Acosta Jr.
- Gregory B. Batdorff
- Michael C. Friess
- Scott Z. Hughes
- Maureen A. Kohn
- Joseph T. Marcee
- Tiffany D. Pond
- Javier E. Rivera Rosario
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.