Thus, the Marshals also provided local representation for the Federal government within their districts. They took the national census every 10 years through 1870. They distributed presidential proclamations, collected a variety of statistical information on commerce and manufacturing, supplied the names of government employees for the national register and preformed other routine tasks needed for the central government to function effectively.

Over the past 200 years, Congress and the president also called on the Marshals to carry out unusual or extraordinary missions such as; registering enemy aliens in time of war, capturing fugitive slaves, sealing the American border against armed expeditions aimed at foreign countries and swapping spies with the Soviet Union.