Skip to content

Title 28 — Judiciary and Judicial Procedure

Part III · Chapter 45 — Supreme Court

§ 672. Marshal

Statutory text

(a)

The Supreme Court may appoint a marshal, who shall be subject to removal by the Court, and may fix his compensation.

(b)

The marshal may, with the approval of the Chief Justice of the United States, appoint and fix the compensation of necessary assistants and other employees to attend the Court, and necessary custodial employees.

(c)

The marshal shall:

(1)

Attend the Court at its sessions;

(2)

Serve and execute all process and orders issued by the Court or a member thereof;

(3)

Take charge of all property of the United States used by the Court or its members;

(4)

Disburse funds appropriated for work upon the Supreme Court building and grounds under the jurisdiction of the Architect of the Capitol upon certified vouchers submitted by the Architect;

(5)

Disburse funds appropriated for the purchase of books, pamphlets, periodicals and other publications, and for their repair, binding, and rebinding, upon vouchers certified by the librarian of the Court;

(6)

Pay the salaries of the Chief Justice, associate justices, and all officers and employees of the Court and disburse other funds appropriated for disbursement, under the direction of the Chief Justice;

(7)

Pay the expenses of printing briefs and travel expenses of attorneys in behalf of persons whose motions to appear in forma pauperis in the Supreme Court have been approved and when counsel have been appointed by the Supreme Court, upon vouchers certified by the clerk of the Court;

(8)

Oversee the Supreme Court Police.

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

  1. Title 28, United States Code, section —

    Pub. L. 80–646 · 62 Stat. 869

    Enacted · 28 U.S.C. § 672

    June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 918

    Source evidence

    Code source credit
    June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 918

  2. Pub. L. 88–279 § 2(a) · 78 Stat. 158

    Struck · 28 U.S.C. § 672(c)(6)

    Pub. L. 88–279, § 2(a), struck out “except the clerk, his deputies and employees,” after “employees of the Court”

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Subsec. (c)(6). Pub. L. 88–279, § 2(a), struck out “except the clerk, his deputies and employees,” after “employees of the Court”.

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    (a) The sixth paragraph of subsection (c) of section 672 of title 28, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: “(6) Pay the salaries of the Chief Justice, Associate Justices, and all officers and employees of the Court and disburse other funds appropriated for disbursement, under the direction of the Chief Justice;”,

    Effective date note
    Amendment by Pub. L. 88–279 effective upon appropriation and availability of funds to pay salaries and other expenses of the clerk’s office, see section 4 of Pub. L. 88–279, set out as a note under section 671 of this title.

  3. Pub. L. 88–279 § 2(b) · 78 Stat. 158

    Added · 28 U.S.C. § 672(c)(7)

    Pub. L. 88–279, § 2(b), added par. (7)

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Subsec. (c)(7). Pub. L. 88–279, § 2(b), added par. (7).

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    (b) Section 672(c) is further amended by adding at the end thereof the fol lowing new paragraph: “(7) Pay the expenses of printing briefs and travel expenses of attorneys in behalf of persons whose motions to appear in forma pauperis in the Supreme Court have been approved and when counsel have been appointed by the Supreme Court, upon vouchers certified by the clerk of the Court.”

    Effective date note
    Amendment by Pub. L. 88–279 effective upon appropriation and availability of funds to pay salaries and other expenses of the clerk’s office, see section 4 of Pub. L. 88–279, set out as a note under section 671 of this title.

  4. Pub. L. 97–390 § 2 · 96 Stat. 1957

    Added · 28 U.S.C. § 672(c)(8)

    Pub. L. 97–390 added par. (8)

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Subsec. (c)(8). Pub. L. 97–390 added par. (8).

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    Sec. 2. Section 672(c) of title 28, United States Code, is amended— (1) by striking out the period at the end of paragraph (7) and inserting in lieu thereof a semicolon; and (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: “(8) Oversee the Supreme Court Police.”.

3 of 4 references resolved to an enrolled provision · 1 partial

Notes

Historical and Revision Notes

Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §§ 325, 331, and section 13d of title 40, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Public Buildings, Property and Works (Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 231, §§ 219, 224, 36 Stat. 1152, 1153; April 11, 1928, ch. 358, 45 Stat. 424; May 7, 1934, ch. 222, § 4, 48 Stat. 668).

This section consolidates part of section 325 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., with section 331 of such title and section 13d of title 40, U.S.C., 1940 ed.

Provisions of section 325 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., relating to appointment of clerk and reporter of the Supreme Court are incorporated in sections 671 and 673 of this title.

Provision of section 331 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., fixing the marshal’s salary at “not to exceed $5,500 per annum” was omitted and the court given authority to fix the salary in conformity with sections 671 and 673 of this title relating to the clerk and the reporter.

Part of subsection (c)(5) is new. It recognizes the propriety of certification by the Court Librarian of vouchers for expenditures for the library. (See reviser’s note under section 674 of this title.)

The marshal’s duties as superintendent of the Supreme Court building are incorporated in section 13c of title 40, U.S.C., 1940 ed.

Changes were made in phraseology.

Editorial Notes

Amendments1964–1982 · 2 rounds

1982

Subsec. (c)(8). Pub. L. 97–390 added par. (8).

1964

Subsec. (c)(6). Pub. L. 88–279, § 2(a), struck out “except the clerk, his deputies and employees,” after “employees of the Court”.

Subsec. (c)(7). Pub. L. 88–279, § 2(b), added par. (7).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 1964 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 88–279 effective upon appropriation and availability of funds to pay salaries and other expenses of the clerk’s office, see section 4 of Pub. L. 88–279, set out as a note under section 671 of this title.

Appropriations

Annual appropriations to carry out amendment of this section by Pub. L. 88–279, see section 3 of Pub. L. 88–279, set out as a note under section 671 of this title.

Credits

1948–1982 · 3 acts
  1. 1948June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 918
  2. 1964Pub. L. 88–279, § 2, , 78 Stat. 158
  3. 1982Pub. L. 97–390, § 2, , 96 Stat. 1958.
Show as published

(June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 918; Pub. L. 88–279, § 2, , 78 Stat. 158; Pub. L. 97–390, § 2, , 96 Stat. 1958.)

Parsed from the official OLRC USLM XML in data/usc_all/usc28.xml · release point 119-108 · OLRC build 2026-04-17

USLM identifier /us/usc/t28/s672