By Bonnie Culverhouse
There’s more to the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) than meets the eye. And Brian Barber, the new U.S. Marshall for the Western District of Louisiana, shared many of his office’s functions with the Minden Lions Club last week.
Barber spent 20 years as a prosecutor in Caddo and DeSoto parishes and 12 years on the bench as a Shreveport City Court Judge, including as Chief Judge.
He was recently appointed by the U.S. Senate as U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Louisiana, which includes 42 of the state’s 64 parishes.
“The Western District is effectively everywhere except the Baton Rouge and New Orleans areas,” he said.
Barber said he retired as a judge on May 21 and was sworn in as Marshal May 22.
“A lot of what we do, people don’t see,” he said.
- Protect federal judges at five courthouses in Barber’s district
“We protect the judges and our ‘house.’ There is no Plan B if we fail,” he said. “That is not a possibility. We’re going to do it and we’re going to do it right.”
- Conduct fugitive and investigative operations
“That’s going and getting the bad folks,” Barber explained. “That’s going and getting the federal fugitives. But also, we jump in with local law enforcement when needed. We will step in if they call us and give back up or take over the operation … whatever it takes.”
- Provide safe and humane custody care of prisoners (With more than $2.2 million in total expenditures for federal prisoners in 2025).
*In 2025, USMS received 116,855 prisoners.
*Average number of prisoners in USMS custody each day: 55,533.
* Prisoners produced in court and other required appearances: 533,063.
*Contracts with state and local governments to rent jail space.
- Manage seized assets
*Assets received in 2025: 9,973.
*Assets disposed of in 2025: 12,381.
*$475 million distributed to victims of crime in 2025.
*$603 million shared with local and state law enforcement agencies in 2025.
- Protect federal witnesses
- Respond to national emergencies
- Respond to Interpol, a global-wide policing agency
Barber said USMS has “been knocking the hell out of sex offenders.”
“More than 10,371 sex offenders were arrested last year and 343 ‘Adam Walsh Act’ violators,” he said.
Barber added that USMS coordinates with local sheriff and police departments to ensure they are arrested and then held accountable by law.
“We don’t do it by ourselves … it’s with these guys (and ladies),” he added.
In 2025, Marshals received 823 requests for assistance on missing child cases and recovered 583 missing or endangered children.
They also help with witness protection participants who need education to learn a trade.
“Some of them are drug dealers that have turned on their bosses,” he explained. “They’ve never known how to do anything else but sell drugs. We’re going to teach them something so, hopefully, they will be weaned and on their own and earn a living the honest way.”
Since USMS started the witness protection program, there have been more than 19,300 participants.
“We haven’t had any of them harmed or killed yet,” he said. “That’s another one of those – there’s no room for error.”
For more information on the functions of the U.S. Marshals
Service, visti USMarshals.gov.