What Fort Riley Tried in 2025
Fort Riley tried 12 courts-martial in 2025, and all 12 ended in a conviction. The median confinement was 5 months, compared with 8 months across the Army. Article 86 (AWOL) was charged in 33% of cases, compared with 3% Army-wide.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read
Trends › By Installation › Fort Riley › 2025
Short answer: Fort Riley tried 12 courts-martial in 2025, and all 12 ended in a conviction. The median confinement was 5 months, compared with 8 months across the Army. Article 86 (AWOL) was charged in 33% of cases, compared with 3% Army-wide.
AWOL and Disrespect Charges
Every record lists charges. An article counts once per case. Article 128b (domestic violence) and Article 86 (AWOL) each appeared in 4 cases (33%). The Army shares were 26% and 3%.
Article 92 (failure to obey order or regulation) appeared in 3 cases (25%), compared with 8%. Article 89 (disrespect toward superior officer; assault of superior officer) also appeared in 3 cases (25%), compared with 2%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Army as a whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 4 | 33% | 26% |
| Art. 86 AWOL | 4 | 33% | 3% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 3 | 25% | 8% |
| Art. 89 Disrespect toward superior officer; assault of superior officer | 3 | 25% | 2% |
| Art. 134 General article | 2 | 17% | 22% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 2 | 17% | 19% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 1 | 8% | 11% |
| Art. 93 Cruelty and maltreatment | 1 | 8% | 1% |
No Full Acquittals
Of the 12 accused, 9 pleaded guilty. The other 3 entered a not-guilty or mixed plea, which makes a case contested. The contested share, 25%, is higher than the 20% across the Army. All 3 contested cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, with no full acquittals (0 of 3).
Confinement
Of 12 convictions, 10 carried confinement. The median confinement was 5 months, shorter than the 8 months Army-wide. A quarter of the sentences that included confinement were 9 months or longer.
Each figure is the sentence announced at trial for all charges together. A plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal could change it later.
Punitive Discharges
Of 12 convicted enlisted members, 9 received a punitive discharge: 7 bad-conduct and 2 dishonorable. The share, 75%, compares with 73% across the Army. Members without a punitive discharge can still face an administrative separation, which these records do not track.
Rank, Court Level, and Forum
The accused were 9 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) and 3 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), with no officers. Across the Army, 50% of the accused were junior enlisted, so this group was more junior.
Of the 11 cases with a court level listed, 7 were general courts-martial (64%), compared with 66% across the Army. The court level is not listed for 1 case. Confinement at a special court-martial is limited to one year, and that level cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
A military judge alone decided all 12 cases. Across the Army, members heard 15% of cases.
Fort Drum and Fort Stewart
Fort Drum and Fort Stewart, which tried a similar number of cases, each had 20 in 2025. Fort Riley had the highest contested share of the 3, 25%, compared with 15% and 5%. Its median confinement, 5 months, was the same as at Fort Drum. Its enlisted punitive discharge share, 75%, was lower than the 94% at Fort Drum and the 100% at Fort Stewart.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Riley | 12 | 25% | 0 of 3 | 5 months | 75% |
| Fort Drum | 20 | 15% | 2 of 2 | 5 months | 94% |
| Fort Stewart | 20 | 5% | 0 of 1 | 6 months | 100% |
What the Data Leaves Out
Prosecution decisions for covered offenses moved from commanders to special trial counsel on December 28, 2023, and new sentencing parameters cover offenses after December 27, 2023. Each record has a trial date but no offense date, so it is not possible to tell which rules governed a 2025 trial. Evidence, plea terms, and conduct handled outside a court-martial are also missing from the records.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Fort Riley with a trial date in 2025 (12 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.
Related Analysis
- Fort Riley: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- What Fort Riley Tried in 2024 (previous / next)
- What Was Tried at Fort Riley, 2024–2026? 35 Courts-Martial (the whole period)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Camp Humphreys: 2024
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Camp Humphreys: 2025
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Fort Benning: 2022
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Fort Benning: 2023
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Fort Benning: 2025
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Fort Riley, 2025
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.