Calendar No. 332

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 927

AN ACT

To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide

the Attorney General.for appointment of United States marshals by

MARCH 26, 1998

Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the

title
II

Calendar No. 332

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 927

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 19, 1997

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

MARCH 26, 1998

Reported by Mr. HATCH, with an amendment and an amendment to the title

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

AN ACT

To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for appointment of United States marshals by the Attorney

General.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Mar5 shals Service Improvement Act of 1997’’.

6 SEC. 2. APPOINTMENTS OF MARSHALS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 37 of title 28, United

8 States Code, is amended—
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HR 927 RS

1 (1) in section 561(c)—

2 (A) by striking ‘‘The President shall ap3 point, by and with the advice and consent of the

4 Senate,’’ and inserting ‘‘The Attorney General

5 shall appoint’’; and

6 (B) by inserting ‘‘United States marshals

7 shall be appointed subject to the provisions of

8 title 5 governing appointments in the competi9 tive civil service, and shall be paid in accord10 ance with the provisions of chapter 51 and sub11 chapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating

12 to classification and pay rates.’’ after the first

13 sentence;

14 (2) by striking subsection (d) of section 561;

15 (3) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), (g),

16 (h), and (i) of section 561 as subsections (d), (e),

17 (f), (g), and (h), respectively; and

18 (4) by striking section 562.

19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

20 at the beginning of chapter 37 of title 28, United States

21 Code, is amended by striking the item relating to section

22 562.
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1 SEC. 3. TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS; PRESIDENTIAL AP2 POINTMENT OF CERTAIN UNITED STATES

3 MARSHALS.

4 (a) INCUMBENT MARSHALS.—Notwithstanding the

5 amendments made by this Act, each marshal appointed

6 under chapter 37 of title 28, United States Code, before

7 the date of the enactment of this Act shall, unless that

8 marshal resigns or is removed by the President, continue

9 to perform the duties of that office until the expiration

10 of that marshal’s term and the appointment of a succes11 sor.

12 (b) VACANCIES AFTER ENACTMENT.—Notwithstand13 ing the amendments made by this Act, with respect to the

14 first vacancy which occurs in the office of United States

15 marshal in any district, during the period beginning on

16 the date of the enactment of this Act and ending on De17 cember 31, 1999, the President shall appoint, by and with

18 the advice and consent of the Senate, a marshal to fill

19 that vacancy for a term of 4 years. Any marshal appointed

20 by the President under this subsection shall, unless that

21 marshal resigns or is removed from office by the Presi22 dent, continue to perform the duties of that office after

23 the end of the four-year term to which such marshal was

24 appointed or until a successor is appointed.
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Marshals

3 Service Improvement Act of 1998’’.

4 SEC. 2. QUALIFICATIONS FOR UNITED STATES MARSHALS.

5 Section 561(c) of title 28, United States Code, is

6 amended—

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(c)’’;

8 (2) by striking ‘‘Each United States’’ and insert9 ing the following:

10 ‘‘(3) Each United States’’; and

11 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1), as so des12 ignated by paragraph (1) of this section, the follow13 ing:

14 ‘‘(2) Each individual appointed as a United States

15 marshal shall—

16 ‘‘(A) be a citizen of the United States, or an in17 dividual otherwise described in section 606 of Public

18 Law 105–61 (111 Stat. 1309);

19 ‘‘(B) have successfully completed—

20 ‘‘(i) a security background investigation

21 conducted by the Department of Justice;

22 ‘‘(ii) a medical evaluation;

23 ‘‘(iii) 1 or more drug tests, as determined

24 by the Director; and

25 ‘‘(iv) a firearms proficiency test established

26 for criminal investigators of the Service;
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1 ‘‘(C) hold a bachelor’s degree; and

2 ‘‘(D) have not less than 10 years of professional

3 law enforcement experience, which shall—

4 ‘‘(i) include not less than 5 years of law en5 forcement management experience—

6 ‘‘(I) in the Service or any other Fed7 eral law enforcement or corrections agency;

8 or

9 ‘‘(II) at a command level position in a

10 State or local law enforcement or correc11 tions agency, if the individual has com12 pleted a comprehensive course of study at

13 the Federal Bureau of Investigation Acad14 emy, the Federal Law Enforcement Train15 ing Center, or a State or local law enforce16 ment training center that is certified by the

17 Director;

18 ‘‘(ii) demonstrate experience with the re19 sponsibilities of a United States marshal, such

20 as supervising arrest procedures, prisoner cus21 tody and detention, criminal investigations, pro22 tection of the judicial process, seizure of prop23 erty, and accountability for funds and disburse24 ments; and
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1 ‘‘(iii) demonstrate knowledge of law enforce2 ment practices and personnel in the state or ter3 ritory in which the individual would serve as

4 United States marshal.’’.

5 SEC. 3. STUDY BY THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE.

6 Not later than December 31, 1999, the Comptroller

7 General of the United States shall—

8 (1) conduct a study relating to the most effective

9 process for selecting individuals to serve United

10 States marshals, which shall include a review of a va11 riety of processes and potential processes for selecting

12 those individuals, including—

13 (A) the appointment process for United

14 States marshals in effect on the date on which

15 the review is conducted;

16 (B) a potential selection process conducted

17 by a selection board established by the Depart18 ment of Justice; and

19 (C) the potential conversion of the selection

20 of United States marshals to the civil service sys21 tem; and

22 (2) submit to the Committee on the Judiciary

23 and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate,

24 and the Committee on the Judiciary and the Commit25 tee on Appropriations of the House of Representa-
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1 tives, a report describing the results of the study

2 under paragraph (1).

3 SEC. 4. SENSE OF THE COMMITTEE.

4 It is the sense of the Committee on the Judiciary of

5 the Senate that, after reviewing the report submitted under

6 section 3, the Committee shall consider the most effective

7 process for selecting individuals to serve as United States

8 marshals, giving strong consideration to the results de9 scribed in that report.

10 SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY.

11 The amendments made by this Act shall apply to any

12 United States marshal first appointed on or after the date

13 of enactment of this Act.

Amend the title to read as follows: ‘‘An Act to

amend section 561 of title 28, United States Code, to establish certain qualifications for United States marshals,

and for other purposes.’’.