marshal
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Marshal
A federal court officer whose job entails maintaining the peace, delivering legal papers, and performing duties similar to those of a state sheriff.
The term marshal originated in Old English Law, where it was used to describe a variety of law enforcement officers with responsibilities to the courts and the king or queen. In contemporary U.S. law, it refers primarily to the chief law officers for the federal courts (28 U.S.C.A. §§ 561 et seq.). U.S. marshals execute federal laws within the states under the instructions of the courts. Their chief duty is to enforce legal orders; they have no independent authority to question whether a judge is right or wrong. Their responsibilities include delivering writs and processes and carrying out other orders, which range from making arrests to holding property in the custody of the court. Marshals may exercise the same powers as a state sheriff.
The chain of command for U.S. marshals begins in the White House. The president appoints to a four-year term one marshal for each judicial district. Each appointment is subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Once an appointment is confirmed, the president retains the power to remove the marshal at any time. In the Justice Department, the U.S. attorney general designates where each marshal's office is located. Each marshal appoints her or his own deputies and staff, with salaries based on schedules in federal law.
At the state and local levels, the term marshal is also used to describe police officers whose job is similar to that of a constable or sheriff. It can also denote the head of a city police or fire department.
marshal
1) n. a federal court official who may serve papers and act as a law enforcement officer in keeping order in court, protecting federal officials, making arrests, or participating in court-ordered police activities. Each district court has a Federal Marshal and a corps of deputies. 2) in several states, a law enforcement officer, similar to a sheriff or constable, who serves official documents and occasionally assists in police matters. 3) v. to collect the assets of the estate of a person who has died. This is a function of an executor or administrator of an estate. Sometimes the executor or administrator may ask the court to allow the sale or division of gifts in order to achieve the distribution the testator (writer of a will) desired. This is part of the marshaling process. 4) in bankruptcy, to establish priorities among creditors.
(See: probate, bankruptcy)
marshal
noun arm of the law, bailiff, county officer, court officer, dux, federal officer, law enforcement agent, minor officer of the law, officer, officer of the law, officer who carries out orders of the court, peace officermarshal
verb allocate, allot, apportion, arrange, array, assign, bring to order, collocate, compose, deal out, disponere, distribute, fix, form into ranks, group, guide, index, instruere, introduce order, lead, line up, manage, muster, organize, parcel out, place, place in order, position, put in order, rank, regiment, regulate, set in order, set up, systematizeAssociated concepts: marshaling assets, marshaling liens, marshaling remedies, marshaling securities
See also: allocate, arrange, classify, file, fix, organize, tabulate
MARSHAL. An officer of the United States, whose duty it is to execute the
process of the courts of the United States. His duties are very similar to
those of a sheriff.
2. It is enacted by the act to establish the judicial courts of the
United States, 1 Story's L. U. S. 53, as follows:
Sec. 27. That a marshal shall be appointed, in and for each district,
for the term of four years, but shall be removable from office at pleasure
whose duty it shall be to attend the district and circuit courts, when
sitting therein, and also the supreme court in the district in which that
court shall sit: and to execute throughout the district, all lawful precepts
directed to him, and issued under the authority of the United States, and he
shall have power to command all necessary assistance in the execution of his
duty, and to appoint, as there shall be occasion, one or more deputies, who
shall be removable from office by the judge of the district court, or the
circuit court sitting within the district, at the pleasure of either. And
before he enters on the duties of his office, he shall become bound for the
faithful performance of the same, by himself and by his deputies, before the
judge of the district court, to the United States jointly and severally,
with two good and sufficient sureties, inhabitants and freeholders of such
district, to be approved by the district judge, in the sum of twenty
thousand dollars, and shall take before said judge, as shall also his
deputies, before they enter on the duties of their appointment, the
following oath of office: "I, A B, do solemnly swear or affirm, that I will
faithfully execute all lawful precepts directed to the marshal of the
district of________under the authority of the United States, and true
returns make; and in all things well and truly, and without malice or
partiality, perform the duties of the office of marshal (or marshal's
deputy, as the case may be) of the district of _________ during my
continuance in said office, and take only my lawful fees. So help me God."
3.-Sec. 28. That in all causes wherein the marshal, or his deputy,
shall be a party, the writs and precepts therein shall be directed to such
disinterested person, as the court, or any justice or judge thereof may
appoint, and the person so appointed is hereby authorized to execute and
return the same. And in case of the death of any marshal, his deputy or
deputies, shall continue in office unless otherwise specially removed; and
shall execute the same in the name of the deceased, until another marshal
shall be appointed and sworn: And the defaults, or misfeasances in office of
such deputy or deputies in the mean time, as well as before, shall be
adjudged a breach of the condition of the bond given, as before directed, by
the marshal who appointed them; and the executor or administrator of the
deceased marshal, shall have like remedy for the defaults and misfeasances
in office of such deputy or deputies during such interval, as they would be
entitled to if the marshal had continued in life, and in the exercise of his
said office, until his successor was appointed, and sworn or affirmed: And
every marshal, or his deputy, when removed from office, or when the term for
which the marshal is appointed shall expire, shall have power,
notwithstanding, to execute all such precepts as may be in their hands,
respectively, at the time of such removal or expiration of office; and the
marshal shall be held answerable for the delivery to his successors of all
prisoners which may be in his custody at the time of his removal, or when
the term for which he is appointed shall expire, and for that purpose may
retain such prisoners in his custody, until his successor shall be
appointed, and qualified as the law directs.
4. By the act making certain alterations in the act for establishing
the judicial courts, &c. passed June 9, 1794, 1 Story's L. U. S. 865, it is
enacted,
Sec. 7. That so much of the act to establish the judicial courts of the
United States, as is, or may be, construed to require the attendance of the
marshals of all the districts at the supreme court, shall be, and the same
is hereby repealed: And that the said court shall be attended, during its
session, by the marshal of the district only, in which the court shall sit,
unless the attendance of the marshals of other districts shall be required
by special order of the said court.
5. The act of February 28, 1795, 1 Story's L. U. S. 391, directs,
Sec. 9. That the marshals of the several districts, and their deputies,
shall have the same powers, in executing the laws of the United States, as
sheriffs and their deputies, in the several states, have by law in executing
the laws of the respective states.
6. There are various other legislative provisions in relation to the
duties and rights of marshals, which are here briefly noticed with reference
to the laws themselves.
7.-1. The act of May 8, 1792, s. 4, provides for the payment of
expenses incurred by the marshal in holding the courts of the United States,
the payment of jurors, witnesses, &c.
8.-2. The act of April 16, 1817, prescribes the duties of the marshal
in relation to the proceeds of prizes captured by the public armed ships of
the United States and sold by decree of court.
9.-3. The resolution of congress of March 3, 1791; the act of
February 25, 1799, s. 5; and the resolution of March 3, 1821; all relate to
the duties of marshals in procuring prisons, and detaining and keeping
prisoners.
10.-4. The act of April 10, 1806, directs how and for what, marshals
shall give bonds for the faithful execution of their office.
11.-5. The act of September 18, 1850, s. 5, prescribes the duties of
the marshal in relation to obeying and executing all warrants and precepts
issued under the provisions of this act, and the penalties he shall incur
for refusing to receive and execute the said warrants when rendered, and for
permitting the fugitive to escape after arrest, Vide Story's L. U. S. Index,
h.t.; Serg. Const. Law, ch. 25; 2 Dall. 402; United States v. Burr, 365;
Mason's R. 100; 2 Gall. 101; 4 Cranch, 96; 7 Cranch, 276; 9 Cranch, 86, 212;
6 Wheat. 194; 9 Wheat. 645; Minot, Stat. U. S. Index, h.t.