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U.S. Marshals' Dilemma: Serving Two Branches of Government

GGD-82-3 Published: Apr 19, 1982. Publicly Released: May 17, 1982.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the various functions performed by the U.S. marshals. This report, the first in a series of three, concerns the organizational relationship of U.S. marshals to the Department of Justice and the Federal Judiciary, which is comprised of federal judges, the Judicial Conference of the United States, and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Recommendations

Matter for Congressional Consideration

Matter Status Comments
Congress should, if the agencies concerned do not implement the GAO recommendations, take legislative action to eliminate the Attorney General's authority to supervise, direct, and control the operations of U.S. marshals.
Closed – Not Implemented
The recommendation is contingent on inaction by the agencies. Both have acted and supported administrative and legislative efforts to solve the reported problems. An approach to provide more resources has been developed and agreed to in principle. This approach should at least mitigate, if not fully resolve, the problem.

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Justice The Attorney General should develop, with the assistance of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the base-level marshal personnel resource needs for each federal district court. This information should then be used as a major factor to prepare the U.S. Marshals Service's budget.
Closed – Implemented
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Justice The Attorney General should establish a policy that the provision of court security and the execution of all lawful court orders are the top priority of each U.S. marshal. U.S. marshals should be supervised to ensure each is properly fulfilling the needs of their respective district courts.
Closed – Implemented
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Justice The Attorney General should assign law enforcement tasks to marshals only on the basis of those residual resources remaining after fulfillment of court-related duties. Because this will probably further hinder the Department's ability to use marshals to perform centralized law enforcement programs, responsibility for conducting these law enforcement duties should be reassigned from the Marshals Service to other Justice Department organizations.
Closed – Not Implemented
A mechanism to meet court needs through the provision of new resources has been developed and agreed to in principle. This should at least mitigate, if not fully resolve, the operating problem.
Department of Justice The Attorney General should apprise Congress, during the appropriation and authorization process, about the nature and status of any problems related to the use of marshals' resources and actions taken to resolve these problems.
Closed – Implemented
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Judicial Conference of the United States The Judicial Conference should require the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to cooperate with and assist the Attorney General in defining and obtaining pertinent information needed to determine each district court's base-level resource needs for U.S. marshal personnel.
Closed – Implemented
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Judicial Conference of the United States The Judicial Conference should require the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to apprise Congress, during the appropriation and authorization process, about the nature and status of any problems related to the use of marshals' resources and actions taken to resolve these problems.
Closed – Implemented
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Full Report

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Topics

Staff utilizationJurisdictional authorityLaw enforcement agenciesLaw enforcement personnelProgram evaluationLaw enforcementJudgesPrisonersFederal courtsFederal law