Nellis AFB, Nevada and Minot AFB, North Dakota, 2019–2023: How Their Courts-Martial Compare
Nellis AFB, Nevada had 46 courts-martial from 2019–2023, and Minot AFB, North Dakota had 39. Article 112a, the drug article, was charged in 68% of Nellis cases with charges listed, compared with 24% at Minot.
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Trends › By Installation › Nellis AFB, Nevada › vs. Minot AFB, North Dakota
Short answer: Nellis AFB, Nevada had 46 courts-martial from 2019–2023, and Minot AFB, North Dakota had 39. Article 112a, the drug article, was charged in 68% of Nellis cases with charges listed, compared with 24% at Minot. At Nellis, 7 of 13 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (54%), compared with 69% at Minot.
Drug Charges Were Most Common at Nellis
The charge lists cover 38 of the 46 Nellis cases. A case with three articles counts under all three. Article 112a, wrongful use or possession of controlled substances, appeared in 26 cases (68%). At Minot, the share was 24%.
Article 107, false official statements, appeared in 21% of Nellis cases and 4% of Minot cases. Article 134, the general article, appeared in 29% at Nellis and 36% at Minot. Article 128b, domestic violence, appeared in 5% at Nellis and 16% at Minot.
Air Force records list charges mainly for convictions and rarely list them in full acquittals. The charge shares therefore describe mostly cases that ended in a conviction.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, Minot AFB, North Dakota in the same years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 26 | 68% | 24% |
| Art. 134 General article | 11 | 29% | 36% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 8 | 21% | 4% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 5 | 13% | 12% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 4 | 11% | 0% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 3 | 8% | 12% |
| Art. 86 AWOL | 2 | 5% | 0% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 2 | 5% | 16% |
How Contested Cases Ended
A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. 31 of the 46 Nellis records list the plea: 18 guilty pleas and 13 contested cases. That is 42% contested, compared with 48% at Minot.
Of the 13 contested cases that reached a verdict at Nellis, 7 ended in a full acquittal (54%). At Minot, 11 of 16 did (69%). 1 more Nellis case was a partial acquittal, meaning not guilty of at least one charge but guilty of another. Air Force results give one verdict per case, so a partial acquittal appears only when an appeals opinion reports it.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nellis AFB, Nevada | 46 | 42% | 7 of 13 | 6 months | 72% |
| Minot AFB, North Dakota | 39 | 48% | 11 of 16 | 8 months | 68% |
Who Decided Guilt?
The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. At Nellis, 36% of cases with the forum listed went to members: 8 enlisted panels and 8 officer panels. The other 28 cases were judge alone.
Among contested cases, members heard 12 of 13 (92%). Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so the split between judges and members mostly follows how many cases were contested.
Sentences After a Conviction
38 Nellis cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge. 32 of those sentences included confinement (84%). The median confinement was 6 months, compared with 8 months at Minot.
Sentences of more than one year were less common at Nellis: 7 of 38 convictions (18%), compared with 35% at Minot. Sentences of more than 1 year but under 5 years were 13% at Nellis and 31% at Minot. No confinement was 16% at Nellis and 4% at Minot. Sentences of 6 months to 1 year were 29% at Nellis and 15% at Minot.
These are adjudged sentences, as announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Minot AFB, North Dakota cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 6 | 16% | 4% |
| Under 6 months | 14 | 37% | 46% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 11 | 29% | 15% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 5 | 13% | 31% |
| 5 years or more | 2 | 5% | 4% |
Convictions and Confinement for the Top Charges
26 Nellis cases ended in a conviction on Article 112a, with a median confinement of 5 months. 11 ended in a conviction on Article 134, with a median of 10 months. 8 ended in a conviction on Article 107, with a median of 6 months.
Because Air Force records list charges mainly for convictions, these figures are conviction counts and sentences, not conviction rates. One case can include several of these articles.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 26 | 26 | 5 months |
| Art. 134 General article | 11 | 11 | 10 months |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 8 | 8 | 6 months |
Court Level
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 cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement.
Nellis had 24 general and 22 special courts-martial. The general share was 52%, compared with 59% at Minot. In general courts-martial, 83% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 10 months. In special courts-martial, 85% did, with a median of 4 months.
Discharges and Rank
A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge for an enlisted member, or a dismissal for an officer. 26 of 36 convicted enlisted members at Nellis received one (72%), compared with 68% at Minot. 6 of the 26 were dishonorable. 2 convicted officers or warrant officers appear, and 1 was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
The Nellis accused were 28 junior enlisted members, 15 NCOs, and 3 officers. This group is more senior than the Minot group.
Cases by Year
The Nellis records run from January 2019 to October 2023: 14 cases in 2019, 11 in 2020, 7 in 2021, 9 in 2022, and 5 in 2023. The two bases tried a similar number of cases, so the comparison uses shares, not counts.
Limits of These Records
The trial records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence or conduct handled outside a court-martial. Air Force records never report plea agreements, and from 2016 to 2019 they rarely list a guilty plea.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Nellis AFB, Nevada (46) and Minot AFB, North Dakota (39) with trial dates in 2019–2023. Each figure for Nellis AFB, Nevada is set beside the same figure for Minot AFB, North Dakota.
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
- Nellis AFB, Nevada: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Minot AFB, North Dakota: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
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- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Nellis AFB, Nevada, 2019–2023
- Elijah F. Brown
- Colin P. Eichenberger
- Michael W. Grant
- Steven J. Grocki
- Christopher D. James
- Christina M. Jimenez
- Brett A. Landry
- Julie L. Pitvorec
- Jennifer E. Powell
- Roberto Ramirez
- Natalie D. Richardson
- Rebecca E. Schmidt
- Christopher M. Schumann
- Matthew P. Stoffel
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.