Effective: September 28, 2012
Latest Legislation: House Bill 490 - 129th General Assembly
(A) Any commissioned officer in a duty status is eligible to serve on all courts-martial for the trial of any person who may lawfully be brought before such courts for trial.
(B) Any warrant officer in a duty status is eligible to serve on general and special courts-martial for the trial of any person, other than a commissioned officer, who may lawfully be brought before such courts for trial.
(C)(1) Any enlisted member of the organized militia in a duty status who is not a member of the same unit as the accused is eligible to serve on general and special courts-martial for the trial of any enlisted member of the organized militia who may lawfully be brought before such courts for trial if, before the conclusion of a session called by the military judge or, in the absence of a session called by the military judge, before the court is assembled for the trial of the accused, the accused personally has requested in writing that enlisted members serve on it. After such a request, the accused may not be tried by a general or special court-martial the membership of which does not include enlisted members in a number comprising at least one-third of the total membership of the court, unless eligible members cannot be obtained on account of physical conditions or military exigencies. If enough enlisted members cannot be obtained, the court may be assembled and trial held without them, but the convening authority shall make a detailed written statement, to be appended to the record, stating why they could not be obtained.
(2) As used in division (C) of this section, "unit" means any regularly organized body of the organized militia not larger than a company, a squadron, a division of the naval militia, or a body corresponding to one of them.
(D)(1) If it can be avoided, a person subject to this code shall not be tried by a court-martial, any member of which is junior to the person in rank or grade.
(2) When convening a court-martial, the convening authority shall detail as members of the court-martial members of the organized militia who, in the convening authority's opinion, are best qualified for the duty by reason of age, education, training, experience, length of service, and judicial temperament. No member of the organized militia is eligible to serve as a member of a general or special court-martial if the member of the organized militia is the accuser or a witness for the prosecution or has acted as investigating officer or as counsel in the same case.