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119th Congress

Title 40 — Public Buildings, Property, and Works

Part C · Chapter 61 — United States Supreme Court Building and Grounds

§ 6121. General

Statutory text

(a)

Authority of Marshal of the Supreme Court and Supreme Court Police.—

In accordance with regulations prescribed by the Marshal of the Supreme Court and approved by the Chief Justice of the United States, the Marshal and the Supreme Court Police shall have authority—

(1)

to police the Supreme Court Building and grounds and adjacent streets to protect individuals and property;

(2)

in any location, to protect—

(A)

the Chief Justice, any Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and any official guest of the Supreme Court;

(B)

any officer or employee of the Supreme Court while that officer or employee is performing official duties; and

(C)

if the Marshal determines such protection is necessary—

(i)

any retired or former Chief Justice or Associate Justice of the Supreme Court; or

(ii)

any member of the immediate family of the Chief Justice, any Associate Justice, any retired or former Chief Justice or Associate Justice, or any officer of the Supreme Court.1

(3)

while performing duties necessary to carry out paragraph (1) or (2), to make arrests for any violation of Federal or State law and any regulation under Federal or State law; and

(4)

to carry firearms as may be required while performing duties under section 6102 of this title, this subchapter, and subchapter IV.

(b)

Authorization To Carry Firearms—

 2 Duties under subsection (a)(2)(A) with respect to an official guest of the Supreme Court in any location (other than the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia) shall be authorized in writing by the Chief Justice or an Associate Justice, if those duties require the carrying of firearms under subsection (a)(4).

Footnotes

  1. 1 So in original. The period probably should be a semicolon.
  2. 2 So in original. The dash probably should be preceded by a period.

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. Pub. L. 107–217 · 116 Stat. 1062

    Enacted · 40 U.S.C. § 6121

    Pub. L. 107–217, Aug. 21, 2002, 116 Stat. 1182

    Source evidence

    Code source credit
    Pub. L. 107–217, Aug. 21, 2002, 116 Stat. 1182

  2. Pub. L. 108–356 § 1 · 118 Stat. 1416

    Substituted · 40 U.S.C. § 6121(b)(2)

    Pub. L. 108–356 substituted “2008” for “2004”

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 108–356 substituted “2008” for “2004”.

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY FOR THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT POLICE TO PROTECT COURT OFFICIALS OFF THE SUPREME COURT GROUNDS.   Section 6121(b)(2) of title 40, United States Code, is amended by striking “2004” and inserting “2008”.

  3. Pub. L. 110–402 § 1(a) · 122 Stat. 4254

    Substituted · 40 U.S.C. § 6121(b)(2)

    Pub. L. 110–402 substituted “2013” for “2008”

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 110–402 substituted “2013” for “2008”.

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    (a) Extension of Authority of the United States Supreme Court Police To Protect Court Officials Off the Supreme Court Grounds.— Section 6121(b)(2) of title 40, United States Code, is amended by striking “2008” and inserting “2013”.

  4. Pub. L. 113–62 § 1 · 127 Stat. 666

    Substituted · 40 U.S.C. § 6121(b)(2)

    Pub. L. 113–62 substituted “2019” for “2013”

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 113–62 substituted “2019” for “2013”.

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY OF SUPREME COURT POLICE TO PROTECT COURT OFFICIALS OFF SUPREME COURT GROUNDS.   Section 6121(b)(2) of title 40, United States Code, is amended by striking “2013” and inserting “2019”.

  5. Reauthorizing Security for Supreme Court Justices Act of 2019

    Pub. L. 116–75 § 2(1)(A) · 133 Stat. 1160

    Substituted · 40 U.S.C. § 6121(a)(2)

    Pub. L. 116–75, § 2(1)(A), substituted “any location” for “any State” in introductory provisions

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 116–75, § 2(1)(A), substituted “any location” for “any State” in introductory provisions.

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    (A) in paragraph (2), in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking “any State” and inserting “any location”; and

  6. Reauthorizing Security for Supreme Court Justices Act of 2019

    Pub. L. 116–75 § 2(1)(B) · 133 Stat. 1160

    Substituted · 40 U.S.C. § 6121(a)(3)

    Pub. L. 116–75, § 2(1)(B), substituted “Federal or State law” for “federal or state law” in two places

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 116–75, § 2(1)(B), substituted “Federal or State law” for “federal or state law” in two places.

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    (B) in paragraph (3)— (i) by striking “violation of federal or state law” and inserting “violation of Federal or State law”; and (ii) by striking “regulation under federal or state law” and inserting “regulation under Federal or State law”; and

  7. Reauthorizing Security for Supreme Court Justices Act of 2019

    Pub. L. 116–75 § 2(2) · 133 Stat. 1160

    1. Substituted · 40 U.S.C. § 6121(b)

      Pub. L. 116–75, § 2(2), substituted “Authorization To Carry Firearms—” for “Additional Requirements Related to Subsection (a)(2).—” in heading

    2. Struck · 40 U.S.C. § 6121(b)

      Pub. L. 116–75, § 2(2), struck out par. (1) designation and heading before “Duties under”

    3. Substituted · 40 U.S.C. § 6121(b)

      Pub. L. 116–75, § 2(2), substituted “any location” for “any State”

    4. Struck · 40 U.S.C. § 6121(b)

      Pub. L. 116–75, § 2(2), struck out par. (2) which provided that the authority provided under subsec. (a)(2) would expire on Dec. 29, 2019

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 116–75, § 2(2), substituted “Authorization To Carry Firearms—” for “Additional Requirements Related to Subsection (a)(2).—” in heading, struck out par. (1) designation and heading before “Duties under”, substituted “any location” for “any State”, and struck out par. (2) which provided that the authority provided under subsec. (a)(2) would expire on Dec. 29, 2019.

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    (2) in subsection (b)— (A) by striking paragraph (2); (B) by striking “Additional Requirements” and all that follows through “Duties under” and inserting “Authorization To Carry Firearms—Duties under”; and (C) by striking “any State” and inserting “any location”.

  8. Supreme Court Police Parity Act of 2022

    Pub. L. 117–148 § 2 · 136 Stat. 1288

    Added · 40 U.S.C. § 6121(a)(2)(C)

    Pub. L. 117–148 added subpar. (C)

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Subsec. (a)(2)(C). Pub. L. 117–148 added subpar. (C).

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO PROTECT FAMILY MEMBERS.   Section 6121(a)(2) of title 40, United States Code, is amended— (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking “and” at the end; (2) in subparagraph (B), by adding “and” after the semicolon; and (3) by adding at the end the following: “(C) any member of the immediate family of the Chief Justice, any Associate Justice, or any officer of the Supreme Court if the Marshal determines such protection is necessary.” .

  9. Pub. L. 119–60 div. H title LXXXII § 8201 · 139 Stat. 1839

    1. Added · 40 U.S.C. § 6121(a)(2)(C)

      Pub. L. 119–60 added subpar. (C)

    2. Struck · 40 U.S.C. § 6121(a)(2)(C)

      Pub. L. 119–60 struck out former subpar. (C) which read as follows: “any member of the immediate family of the Chief Justice, any Associate Justice, or any officer of the Supreme Court if the Marshal determines such protection is necessary.”

    Unresolved: Pub. L. 119–60 was not found in the local Statutes at Large index.

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Subsec. (a)(2)(C). Pub. L. 119–60 added subpar. (C) and struck out former subpar. (C) which read as follows: “any member of the immediate family of the Chief Justice, any Associate Justice, or any officer of the Supreme Court if the Marshal determines such protection is necessary.”

10 of 13 references resolved to an enrolled provision · 1 partial · 2 unresolved

Notes

historicalAndRevision
Historical and Revision Notes
RevisedSectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large)
6121(a)40:13n(a).Aug. 18, 1949, ch. 479, § 9(a), 63 Stat. 617; Pub. L. 93–198, title VII, § 739(g)(8), Dec. 24, 1973, 87 Stat. 829; Pub. L. 97–390, § 1(c)(1), Dec. 29, 1982, 96 Stat. 1957.
6121(b)40:13n(c).Aug. 18, 1949, ch. 479, § 9(c), as added Pub. L. 97–390, § 1(c)(2), Dec. 29, 1982, 96 Stat. 1958; Pub. L. 99–218, Dec. 26, 1985, 99 Stat. 1729; Pub. L. 99–492, § 1, Oct. 16, 1986, 100 Stat. 1240; Pub. L. 101–462, Oct. 25, 1990, 104 Stat. 1079; Pub. L. 103–193, Dec. 14, 1993, 107 Stat. 2293; Pub. L. 104–280, § 1, Oct. 9, 1996, 110 Stat. 3359, Pub. L. 106–518, title III, § 313, Nov. 13, 2000, 114 Stat. 2421.

In this section, the words “any State” are substituted for “any part of the United States” to eliminate unnecessary words and for consistency with section 6101 of the revised title.

In subsection (a)(3), the words “federal or state law and any regulation under federal or state law” are substituted for “a law of the United States or any State and any regulation under such law” for consistency in the revised title.

In subsection (b), the words “The Marshal of the Supreme Court shall report annually to the Congress on March 1 regarding the administrative cost of carrying out his duties under such subsection” are omitted pursuant to section 3003 of the Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset Act of 1995 (31 U.S.C. 1113 note). See, also, page 13 of House Document No. 103–7.

Editorial Notes

Amendments2004–2025 · 6 rounds

2025

Subsec. (a)(2)(C). Pub. L. 119–60 added subpar. (C) and struck out former subpar. (C) which read as follows: “any member of the immediate family of the Chief Justice, any Associate Justice, or any officer of the Supreme Court if the Marshal determines such protection is necessary.”

2022

Subsec. (a)(2)(C). Pub. L. 117–148 added subpar. (C).

2019

Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 116–75, § 2(1)(A), substituted “any location” for “any State” in introductory provisions.

Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 116–75, § 2(1)(B), substituted “Federal or State law” for “federal or state law” in two places.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 116–75, § 2(2), substituted “Authorization To Carry Firearms—” for “Additional Requirements Related to Subsection (a)(2).—” in heading, struck out par. (1) designation and heading before “Duties under”, substituted “any location” for “any State”, and struck out par. (2) which provided that the authority provided under subsec. (a)(2) would expire on .

2013

Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 113–62 substituted “2019” for “2013”.

2008

Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 110–402 substituted “2013” for “2008”.

2004

Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 108–356 substituted “2008” for “2004”.

Credits

2002–2025 · 7 acts
  1. 2002Pub. L. 107–217, , 116 Stat. 1182
  2. 2004Pub. L. 108–356, § 1, , 118 Stat. 1416
  3. 2008Pub. L. 110–402, § 1(a), , 122 Stat. 4254
  4. 2013Pub. L. 113–62, § 1, , 127 Stat. 666
  5. 2019Pub. L. 116–75, § 2, , 133 Stat. 1160
  6. 2022Pub. L. 117–148, § 2, , 136 Stat. 1288
  7. 2025Pub. L. 119–60, div. H, title LXXXII, § 8201, , 139 Stat. 1839.
Show as published

(Pub. L. 107–217, , 116 Stat. 1182; Pub. L. 108–356, § 1, , 118 Stat. 1416; Pub. L. 110–402, § 1(a), , 122 Stat. 4254; Pub. L. 113–62, § 1, , 127 Stat. 666; Pub. L. 116–75, § 2, , 133 Stat. 1160; Pub. L. 117–148, § 2, , 136 Stat. 1288; Pub. L. 119–60, div. H, title LXXXII, § 8201, , 139 Stat. 1839.)

Parsed from the official OLRC USLM XML in data/usc_all/usc40.xml · release point 119-108 · OLRC build 2026-09-16

USLM identifier /us/usc/t40/s6121