Prisoner Operations

In order to house these pre-sentenced prisoners, the Marshals Service contracts with approximately 1,800 state and local governments to rent jail space. Seventy-five percent of the prisoners in Marshals Service custody are detained in state, local and private facilities; the remainder are housed in Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facilities.

Individuals who are arrested or detained for violating federal statutes must be brought before a magistrate or judge for an initial hearing. After the hearing, prisoners may either be released or remanded into the custody of the respective U.S. marshal to await their trial. If a prisoner is subsequently convicted, it is the
Marshals Service’s responsibility to deliver him or her to the designated institution to serve the imposed sentence.

In locations where detention space is scarce, the Marshals Service provides select state and local governments with Cooperative Agreement Program (CAP) funds to improve local jail facilities and to expand jail capacities. In return, the agency receives guaranteed detention bed space for its federal prisoners. Since the fund’s establishment in 1982, the USMS has awarded more than $273 million in CAP funds to state and local jails throughout the nation — resulting in more than 10,340 active CAP bed spaces for federal prisoners. However, new CAP funds have not been available since 2005.

The responsibility of detaining federal prisoners is challenging in its diversity and complexity. Deputy marshals must resolve issues such as: arranging for the hospitalization and care of prisoners with terminal illnesses or contagious diseases; finding lodging for dependent children of prisoner/alien material witnesses; and deciding whether the Marshals Service will grant the transfer of prisoners to state authorities pursuant to state writs.

Prisoner Medical Care

The Marshals Service relies on state and local jails as well as BOP detention facilities to provide in-house medical care. However, the Marshals Service is responsible for providing a secure escort and paying for care when a prisoner must go to medical facilities in the local community. (See USMS Prisoner Health Care Standards.)

The Marshals Service faces an increasing number of prisoners suffering from extremely complex medical problems such as cancer, terminal AIDS and liver/kidney failure. The Marshals Service is also concerned with protecting its staff, other prisoners and the general public from exposure to infectious diseases such as active tuberculosis. These cases present a distinct challenge to already limited agency personnel resources. 

The Marshals Service has implemented medical cost containment initiatives by establishing: preferred provider medical networks; centralized medical bill review and pricing; locked hospital wards in local facilities; and interagency cooperative efforts with the U.S. Public Health Service and the Department of Veterans Affairs. During the past 10 years, the Marshals Service has reduced its prisoner medical
care costs by $300 million through innovative projects. Congress has authorized the Marshals Service to apply Medicare/Medicaid rates for prisoner medical bills.