Domestic Violence Charges at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, 2024–2026: Pleas, Verdicts, and Sentences

Trends › By Installation › Joint Base Lewis-McChord › Article 128b, 2024–2026

Based on 20 cases · 2024–2026 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Almost Every Case Ended in a Guilty Plea

Of the 20 accused, 18 pleaded guilty and 2 contested at least one charge. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, whether to all of them or only some. The contested share here was 10%, compared with 24% across Army Article 128b cases in the same years.

All 18 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement. Army records note whether an agreement existed but not its terms, so the records do not show whether the agreements limited confinement or discharge.

More Punitive Discharges Than Elsewhere in the Army

A punitive discharge was part of 82% of enlisted convictions at the installation: 14 bad-conduct discharges and 0 dishonorable discharges. Across all Army Article 128b cases in 2024–2026, the share was 72%.

A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge for an enlisted member; for an officer, the equivalent is a dismissal. The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer here was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not cover.

Most Confinement Was Measured in Months

Of 20 cases, 18 ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 17 of those sentences included confinement (94%). The median confinement was 4 months, compared with 5 months in the rest of the Army. A quarter of the sentences were 7 months or longer.

These figures are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case, so a sentence may also include another charge in the same case.

Special Courts-Martial Handled Most Cases

General courts-martial tried 8 of the 19 cases with a court level listed (42%), compared with 64% in all Army Article 128b cases in 2024–2026.

The court level sets the maximum sentence. 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 and can impose a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable discharge.

Usually the Only Charge

Article 128b was the only charge in 13 of the 20 cases. Across all Army Article 128b cases in these years, 169 of 306 charged it alone.

No other article was charged in more than 2 cases. Article 92 (orders violation), Article 90 (disobeying an officer), Article 120 (sexual assault), and Article 128 (assault) were each charged in 2 cases, and Article 119a (death or injury of an unborn child) in 1.

More NCOs Than Junior Enlisted

The accused included 11 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), 8 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), and 1 officer or warrant officer. Across Army Article 128b cases overall, junior enlisted members were 53% of the accused, so the group at Joint Base Lewis-McChord was more senior.

A Military Judge in Every Listed Case

None of the cases with the forum listed went to a panel of members: 0 enlisted panels and 0 officer panels. The other 18 were decided by a military judge alone. The accused usually chooses the forum. All but 2 cases were guilty pleas, and most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas.

27% of the Installation's Courts-Martial

The 20 cases were 27% of all 75 courts-martial at Joint Base Lewis-McChord from January 2024 to September 2026. By year, there were 10 in 2024, 4 in 2025, and 6 in 2026, a partial year. With counts this small, a few cases can change any percentage here, so the figures show direction, not precision.

New Rules for Domestic Violence Cases

Article 128b itself applies only to offenses on or after January 1, 2019; earlier conduct was charged under other articles. Domestic violence is also a covered offense. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute it. 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 of those rules depend on when the offense happened, and the records give only trial dates. Trials from 2024 on therefore mix cases under old and new rules, and the records cannot show whether the changes affected any number on this page.

What the Records Do Not Show

These records describe results, not the facts of each case. They contain no evidence, no plea terms, and no offense dates, and they leave out domestic violence matters handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 128b on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: 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.