A US Marshal is a federal law enforcement officer of the United States Marshals Service, a bureau of the US Department of Justice and the oldest federal law enforcement agency in the country. The Service is the enforcement arm of the federal courts: it protects judges and courthouses, tracks down fugitives, holds and transports federal prisoners, runs the federal Witness Security Program and manages assets seized from criminals. Strictly speaking, "US Marshal" is also the title of a specific senior office, one for each of the 94 federal judicial districts, so the officers most people have in mind are Deputy US Marshals.
What is a US Marshal?
The office of the United States Marshal was created on 24 September 1789 by the Judiciary Act, which makes it the first federal law enforcement office in the United States. The US Marshals Service as an agency came much later, in 1969. Today it is a bureau within the Department of Justice, directed by the Attorney General through the USMS Director, with its headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.
Its job is set out in statute. Under 28 U.S.C. § 566(a), it is "the primary role and mission of the United States Marshals Service to provide for the security and to obey, execute, and enforce all orders of the United States District Courts, the United States Courts of Appeals, the Court of International Trade, and the United States Tax Court, as provided by law". The Service describes itself as the enforcement arm of the federal courts, and its geography follows those courts directly: there are 94 federal judicial districts, at least one in every state plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, the US Virgin Islands and Guam, and the Service is organized to mirror them.
Deputies carry firearms and, under 28 U.S.C. § 566(d), may make arrests without a warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence, or for any federal felony where there are reasonable grounds. The Service states that it holds the broadest arrest authority of any federal law enforcement agency.
One point of confusion worth clearing up: the job is very often written as "US Marshall", with two Ls. The correct spelling, in the agency's name and in the job title, has one.
The Service also publishes a set of values, each with its own gloss: Justice, the impartial administration of the law; Integrity, consistency in actions and values; Service, being a resource to the American justice system; Unity, having the people aligned with the mission; Empowerment, through making effective decisions; and Inclusive, by having a diverse workforce and partners.
What does the US Marshals Service do?
The Service publishes a set of mission areas, and a Deputy US Marshal's work can touch several of them: judicial security, custody and transportation of prisoners, fugitive investigations, witness security, asset forfeiture, tactical operations and service of process. Its careers material adds sex offender investigations and a Missing Child Program to that list. The figures below are taken from the USMS fact sheets for the 2025 fiscal year.
Structurally, the Service is authorized for 5,540 employees, of which 3,780 are deputy US marshal and criminal investigator positions and 1,666 are administrative employees and detention enforcement officers (authorized positions, FY2025). It works across 94 districts, 198 sub-offices and four foreign field offices, on an FY2025 budget of $1.692bn for salaries and expenses plus $2.2bn for federal prisoner detention.
1. Judicial security
Protecting the federal judiciary is the Service's central statutory duty: courthouses, judges, jurors and court staff. In FY2025 it protected approximately 2,700 federal judges and around 30,300 federal prosecutors and other court officials across more than 800 judicial facilities, investigated 807 threats, and oversaw approximately 6,061 Court Security Officers.
2. Custody and transportation of prisoners
The Service holds federal prisoners from arrest until they are released, sentenced or transferred to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and moves them to and from court. In FY2025 the average daily detention population was 55,533, with 116,855 prisoners received, about 320 a day, and 533,063 escorts to court. Transport ran to 265,969 movements, 101,090 by air and 164,879 by ground, an average of 1,094 a day. The air arm, JPATS, is the largest transporter of prisoners in the United States and the only government-operated, regularly scheduled passenger airline in the nation.
3. Fugitive investigations
USMS calls itself the federal government's primary agency for fugitive investigations, and states that it apprehends more federal fugitives than all other law enforcement agencies combined. In FY2025 it arrested 73,323 fugitives, 28,533 on federal warrants and 44,790 for state and local agencies, an average of 293 a day across 250 operational days. Those arrests included 10,371 sex offenders, 6,627 gang members and 4,954 homicide suspects. The work runs through eight congressionally funded regional fugitive task forces and 58 local task forces, and the Service also carried out 966 international removals.
4. Witness security
The Service runs the federal Witness Security Program, which began in 1971 and has protected approximately 19,300 participants since, a figure that includes dependent family members as well as witnesses. Witnesses and their families typically receive new identities with documentation.
5. Asset forfeiture
USMS manages and disposes of assets seized from criminals. At the close of FY2025, on 30 September 2025, it held 26,494 assets worth approximately $8.2bn. Over that year $475m was distributed to victims and claimants and $602m was shared with participating agencies.
6. Tactical operations
Tactical operations are one of the Service's published mission areas, delivered by its Special Operations Group.
7. Service of process
Deputies serve federal court documents on individuals and organizations on behalf of the federal court system.
US Marshal or Deputy US Marshal: what is the difference?
A US Marshal is a presidential appointee. Under 28 U.S.C. § 561, the President appoints one US Marshal for each federal judicial district, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a term of four years. There are therefore 94 such posts, one per district. They are appointments rather than jobs you apply for, and the holder directs the Service's operations in that single district. The statute says a Marshal should have a minimum of four years of command-level law enforcement management duties, and requires the appointee to reside in the district, with narrow exceptions. Where the office is vacant, the Attorney General may designate an acting Marshal.
A Deputy US Marshal is something different: a career federal law enforcement officer, hired and paid by the Service. Under 28 U.S.C. § 561(f) the Director is authorized to appoint employees and to designate them as law enforcement officers. This is the role that gets advertised, applied for and trained into, and it is what almost everyone asking how to become a US Marshal actually means. Deputies do the operational work: arrests, judicial protection, prisoner transport and witness security.
That also answers the question of ranks. The published structure runs from the Director of the Service, through the presidentially appointed US Marshals who direct the activities of the 94 districts, to the deputy US marshals and criminal investigators who form the operational workforce, alongside detention enforcement officers and administrative staff.
How US Marshals differ from the FBI
Both are components of the Department of Justice, alongside the DEA, the ATF and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and both employ federal law enforcement officers. The difference is what each one is for.
The FBI is an investigative and intelligence agency. Its published mission is to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States, and its work areas are terrorism, counterintelligence and espionage, cyber crime, violent crime, civil rights, transnational organized crime, white-collar crime and public corruption.
The USMS is the enforcement arm of the federal courts. Its statutory duty is to secure and execute the orders of those courts, which in practice means judicial protection, prisoner custody and transport, witness security, asset forfeiture and fugitive apprehension.
Put concretely: the FBI investigates federal crimes and builds cases, while the Marshals Service protects the court process, holds and moves defendants, and hunts fugitives once warrants exist. The two agencies hire through entirely separate processes.
How to become a Deputy US Marshal
USMS publishes its own requirements for Deputy US Marshal applicants:
- Age. Applicants must typically be between 21 and 36, and must be appointed before their 37th birthday unless they are eligible for a waiver. Applicants under 21 are not considered. The published exceptions cover prior federal service in a covered primary law enforcement or firefighter position, and qualified Veterans' Preference eligibles.
- Citizenship. Proof of US citizenship is required.
- Driver's license. Valid at the point of appointment.
- Clearance. An initial Single Scope Background Investigation (SSBI), followed by periodic reinvestigation.
- Medical. Pre-employment screening, with periodic re-examination afterwards. You must be physically able to safely and efficiently perform law enforcement duties. USMS publishes the standards it applies: 20/20 binocular vision is required and may be corrected with lenses, while uncorrected binocular vision must test 20/200 or better; near vision must be 20/40 or better, corrected or uncorrected; color vision must be sufficient to distinguish basic colors; and hearing is tested in the unaided state using an audiometer, with pure tone thresholds evaluated for each ear at 500, 1000, 2000 and 3000 hertz.
- Fitness. Pre-employment testing, then bi-annual testing for the duration of your career.
- Drugs. Pre-employment screening. The role is a Testing Designated Position, so it is subject to random testing.
- Firearms. You must be willing and able to carry a handgun, and to qualify twice a year on multiple firearms.
- Testimony. You must be willing to give sworn statements and testify in court.
- Mobility. You must be mobile across USMS locations, spend a minimum of three years at your first duty station, and sign a mobility agreement.
Positions are filled at grade levels GL-5, GL-7 and GL-9, and the qualifying route differs by grade:
- GL-5 can be met with three years of progressively responsible general experience, one year of which is at the grade 4 level, or with a completed four-year bachelor's degree in any subject (or one due within nine months), or with a qualifying combination of the two.
- GL-7 needs a year of specialized sworn law enforcement experience at the GL-5 level covering at least three of five listed duties, or one full academic year of related graduate or law study, or Superior Academic Achievement, or a combination.
- GL-9 needs a year of specialized sworn experience at the GL-7 level covering at least four of six listed duties, or two full academic years of related graduate or law study, or a related Master's, LL.B. or J.D., or a combination.
Note what that means: a degree is not required. GL-5 can be met on experience alone, which is one of the most common misunderstandings about this job.
USMS fills these posts using excepted service federal hiring procedures, advertises them on USAJOBS and asks for a two-page resume. Its published stages then run in this order:
- Online assessment. Applicants who meet the minimum qualifications and pass the online assessment are scheduled for a fitness screening.
- Fitness screening. One chance to pass, measured against the minimum standards for your age and gender.
- Structured interview.
- Tentative offer of employment.
- Pre-employment prerequisites: background investigation, medical screening and drug test.
- Final employment offer.
- Training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.
USMS estimates that the process, from application through to completion of training, takes anywhere from six to 24 months.
It is worth being straight about the online assessment. It exists, it is the first hurdle after the application, and USMS refers to it only as "the on-line assessment" and, in its qualifications list, as an initial online application questionnaire plus additional assessments. The Service publishes no name, no format, no list of components, no question count, no duration and no subject matter for it. Anything you read that describes its contents in detail is not coming from USMS. The structured interview is the same: named, with nothing published about its content or format.
Because nothing is published, there is no way to rehearse the assessment itself. What you can do is make sure that timed, multiple-choice reasoning is not the unfamiliar part on the day, with general practice in verbal reasoning, logical reasoning and situational judgment.
The Deputy US Marshal fitness test
The fitness stage is the one part of the selection process that USMS publishes in full. It is called the Physical Efficiency Battery, or PEB, and it has three core assessments:
- A 1.5 mile run
- A one minute push up test
- A one minute sit up test
Standards vary by age band and by gender, in bands of 20 to 29, 30 to 39, 40 to 49 and 50 to 59. In the youngest band, the published standards for men are 12:18 for the run, 33 push ups and 40 sit ups; for women they are 14:55, 16 push ups and 35 sit ups. The standards tables also carry a fourth column, sit and reach, at 17.5 inches for men aged 20 to 29 and 20.0 inches for women in the same band. Sit and reach is not one of the three core assessments, but it does appear alongside them in the tables.
Two features of the PEB catch applicants out. First, at the screening stage you get one attempt, against the standards for your age and gender. Second, the PEB is not a one-off hurdle: candidates must pass it immediately prior to being hired and before attending Basic Deputy United States Marshal Integrated (BDUSMi) training, and serving deputies retest bi-annually for the duration of their career. USMS runs its own FIT Readiness Program to help applicants prepare.
Training and career progression
Successful candidates must complete an 18 to 19 week basic training program at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia. It is called Basic Deputy United States Marshal Integrated, or BDUSMi, training. Note that USMS's two pages give slightly different lengths: the qualifications page says 18 to 19 weeks, the training academy page says approximately 19 weeks.
Instruction is delivered by FLETC instructors together with US Marshals Service instructors. There are five academic exams spanning the entire training program, each of which must be passed with a minimum score of 70%, alongside pass or fail practical exercises throughout.
New deputies enter at GL-5, GL-7 or GL-9 depending on the experience or study they qualified with, so the same academy class can hold people on three different grades. The mobility agreement means a minimum of three years at the first duty station, and the fitness and firearms requirements continue for the whole of the career, not just through selection.
On pay: the figure that matters is the one on the vacancy. Federal law enforcement pay is set by published pay schedules and adjusted for the locality of the duty station, so the grade of the specific post and its location determine the salary. Every USAJOBS posting states the grade and the pay range attached to it. Treat salary figures from jobs aggregator sites with caution, because they are crowd-sourced averages rather than the published federal rates.
One thing the ladder does not lead to is the office of US Marshal itself. That post is filled by presidential appointment with Senate confirmation, not by promotion from the deputy ranks.
Where to apply
You apply to the US Marshals Service itself. No company hires US Marshals or Deputy US Marshals: the Service is a bureau of the Department of Justice, and deputies are federal employees appointed under excepted service hiring authority.
Vacancies are advertised on USAJOBS. USMS states that it will advertise positions there and that the timing and locations vary with the hiring needs of the Service, so postings open periodically rather than being permanently available. Its own advice is to keep a USAJOBS profile with a saved search or job alert set up, so that a posting reaches you when it appears, and to contact a District Recruiting Officer. General recruitment inquiries go to USMS.Recruitment@usdoj.gov, and the Deputy US Marshal careers pages carry the current requirements.
The same route covers the Service's other law enforcement roles, including Detention Enforcement Officer, Aviation Enforcement Officer and Federal Enforcement Officer, as well as its administrative, professional and technical positions. If the goal is federal law enforcement rather than this particular agency, the other Department of Justice components hiring on comparable terms are the FBI, the DEA, the ATF and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
