REQUESTING COURT-MARTIAL RECORDS
The Office of the Clerk of Court is the official custodian for all records of general courts-martial and those special courts-martial in which a bad conduct discharge was approved in cases from 1977 to the present. Records of trial are federal agency records subject to release on request to members of the public under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and to military and former military members who seek their own records pursuant to the Privacy Act (PA).
Requests for records under the FOIA or the PA should be emailed to usarmy.pentagon.hqda-otjag.mbx.clerk-of-court-foia@army.mil. As a result of increases in the Health Protection Condition (HPCON) level, our offices are limited to mission-essential personnel only and maximizing the use of telework for other personnel. This means that a response to any request that is sent to us via the United States Postal Service will be significantly delayed. We will respond to electronic requests as expeditiously as resources permit.
· Full name of court-martial subject;
· Year of court-martial, if known;
· Portion of the record that is required; and
· Complete contact information for the requester for necessary follow-up and fulfillment of the request.
· Requests made under the Privacy Act should be accompanied by a legible copy of a government-issued ID card or other suitable form of identification.
Because U.S. Army court-martial records in the Office of the Clerk of Court are maintained by name of the accused, the full name of the soldier or officer who was the subject of the court-martial is required. Requests submitted without this information cannot be fulfilled. Persons seeking records under FOIA must also express a willingness to pay fees. Sample request letters for FOIA and PA requests are attached.
Requests for certified conviction packets may be submitted on the letterhead of the requesting agency or office and must specify the full name of the soldier or officer who was tried by a court-martial as well as the approximate year of the court-martial. Requests should provide telephone, fax, email, and mailing address information for the requester and state whether the conviction information is needed in certified format or whether ordinary copies are acceptable.
The following types of records are NOT maintained by the Office of the Clerk of Court:
o Records of cases convened before 1939 are maintained by the National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri. Send requests to the National Personnel Records Center (Military Records), 9700 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63132–5100.
o Records of cases convened between 1939 and 1976 have been transferred from the custody of the U.S. Army to the National Archives in St. Louis, MO. Beginning October 15, 2011, send requests for access to U.S. Army general court-martial case files from 1939-1976 to the following address:
National Archives & Records Administration National Archives at St. Louis
ATTN: RL-SL
P.O. Box 38757
St. Louis, MO 63138
o Records of cases in which the trials were recently completed in the field and not yet forwarded for appellate review: Apply to the staff judge advocate of the command having jurisdiction over the case.
o Records of special courts-martial not involving a bad conduct discharge: These records are kept for ten years after completion of the case. If the case was completed within the past three years, apply to the staff judge advocate of the Army headquarters where it was reviewed. If the case was completed three to ten years ago, apply to the National Personnel Records Center (Military Records), 9700 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63132–5100. If the case was completed more than ten years ago, the only evidence of conviction is the special courts-martial order in the person’s permanent records.
o Records of summary courts-martial: Request records of cases less than three years old from the staff judge advocate of the headquarters where the case was reviewed. Locally maintained records are retired three years after action of the supervisory authority. After ten years, the only evidence of conviction is the summary courts-martial order in the person’s permanent records.
Information concerning FOIA, including exemptions and exclusions, fees, fee waivers, and other information can be found in Army Regulation 25-55, the Department of the Army Freedom of Information Act Program (14 April 1997), available at http://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/pdf/R25_55.PDF.
Information concerning the Privacy Act, including exemptions, permitted disclosures, fees, and other information can be found in Army Regulation 340-21, the Army Privacy Program (5 July 1985), available at http://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/pdf/R340_21.PDF.