18 U.S.C. § 4086
Section 4086 · Temporary safe-keeping of federal offenders by marshals
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 14 court decisions — leading case Palmigiano v. Travisono (1970)
Most recently applied in Thiersaint v. Department of Homeland Security (November 2023)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
United States marshals shall provide for the safe-keeping of any person arrested, or held under authority of any enactment of Congress pending commitment to an institution.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §§691, 692, (R.S. §§5537, 5538).
Said section 691 of title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., is superseded by sections 753b and 753c of title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., which are incorporated in sections 4002, 4003 and 4042 of this title.
This section is rewritten to retain the intent of section 692 of title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., which was to insure a safekeeping of United States prisoners until their commitment or confinement in Federal penal institutions. The language conforms with that of said sections 692 and 753b.
Minor changes were made in phraseology.
Cross References
Bureau of Prisons responsible for safekeeping of United States prisoners, see sections 4002 and 4042 of this title.
Construction of Federal prisons in States without facilities for Federal prisoners, see sections 4003 and 4009 of this title.