William “Billy” K. Marshall III is the 13th Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, sworn in on April 24, 2025, after President Donald Trump selected him to run an agency the Government Accountability Office has labeled “high-risk” for years.1Federal Bureau of Prisons. Deputy AG Blanche Swears in William K Marshall III2U.S. Government Accountability Office. Strengthening Management of the Federal Prison System A former state trooper and West Virginia corrections commissioner, Marshall has spent his first year framing his tenure as a “reset” built around reducing recidivism, while simultaneously terminating the workers’ union contract, absorbing bipartisan criticism from Congress, and defending a deputy director pick with a federal drug conviction in his past.
Marshall’s Career Before the BOP
Marshall spent more than 25 years with the West Virginia State Police before retiring in July 2017. He then served as Criminal Investigation Director for what is now West Virginia’s Department of Homeland Security, followed by a role as Assistant Commissioner for the state’s Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation and Bureau of Juvenile Services starting in May 2018.3Correctional Leaders Association. William K Marshall Governor Jim Justice appointed him Commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation in January 2023, the job he held until Trump tapped him for the federal role.4Forbes. Trump Announces New Director of the Bureau of Prisons He holds a degree from Marshall University and graduated from the West Virginia State Police Academy.
Trump announced the appointment on Truth Social in early April 2025.4Forbes. Trump Announces New Director of the Bureau of Prisons Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who administered the oath, called Marshall a “seasoned law enforcement and corrections professional with more than 30 years in public service.”1Federal Bureau of Prisons. Deputy AG Blanche Swears in William K Marshall III
The Agency He Walked Into
The BOP is the largest component of the Department of Justice, operating 122 facilities across six regions, employing roughly 35,000 people, and overseeing approximately 153,000 to 155,000 federal inmates on a budget above $8 billion.5DOJ Office of the Inspector General. Compendium of Federal Bureau of Prisons Oversight Products6Federal Bureau of Prisons. Population Statistics7U.S. Department of Justice. FY 2026 Budget Request – Federal Prison System It was in crisis when Marshall took over.
Correctional officer ranks had fallen from nearly 19,000 in fiscal 2016 to about 15,600 by fiscal 2024, a vacancy rate around 24 to 25 percent.8Congress.gov. Federal Bureau of Prisons Staffing9Forbes. A Year of Change for the Bureau of Prisons10House Judiciary Committee Democrats. Judiciary Democrats Demand BOP Immediately Address Pervasive Staffing Shortages and Safety Failures11DOJ Office of the Inspector General. Top Management and Performance Challenges – Challenge 112Courthouse News Service. The US Government Is Closing a Women’s Prison and Other Facilities After Years of Abuse and Decay
FCI Dublin, the federal women’s prison near San Francisco, produced the worst of the scandals. At least eight employees were charged with sexually abusing inmates since 2021, and the government paid nearly $116 million to settle lawsuits on behalf of 103 women.13NPR. Federal Prison California Sexual Abuse Settlement Peters resigned on January 20, 2025, the first day of Trump’s second term.14Forbes. Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters Out on Trumps First Day Acting Director William Lathrop retired on February 28, 2025, along with five other senior leaders including the General Counsel and two regional directors, leaving the agency without confirmed leadership for roughly three months while the Attorney General’s office issued policy memos directly to staff.15Forbes. Bureau of Prisons Executives Announce Retirement Ahead of New Director
The “Reset”
In an April 2026 interview, Marshall said the BOP should no longer be “measured by how many people we have incarcerated” but by “how many people we release back into society that never come back.”16Forbes. Director Marshall Plots New Direction for the Bureau of Prisons
The First Step Act Task Force
His signature early move was a dedicated First Step Act task force at the Designation and Sentence Computation Center, led by executive Rick Stover and staffed with more than 30 analysts.17Forbes. Bureau of Prisons Task Force Taking Shape, Challenges Remain BOP computer systems had been miscalculating earned time credits and holding inmates past their release dates. Marshall publicly acknowledged that “staff were taking the blame for delays they didn’t cause.”18Federal Bureau of Prisons. Launch of FSA Task Force The task force manually stacks First Step Act and Second Chance Act credits to set home confinement dates, starting with inmates already in halfway houses and then moving to those still inside prison walls. The agency’s budget allocates $409 million for First Step Act implementation.16Forbes. Director Marshall Plots New Direction for the Bureau of Prisons
Case managers still lack an updated program statement and continue to be pulled off FSA work to cover correctional officer shifts.17Forbes. Bureau of Prisons Task Force Taking Shape, Challenges Remain
Home Confinement, Oversight, and Training
Marshall is pushing outside stakeholders to change federal statutory language so he can place eligible individuals directly into home confinement without a halfway house stay; the Second Chance Act currently caps home confinement at 10 percent of the sentence, up to six months.16Forbes. Director Marshall Plots New Direction for the Bureau of Prisons No legislation has been introduced.
He has moved the agency toward active cooperation with the GAO and the Inspector General after years of tension, and has raised the possibility of equipping officers with body cameras, calling them a potential “game changer” for verifying conduct. The camera idea remains in discussion, with no pilot announced. Marshall has said staff training lapsed for more than two years under prior leadership and is reinvesting in it, and he has introduced a diversion program for minor staff disciplinary matters. On healthcare, he has floated outsourcing medical care and is analyzing where medical staffing needs are greatest.16Forbes. Director Marshall Plots New Direction for the Bureau of Prisons
The Money Behind the Reset
The BOP received $8.1 billion for fiscal 2026, below the $8.75 billion it had requested.7U.S. Department of Justice. FY 2026 Budget Request – Federal Prison System16Forbes. Director Marshall Plots New Direction for the Bureau of Prisons The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in July 2025, added a one-time $5 billion investment: $3 billion for staffing and training, $2 billion for critical infrastructure.19Federal Bureau of Prisons. One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the BOP Marshall has cautioned that this is not ongoing operational money and must be managed for long-term impact.
The FY 2026 request also earmarks about $227 million for critical staffing shortages, including 587 new correctional officer positions and restored recruitment and retention incentives, and $1.6 billion for reentry programs split between the First Step Act and the Second Chance Act.7U.S. Department of Justice. FY 2026 Budget Request – Federal Prison System
The Josh Smith Appointment
In June 2025, Marshall named Joshua J. Smith as Deputy Director. Smith, 50 at the time, had served five years in federal prison after a 1998 conviction for conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine and marijuana, and received a full pardon from Trump in January 2021.20The Marshall Project. Josh Smith Bureau of Prisons Reaction After his release he built and sold a home repair and construction business and founded the Fourth Purpose Foundation, a faith-based nonprofit focused on correctional best practices that he seeded with $10 million of his own money. The BOP called him the first person appointed to a senior leadership position in the agency after personally serving time in its custody.21Federal Bureau of Prisons. Biography of the Deputy Director
Union leaders objected sharply. Brandy Moore White, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council of Prison Locals, said many members saw a “double standard” given the agency’s rigorous background checks. Regional union vice president Josh Lepird called the appointment “unbelievable” and warned it was driving staff to leave. An anonymous Miami correctional officer told The Marshall Project he would “never accept a former inmate supervising me.”20The Marshall Project. Josh Smith Bureau of Prisons Reaction
Ending the Union Contract
On September 25, 2025, Marshall terminated the collective bargaining agreement with the Council of Prison Locals, which represents over 30,000 prison workers. He called the contract an “obstacle to making changes intended to improve safety and morale” and said pay and benefits guaranteed by law would remain in place.22The New York Times. Federal Prisons Workers Union The move followed executive orders the Trump administration had issued starting in March 2025 to end collective bargaining across federal agencies.
In November 2025, the union sued in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, arguing the termination violated the Administrative Procedure Act because the BOP failed to provide a “reasoned explanation,” and adding a First Amendment retaliation claim.23Federal News Network. BOP Union Seeks Restoration of Collective Bargaining Through New Lawsuit24Government Executive. Correctional Officers Sue for Restoration of Union Rights The case is before U.S. District Judge Vernon Oliver. No ruling had been issued as of the most recent reporting.
Congressional and GAO Scrutiny
In February 2026, Democratic ranking members of the House Judiciary Committee’s oversight and crime subcommittees sent Marshall a detailed letter demanding answers on a May 2025 hiring freeze, staff losses to agencies like ICE, First Step Act compliance, the impact of the terminated union contract, and conditions across all 122 facilities.10House Judiciary Committee Democrats. Judiciary Democrats Demand BOP Immediately Address Pervasive Staffing Shortages and Safety Failures The letter noted the Republican majority had declined to invite a BOP witness to a 2025 joint hearing on federal corrections oversight.25House Judiciary Committee Democrats. Letter to Director Marshall Regarding BOP Staffing Issues
Democrats have also criticized the administration for ending a long-running incentive pay plan that cut some officers’ pay by up to 25 percent, while providing nearly $12 billion in pay increases and bonuses to ICE and Customs and Border Protection personnel with no equivalent funding for BOP staff.26House Judiciary Committee Democrats. Trumps Funding Cuts, Attacks on Federal Workers Are Exacerbating Safety and Security Challenges in the Bureau of Prisons
The GAO’s February 2025 update kept “Strengthening Management of the Federal Prison System” on its high-risk list, finding some progress but that “much more needs to be done” on infrastructure, staffing, and recidivism reduction.2U.S. Government Accountability Office. Strengthening Management of the Federal Prison System To come off the list, the BOP must show strong leadership commitment, adequate capacity, a credible action plan, a monitoring system, and documented results.27U.S. Government Accountability Office. High Risk List Whether Marshall’s reset delivers those results is the open question of his tenure, and one the GAO, the Inspector General, Congress, and the federal courts will continue to test.