Puerto Rico court marshals: which orders they serve and when they knock on your door

Marshals carry out the orders judges issue during daily proceedings in the various courtrooms of the Court of First Instance; that is, they perform the step the judge ordered, and for that they sometimes have to travel into the community. The Judiciary notes that delivering justice quickly depends largely on that service being carried out within the terms set by the rules of procedure and current legislation, which requires coordination between the judges who issue the orders, the clerks who handle their administrative processing, and the marshals who serve them. They can work at the Court of First Instance, the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court and the Office of Court Administration, and their duties vary by the area they are assigned to.

This guide is an orientation on what marshals do, not a procedure you apply for. For anyone who wants to become one, the Judiciary publishes two requirements: holding a driver’s licence issued by Puerto Rico’s Department of Transportation and Public Works, and having a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university. Given the nature of the work, the selection process includes additional evaluations — psychological, medical and physical fitness — and a general background investigation of the applicant.

• The orders marshals serve are: summoning the parties involved in cases; arresting a person accused of a crime; serving process on people sued civilly; attaching movable and real property; carrying out evictions; selling attached property at public auction; and expropriating.Verified against the official source
• If the jury is sequestered — kept isolated from all outside contact — the marshal is the one who carries out the court’s orders on the matter.Verified against the official source
• If a juror commits an irregularity or breaks the court’s rules, the marshal is obliged to notify the judge immediately.Verified against the official source
• To become a marshal: a DTOP-issued driver’s licence and a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university, plus psychological, medical and physical-fitness evaluations and a general background investigation.Verified against the official source

• The Judiciary’s page on the marshals’ office is an orientation on their duties and publishes no document list for the public.

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   Step 1: The seven orders they carry out

   Summoning the parties involved in cases. Arresting a person accused of a crime. Serving process on people sued civilly. Attaching movable and real property. Carrying out evictions. Selling attached property at public auction. Expropriating. If your case involves any of those seven, the marshal is who does them, not the judge or the Clerk’s Office.

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   Step 2: Why the timing matters

   The Judiciary explains that delivering justice quickly depends largely on those orders being processed and served within the terms set by the rules of procedure and current legislation. That requires coordination between three parts of the court team: the judges, who issue the orders; the clerks, who handle the administrative processing; and the marshals, who serve them.

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   Step 3: The Investigations Courtroom: your first contact

   Marshals instruct and orient the public visiting the Investigations Courtroom. The Judiciary stresses why that work matters: it is usually the first courtroom anyone has contact with, whether as a party or as someone called to testify in a proceeding.

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   Step 4: If you serve as a juror, they are who attends you

   The safety of the people serving as jurors is in the marshal’s hands, and once selected the marshal attends them through the proceedings. If a juror commits an irregularity or breaks the court’s rules, the marshal must notify the judge immediately. And if the jury is sequestered — kept isolated from all outside contact — the marshal carries out the court’s orders on that.

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   Step 5: Custody and transport of inmates

   When a person held in a penal institution must appear before the court as a witness or for any other matter, the court issues an order the marshal serves. Once the inmate is in the court’s custody, the marshal is responsible for their safety.

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   Step 6: Building security, emergencies included

   They are responsible for security in the courts, with preventive work aimed at protecting life and property and keeping order. That covers judges, prosecutors, lawyers, the parties and anyone visiting the facilities, and surveillance of main entrances, session halls, preliminary hearing rooms, investigations courtrooms, lobbies, all courtrooms and the building’s surroundings. They also handle natural disasters and emergencies such as hostage situations, riots, bomb threats, suspicious devices or packages, fire alarms and protests at the courts or on their grounds.

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   Step 7: The Special Marshals Unit

   The UEA is the unit handling emergencies or circumstances requiring specialized personnel, whether because of the nature of the case or the people involved. It handles any dangerous or risky situation related to judicial functions; custody of dangerous inmates, of witnesses and of jurors; protection of judges and officials who receive threats because of their work; mass evictions; and surveillance of buildings and public property under the Judiciary’s responsibility.

The Marshals’ Office of the Court of First Instance where the case was filed handles service. Marshals also serve at the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court and the Office of Court Administration.

• Believing the judge or the Clerk’s Office carry out orders: the marshal serves them.
• Thinking a marshal only works inside the courtroom: much of their work happens out in the community.
• Looking for marshals’ fees on the marshals’ page: they are in the Supreme Court’s fee schedule.
• Assuming an eviction is carried out without a judgment: the marshal serves the removal order, which comes afterwards.
• Not knowing the Investigations Courtroom is usually anyone’s first contact with the court, and that marshals orient people there.
• Overlooking that, as a juror, any irregularity on your part the marshal is obliged to report to the judge immediately.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico

  Poder Judicial

  poderjudicial.pr

• Judiciary — Court system

  Poder Judicial

  poderjudicial.pr