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Marshal v.s City Police whats the diffrence?

divebomb
In my town we have Marshals, In all the surrounding towns they have city police and the county sheriffs. And of course the state police.
Whats the diffrence in there athority?
Just currious, I know they all work together these days, but I was told that marshals have ultimate athority, and that there are only a few towns left in the usa that have true marshals.
does anyone know anything about this?
thanks, just curious.[:)]
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Comments

17 comments

Date Votes
  • Henry0Reilly
    That's not something to ask of the entire forum here - you would need perhaps an attorney from Idaho.

    btw - have ya'll had any luck finding a contestant for Miss Black America yet?
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  • divebomb
    I wasnt asking for any legal advice, I was just curious to know the diffrence betweena city cop and a marshal.
    and as far as the other, I wouldnt know.
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  • Doc
    There may be some small technical differences or maybe it's just custom to call the local police marshals.

    I think at one time the marshal was elected (like the county sheriff) and the police chief was appointed by city leader(s).

    I seem to recall some scandal a couple years back about marshals. If I remember each incorporated city in this state could appoint one marshal. Now it's just a ceremonial position but technically the marshals have full police powers and some of these boneheads were abusing their "authority."

    I asked a cop last night about the "Highway Police." I see both State Trooper cars and Highway Police cars. Apparently they have overlapping jurisdiction on the highways and maybe the Highway Police are tied to communities that have highways passing through their boundaries.

    Whole lot of different cop shops around here.
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  • divebomb
    i know there are allot of law enforcement people around this forum from all branches, and thought one might know the answere, or even sort of know the answer. [:)]
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  • divebomb
    thanks SP.
    For some reason I thought marshals were some sort of hold over from the wild west. I think its kind of cool we have a marshal.
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  • nashflash
    divebomb, I work for a small Texas PD that was a City Marshal's Office in the early 1990's and at the time was the city's only law enforcement agency. That's sounds like the case in your town. The difference with us when we were a Marshal's Office was the City Marshal was elected where the Chief of Police position is apointed by the city council. I know here in Texas most of the elected Marshal's positions are becoming a thing of the past. In a lot of the larger cities throughout the U.S., city mayors appoint City Marshals who's duties are similar to a county constable but mainly carry out the duties of the municipal courts. They execute warrants and other civil process as well as acting as the court bailiff. Hope this helps.
    nashflash
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  • Sigfan
    I used to live in Fountain Hills, AZ. They have a Marshal's dept. Here is what they say the duty differences are for them vs the Sheriff's Office:

    http://www.fountainhillsguide.com/gov_lawenf.html
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  • divebomb
    thanks nashflash and Saxon. I appriciate the info[:)]
    Its funny here you can drive north on a 10 mile section of highway, and could be pulled over by a bellevue marshal, haily city cop, ketchum city cop, sun valley city cop, blaine county sheriff, or an Idaho state trooper. Go ten miles in the other dirrection and the only law youll find is a camas county sheriff.[:)]
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  • divebomb
    and sig fan thanks you posted while i was typeing the other.
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  • Nighthawk
    A Marshall is a Federal Agent with Nationwide authority. HTH !!
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  • divebomb
    Are there two types of marshals then, because the ones here are not federal agents I dont think? maybe they are. I think in my area the marshal was the first law agents in the area. I could be wrong on that though.

    I know what you mean though, cause some marshals are federal agents.
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  • Laredo Lefty
    quote:Originally posted by Nighthawk
    A Marshall is a Federal Agent with Nationwide authority. HTH !!


    A federal marshall has nationwide authority, but county marshalls dont.

    In Orange County Cal where Iam we had Marshalls. They worked in the court system as bailiffs and served process papers. They were absorbed by the Orange County Sheriffs Dept and dont exhist anymore.

    They did have Peace Officer authority throughout the state just as city police, sheriffs etc.

    Also, we once had the Calif State Police who policed state govt buildings, protected the Capitol etc. They have been absorbed by the Calif Highway Patrol.
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  • Nighthawk
    I have a few U.S. Marshal's that are good friends, I'll ask them and find out for sure. But Im almost positive a Marshal has Federal jurisdiction.
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  • Laredo Lefty
    If they are "US" Marshalls they do have Federal Authority, but local "County" or "City" marshalls dont.
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  • Nighthawk
    I would say Laredo Lefty hit the nail on the head.
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  • JamesRK
    U. S. Marshals are to the federal court system as the Sheriffs are to the county court system. Their duties include maintaining order and security in the federal courts, transporting people in federal custody and capturing federal fugitives.

    City or town marshals duties are similar to a U. S. Marshal's except on a city or town level.

    There is a U. S. Marshals' Office in the Danville Post Office. Their main interest seems to be unauthorized parking behind the Post Office and keeping guns out of the Post Office.
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  • givette
    Dateline: Connecticut. Mid '80's.

    I (homeowner) had to evict. Local PD (street cops) wouldn't touch it.

    Had to hire the services of a marshall to accomplish the task of serving papers, etc. Joe
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