U.S. Department of Justice 

United States Marshals Service 

The United States 

Marshals Service 

P 

USMS Pub. No. 3 

Rev. April 1997 
The offices of U.S. Marshal and Deputy Marshals 

were created more than 200 years ago by the first 

Congress in the Judiciary Act of 1789, the same 

legislation that established the federal judicial 

system. The Marshals were 

given extensive authority to 

support the federal courts 

within their judicial 

districts and to carry out 

all lawful orders issued 

by judges, Congress, or 

the President. 

Marshals and their Deputies 

served the subpoenas, 

summonses, writs, warrants, and other process 

issued by the courts, made all the arrests, and 

handled all the prisoners. They also disbursed 

the money. 

Marshals paid the US. Attorneys, jurors, witnesses, 

and fees. They rented the courtrooms and jail space 

and hired the bailiffs, criers, and janitors. They 

made sure the prisoners were present, the jurors 

were available, and the witnesses were on time. 

But this was only a part of what the Marshals did. 

When George Washington and the first Congress 

began passing laws, they quickly discovered an 

inconvenient gap in the constitutional design of the 

government. It had no provision for a regional 

administrative structure stretching throughout the 

country. Both the Congress and the executive 

branch were housed at the national capital. No 

agency was established or designated to represent 

the federal government's interests at the local level. 

The need for a regional organization quickly became 

apparent. Congress and the President solved part of 

the problem by creating specialized agencies, such as 

customs and revenue collectors, to levy the tariffs 

and taxes. But there were numerous other jobs to be 

done. The only officers available to do them were 

the Marshals and their Deputies. 

Thus, the Marshals took the national census every 

10 years through 1870. They distributed 

Presidential proclamations, collected a variety of 

statistical information on commerce and 

manufacturing, and supplied the names of 

government employees for the national register. 

v- -" Congress and the President also 

have called on Marshals to carry 

out unusual or extraordinary 

missions, such as protecting athletes 

at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, 

helping integrate schools and other 

institutions during the Civil Rights 

Movement of the 1960s and 1970 

and registering enemy aliens in 

time of war. 

Just as America has changed over the past two 

centuries, so has its federal justice system-from 

the original 13 judicial districts to 94 districts 

spanning the continent and beyond, and with 

tens of thousands of federal judges, prosecutors, 

jurors, witnesses, and defendants involved in 

the judicial process. 

So, too, the Marshals Service has changed 

dramatically! The breadth of its functions, the 

professionalism of its personnel, and the 

sophistication of the technologies Deputies use have 

changed. A quick look at the duties of the modern 

Marshals Service reveals these changes. 
against drug traffickers, organized crime members, 

terrorists, and other major criminals. In The job of protecting the judicial process includes 

all of the efforts required to coordinate the sa 

conduct of federal judicial proceedings and 

the maintenance of a secure, open court 

environment-Judicial Security, Witness 

Security, and Prisoner Security. 

exchange for their testimony, the 

government-through the U.S. 

Marshals Service-protects witnesses 

who appear in court to give testimony 

during a trial, and offers a safe and 

secure transition to a new life under a 

new identity. Since 1971, more than 

6,600 principal witnesses and over 

8,300 of their family members have Ensuring the safe conduct of judicial 

\ proceedings and the safety of the people 

involved in them is an historic and principal 

function of the Marshals Service. Several factors, 

not the least of which is the nature of the offense 

charged against the defendant, determine the level 

of security that the Marshals Service provides at 

criminal court proceedings. The large number of 

violent criminals and drug offenders appearing in 

federal court cases and the increasing frequency of 

multi-defendant trials require a higher level of 

security than was typical in years past. 

Whenever a trial involves a high degree of danger, 

the Marshals Service mobilizes additional personnel 

to guarantee security during judicial proceedings. 

Threats against judicial officers are assessed by 

the Service's Investigative Services Division and 

the Judicial Security 

Division to determine 

the level of danger posed 

by each. Serious threats 

v-4 lodged against members 

of the judicial community number in the 

hundreds yearly. 

Many require 

around-the-clock 

protective details. 

entered the Witness Security Program. 

The Marshals Service provides each new entrant a 

variety of services that include psychological 

counseling and training for the changes that must be 

made in the witness's lifestyle, physical and dental 

examinations, orientation briefings about relocation 

areas, employment assistance, and personal history 

documentation to provide witnesses and their 

families with new identities in safe locations. 

The Marshals Service is responsible for confining 

prisoners in custody and safely transporting them 

to and from detention facilities for judicial 

proceedings. 

Today, however, the workload and security 

considerations related to prisoner security are 

staggering. Annually, the Marshals Service receives 

more than 98,000 individuals charged with crimes. 

On the average, each prisoner is produced five times 

for appearances at detention hearings, trials, other 

court proceedings, for medical care, or for transfer 

between detention facilities. The average number of 

prisoners in Marshals Service custody each day now 

stands at more than 23,000. 
To securely confine the prisoners in its custody, the 

Marshals Service contracts with county and local 

jails for the “rental” of bedspaces. 

To handle long-distance prisoner movements, the 

Service has a nationwide air transportation system 

gration and Naturalization Service to transport 

criminal aliens and illegal aliens were merged. 

The new Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation 

System UPATS) handles 160,000 prisoner 

movements by air and via ground transportation 

each year. Air service now goes to 49 cities. 

From the earliest days of the Republic, up to today, 

the Marshals Service has been the federal agency 

primarily responsible for apprehending most federal 

fugitives-those who escape from custody, jump 

bond or bail, or otherwise fail to comply with the 

orders of a federal court. The Service also has 

responsibility for most Drug Enforcement 

Administration (DEA) fugitive cases. 

Annually, Deputy Marshals arrest more than 16,000 

fugitive felons as a result of standard criminal 

investigation techniques and innovative task force 

operations, electronic surveillance technology, and 

automated information and data processing systems. 

Because of the nationwide emphasis on drug 

criminals and international drug traffickers, the 

changing rapidly. Drug fugitives 

freauently have access to money, 

tpons, and underworld 

itacts to assist them in 

rading capture. Thus, the 

Service works extensively with 

state and local police agencies 

across the United States and 

with law enforcement 

agencies in foreign 

countries to track down 

wanted criminals. Similarly, the Service handles the 

majority of international investigation requests for 

fugitives sought by foreign governments. 

Marshals seize and manage property under court 

order and take custody of cash and property seized 

by the FBI, DEA, and Immigration and Naturalization Service. They also manage property targeted 

for forfeiture in cases originating with other 

agencies, such those from IRS involving moneylaundering. In addition to jewelry, cars, boats, and 

planes, the Service’s current $1.1 billion inventory 

of seized property includes houses, ranches, 

operating businesses, and apartment complexes. 

While in Marshals Service custody, the property 

must be maintained in good order so it does not lose 

its value. That means the Service arranges for the 

continued operation of the business enterprises 

until the court authorizes the district to sell or 

otherwise dispose of the property. 

The Asset Seizure and Forfeiture Program has 

proved to be a powerful weapon in the war on 

drugs. It provides a means 

of depriving drug traffickers 

and other major criminals 

of the proceeds of their 

profile of the federal fugitive population is illegal activities. 
cartel figures. SOG was the first federal tactical unit 

to respond to the breakdown of civil order in 

Los Angeles following the verdict in the 

Rodnev Kina trial in 1992. 

**- me 

Specially trained Deputy Marshals provide 

security and law enforcement assistance 

to the Department of Defense and the 

U.S. Air Force during the movements of 

Minuteman and cruise missiles between 

military facilities. 

*** 

This is todaB’s Marshals Servicethe nation’s oldest and most versatile 

federal law enforcement ageng. 

S. Marshals Service Public Affairs Team, 

Executive Services Division 

600 Army Navy Drive, Arlington, VA 22202-4210 

Telephone (202) 307-9075 

*U S GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1997425409