Fort Sill Before and After 2024: How Its Courts-Martial Changed

Trends › By Installation › Fort Sill › Before and after 2024

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

More Contested Cases, Fewer Full Acquittals

A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. At Fort Sill in 2024–2026, 11 cases were contested and 13 ended in a guilty plea. The contested share was 46%. In all Army cases for the same years, the share was 21%.

2 of the 11 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (18%), lower than 40% Army-wide. Another 5 ended in a partial acquittal, meaning not guilty of at least one charge but guilty of another. Army results list findings charge by charge, so partial acquittals appear often in Army data.

Of the 13 guilty pleas, 12 are recorded with a plea agreement and 1 has no entry. Army records say whether an agreement existed, not what it said.

Then and Now

The later period has fewer cases than 2021–2023: about 9 a year, compared with about 12, counting full years only. The contested share went from 30% to 46%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 4 of 10 to 2 of 11.

Most sentence measures were lower. Convictions with confinement went from 94% to 82%. Median confinement went from 6 months to 5 months. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 77% to 65%. General courts-martial went from 86% of cases with a court level listed to 59%.

With groups this small, a few cases can change any percentage, so the changes show direction, not precise size. The records cannot show why any of them changed.

Most of the Accused Were NCOs

NCOs made up 67% of the accused at Fort Sill, junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) 25%, and officers 8%. Across all Army cases, junior enlisted were 53%.

General courts-martial, the level that can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge, made up 13 of the 22 cases with a court level listed (59%). The court level is not listed for 2 cases. Special courts-martial, which cap confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge, made up the rest.

Which Charges Were More Common?

The charge lists cover all 24 cases. Article 92 (orders violations) was charged in 6 cases (25%), compared with 10% Army-wide. Article 86 (AWOL) and Article 107 (false official statements) were each charged in 4 cases (17%), compared with 3% and 5% across the Army.

Some charges common elsewhere were less common here. Article 128b (domestic violence) was charged in 17% of Fort Sill cases, compared with 25% Army-wide. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 12%, compared with 20%. A case with several articles appears under each of them.

Judges and Panels

The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. At Fort Sill a judge alone decided 17 cases, an enlisted panel 5, and an officer panel 1. Members heard 26% of cases, compared with 13% in the Army as a whole.

Among contested cases with the forum listed, members heard 6 of 10 (60%). Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so the higher members share goes with the higher contested share.

How Much Confinement?

Of 22 convictions, 82% included confinement. The median was 5 months, compared with 6 months in the rest of the Army. A quarter of those sentences were 3 years or longer.

No conviction included 6 months to 1 year (0%), compared with 17% Army-wide. 10 (45%) included under 6 months. 8 of 22 convictions (36%) included more than one year, compared with 30% across the Army. 3 (14%) included 5 years or more.

These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year.

Discharges and Peer Posts

For enlisted members, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. 65% of enlisted convictions here included one (11 bad-conduct and 2 dishonorable), compared with 73% Army-wide. Of 2 convicted officers or warrant officers, 1 was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Fort Polk and Fort Wainwright each tried 25 cases in the same years. Fort Sill's contested share of 46% was higher than their 12% and 24%. Its punitive discharge share of 65% was higher than their 64% and 59%.

New Rules, Mixed Cases

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 rules depend on the offense date, and the records give only trial dates. Trials from 2024 on include cases under both the old and new rules. The data cannot show whether either change affected Fort Sill's numbers. The records also omit the evidence, the plea terms, and anything handled outside a court-martial.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: 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.