Background Investigations Conducted by the United States Marshals Service

E&I Report No. I-2005-002
February 2005
Office of the Inspector General


Purpose, Scope, and Methodology


The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reviewed the USMS background investigation program for new applicants and the periodic reinvestigations of current employees and contractors to determine whether the USMS complied with federal regulations and Department policy; whether its investigations and adjudications were timely and thorough; and how it monitored and assessed its process for conducting background investigations and reinvestigations of employees, CSOs, and other contractors whose investigations were adjudicated by USMS headquarters.

To conduct this review, we examined regulations, policies, procedures, and contracts that governed the background investigation process. We interviewed USMS and Department officials involved in the process, including Human Resources Division and Judicial Security Division managers and adjudicators, SEPS officials tasked with oversight and managing adjudications, OPM managers, and USMS and OIG officials responsible for misconduct investigations. We also analyzed 183 random and 29 selected background investigation files to determine whether OPM, FBI, and USMS field investigations and USMS and SEPS headquarters adjudications were thorough, whether the USMS and SEPS analyzed information obtained in the investigations in accordance with OPM and Departmental guidance, and whether the background investigation program had sufficient oversight. Finally, we reviewed USMS databases used in tracking background investigations, both to obtain information and to evaluate their capabilities for case tracking and program management. Full details on the scope and methodology of this review are in Appendix II.