Statement of Howard Safir, Assistant Director, US Marshals Service Before the House Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties and the Administration of Justice Concerning the Witness Security Program on June 22, 1983

• NCJ Number: 90120
• Author(s): H Safir
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 9 pages
• Corporate Author: US Dept of Justice
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

With few exceptions, the Marshals Service supports the bill entitled the United States Marshals Service and the Witness Security Reform Act of 1983 in its intent to clarify and codify existing witness security program policies and procedures.

Abstract

The proposed act codifies procedures already initiated by the Marshals Service. The Marshals Service does recommend that certain provisions of the proposed act be modified to conform with existing program procedures that facilitate operational effectiveness and administrative efficiency. The authority to enter into an agreement with the witness and his/her family should remain with the Marshals Service rather than with only the Deputy Attorney General, the Associate Attorney General, or an Assistant Attorney General. Further, the Marshals Service should be allowed to disclose a witness' relocation area and new identity to a creditor to permit legal action in the relocation area. Also, the Service urges the inclusion of language which would require the States to assist the Attorney General and the Service in the provision of necessary documentation papers for all program participants. In the section of the bill which provides the Service with the authority to credit to its appropriation fees collected as a result of the service process, the language should be revised to equip the Service to execute a national forfeiture program.