Fort Stewart, 2020–2023 vs. 2024–2026: A Side-by-Side Look

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

Based on 46 cases · 2024–2026 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

42 of 46 Cases Ended in a Guilty Plea

In 2020–2023, 48% of Fort Stewart's cases with a plea recorded were contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. In 2024–2026 that share was 9%: 42 guilty pleas and 4 contested cases.

Plea agreements are recorded in 41 of the 42 guilty pleas, and 1 has no entry. Army records show that an agreement existed, not its terms. The records do not explain why an accused pleaded guilty or contested the case.

What Changed After 2023

The earlier period had 69 cases over 4 years, about 17 a year. Since then there have been about 16 a year, counting full years only. Median confinement went from 1 year to 6 months. The share of convictions with confinement went from 80% to 91%. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 78% to 91%, and general courts-martial from 87% of cases to 76%.

Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 13 of 30 to 1 of 4. The later figure is based on very few cases. Any of these percentages can change with a few results, so they show direction, not precise rates.

Discharges in 91% of Enlisted Convictions

A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge for an enlisted member. The officer equivalent is a dismissal. Of 43 enlisted members convicted at Fort Stewart, 39 received one (91%), compared with 73% across the Army. 11 of the 39 were dishonorable.

The records list 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, who was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. Those actions are not in these records.

Conspiracy, Larceny, and Domestic Violence

Charges are listed in 45 of the 46 records, and each article is counted once per case. Article 81 (conspiracy) was charged in 11% of cases, compared with 2% across the Army. Article 121 (larceny) was charged in 13%, compared with 7%. Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child) was also charged more often: 13% compared with 8%.

Article 128b (domestic violence) was the most common charge, in 31% of cases, compared with 25% Army-wide. Article 128 (assault) was charged less often: 16% compared with 20%.

Convictions on the Leading Charges

All 14 cases charging Article 128b ended in a conviction on that article, with a median confinement of 7 months for those convictions. All 9 cases charging Article 134, the general article, also ended in a conviction on that article, with a median of 6 months.

How Long Were Terms of Confinement?

Of 44 convictions, 40 included confinement. The median was 6 months, the same as the Army median. A quarter of those sentences were 1.5 years or longer. 1 sentence was confinement for life.

12 of 44 convictions (27%) included more than one year, about the same as 30% Army-wide. 4 (9%) included 5 years or more, the same as the Army's 9%. Only 4 convictions (9%) included no confinement, compared with 15% across the Army. These are sentences as adjudged, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. They cover all charges in each case.

Court Level and the Forum

A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is limited to one year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. Fort Stewart held 35 general courts-martial (76% of cases). At those, 91% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 8 months. At its 11 special courts-martial, 90% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 3 months.

The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. A judge alone heard 43 cases and an enlisted panel 3, with 0 officer panels. Members heard 7% of cases, compared with 13% across the Army. This follows the low contested share.

Rank, and Posts of Similar Size

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 61% of the accused, NCOs 37%, and officers 2%. Across the Army, junior enlisted accounted for 53%.

Fort Carson (45 cases) and Fort Drum (45 cases) tried about as many cases. Fort Stewart's 9% contested share was the lowest of the 3, compared with 40% and 11%. Its 91% punitive discharge share was higher than Fort Carson's 78% and lower than Fort Drum's 95%. Its median confinement of 6 months compares with 4 months and 11 months.

Rules, Dates, and Blind Spots

The data has 13 cases in 2024, 20 in 2025, and 13 in 2026 through September, a partial year. These trials came after December 28, 2023. Since that date, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. New sentencing parameters apply to cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. Offense dates are not in the records, so cases under the old and new rules cannot be separated. The data cannot show whether the changes affected any of these figures.

Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, cases with no action taken, the evidence, and plea terms are not covered.

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.