UCMJ Article 104 Public Records Offenses vs Article 107 False Official Statements: Document Crimes vs Statement Crimes
On this page: 6 sections
Article 104 punishes what is done to a public record: willfully and unlawfully altering, concealing, removing, mutilating, obliterating, or destroying it, or taking it with intent to do any of those things. Article 107(a) punishes falsehood: signing a false official document or making a false official statement, knowing it is false and intending to deceive. One protects the record as it exists; the other protects the truth of what a person tells the government.
Neither offense requires the other. A record can be destroyed without a word of falsehood, and a lie can be told without touching any record.
Article 104
Article 104 applies to any person subject to the UCMJ who, willfully and unlawfully:
(1) alters, conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, or destroys a public record; or
(2) takes a public record with the intent to alter, conceal, remove, mutilate, obliterate, or destroy the public record;
Source: 10 U.S.C. § 904 (Article 104), added by Pub. L. 114-328, § 5415, effective January 1, 2019.
Before 2019, section 904 was the aiding-the-enemy article, which is now Article 103b.
The elements are the act, one of the six listed actions or taking the record with intent to perform one of them, and that the act was “willful and unlawful” (MCM, Part IV, ¶ 34.b). Clause (2) means the offense can be complete when the record is taken, before any change is made to it.
The Manual defines the object broadly. “Public records” include “records, reports, statements, or data compilations, in any form, of public offices or agencies, setting forth the activities of the office or agency, or matters observed pursuant to duty imposed by law as to which matters there was a duty to report,” and they “include classified matters” (¶ 34.c). The words “in any form” do not limit the definition to paper.
Article 107(a) in brief
Article 107(a) reaches a person who, with intent to deceive, signs any false record, return, regulation, order, or other official document knowing it to be false, or makes any other false official statement knowing it to be false (10 U.S.C. § 907(a)). The accused must actually know the statement is false, and an honest but mistaken belief in its truth is a defense (MCM, Part IV, ¶ 41.c(1)(f)). A statement is official when it affects military functions, for example one made in the line of duty or to a service member performing a military duty (¶ 41.c(1)(b)).
How the two differ
| Article 104 | Article 107(a) | |
|---|---|---|
| Object | An existing public record | A document signed or a statement made by the accused |
| Conduct | Altering, concealing, removing, mutilating, obliterating, destroying, or taking with intent to do so | Signing a false official document or making a false official statement |
| Mental state | Willful and unlawful | Knowledge of falsity plus intent to deceive |
| Must anything false be said? | No | Yes |
| Maximum confinement | 3 years | 5 years |
Sources for the table: 10 U.S.C. §§ 904, 907; MCM, Part IV, ¶ 34 and ¶ 41.
Where the facts overlap
For example, a service member who changes the completion date on an existing electronic training record, without authority, alters a public record under Article 104. If the same service member also signs the updated record as accurate, knowing the date is false and intending that it be relied on, the signing fits Article 107(a)(1). Each offense has an element the other lacks: Article 104 needs an existing public record acted on willfully and unlawfully; Article 107 needs knowledge of falsity and intent to deceive.
Now suppose a service member shreds a counseling statement from a unit file to keep it from a promotion board. No false statement is made, so Article 107 does not fit; the act of destroying or removing a public record is the Article 104 question, if the destruction was willful and unlawful. In the reverse case, a service member who tells an investigator a false story about where they were, without touching any document, raises only the Article 107 question.
Whether a document is a public record within ¶ 34.c, whether a change was authorized, and whether a statement was official are decided on the facts of each case.
Maximum punishments
- Public records offenses: dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 3 years (MCM, Part IV, ¶ 34.d).
- False official statement: dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 5 years (¶ 41.d(1)).
- False swearing, Article 107(b): dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 3 years (¶ 41.d(2)).
The false statement carries the higher ceiling. Where every finding of guilty is for an offense committed after December 27, 2023, sentencing in a general or special court-martial belongs to the military judge, except in a capital case (10 U.S.C. § 853(b)(1)).
Sources
- 10 U.S.C. § 904, public records offenses (Article 104)
- 10 U.S.C. § 907, false official statements; false swearing (Article 107)
- 10 U.S.C. § 853, findings and sentencing (Article 53)
- Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 edition), Part IV, ¶ 34 and ¶ 41.
This outline of Articles 104 and 107 is legal information; it does not decide whether any particular record was altered unlawfully or any statement was false. This page reflects the UCMJ as amended through Public Law 119-60 (December 18, 2025) and the Manual for Courts-Martial (2024 edition) as amended by Executive Order 14130.