On December 13, 2021, Christopher R. Barther was designated by the United States Attorney General to serve as the Acting United States Marshal (USM) for the Northern District of Iowa. Acting USM Barther is a senior federal law enforcement executive with over a decade of distinguished senior leadership experience with the United States Marshals Service (USMS). On March 18, 2024, Acting U.S. Marshal Barther was selected to serve within the Office of the Director as the Chief of District Affairs (CODA) and Senior Advisor. In these capacities, he provided USMS Executive Leadership with field-level perspective on agency-wide initiatives and served as a liaison to ensure that operational challenges nationwide were addressed in a timely and effective manner.
Mr. Barther commenced his federal law enforcement career in 2009 with the United States Capitol Police in Washington, D.C. He joined the United States Marshals Service in 2010 as a Deputy United States Marshal assigned to the Southern District of Florida, Miami Field Office, before transferring to the Southern District of Ohio, Dayton Field Office, in 2013. During this assignment, he earned certification from the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) as a Tactical Medic and served as Team Leader for the Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team (SOFAST).
In 2015, Mr. Barther was promoted to Judicial Security Inspector (JSI) for the Northern District of Florida, where he directed all protective operations across a jurisdiction spanning from Gainesville to Pensacola. In 2018, he was elevated to Chief Inspector within the Capture Program Office, Office of the Director, where he developed a proprietary risk-assessment algorithm deployed at federal courthouses throughout the nation. He subsequently served as the agency’s Continuity Program Manager for the Tactical Operations Division (TOD) at USMS headquarters, overseeing classified Continuity of Government (COG) critical missions.
In 2020, Mr. Barther was selected as the Chief Deputy United States Marshal (CDUSM) for the Northern District of Iowa. During this time, Mr. Barther also assumed multiple roles as Incident Commander (IC) for the USMS Incident Management Team (IMT), leading the agency’s response to complex and critical incidents nationwide.
Mr. Barther holds a Master of Science degree (Summa Cum Laude) and a Bachelor of Science degree (Cum Laude) from Florida State University. In 2021, he was recognized by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) as one of the Top 40-Under-40 law enforcement executives internationally. He is also the Distinguished Graduate of his Basic Deputy United States Marshal Academy class.