Thomas J. Kilbride was sworn in as the Acting United States Marshal for the Southern District of Georgia on August 3, 2026, following his designation by the Acting Attorney General of the United States.
Acting United States Marshal Kilbride oversees all United States Marshals Service (USMS) operations in the Southern District of Georgia, including federal judicial security, court security, fugitive investigations and apprehension, sex offender and missing child investigations, prisoner operations, asset forfeiture, and service of process.
Acting Marshal Kilbride began his law enforcement career as a U.S. Border Patrol Agent in San Diego, California, and was the Agent in Charge of the Imperial Beach Boat Unit. In 1995, Mr. Kilbride joined U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) Investigations as a Special Agent, where he spent the next 14 years with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO) as a Task Force Officer and Supervisor, pursuing fugitives from murderers to drug dealers with the USMS New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force (NY/NJ RFTF). While serving on the INS Special Response Team (SRT), Mr. Kilbride was the lead liaison between the New York City’s INS SRT, the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) Intelligence Division, and the NYPD Emergency Services Unit before, during, and after the transport of Zacarias Moussaoui (commonly referred to as the 20th Hijacker of 9/11). Over the course of his career, Mr. Kibride’s efforts both as a case agent and supervisor have led to more than 1,800 arrests and prosecutions of criminal felons.
After retiring from federal service, Mr. Kilbride served as a Policy Advisor in ICE’s Office of the Director, where he reviewed and investigated cases of sexual abuse and assault pursuant to the Prison Rape Elimination Act, advised ICE Leadership of substantively deficient investigation, and managed the review of policies, legal authorities, and Agency/Departmental regulations pertaining to law enforcement program matters. Prior to joining the USMS, Mr. Kilbride was an instructor at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia, where he taught courses such as Law Enforcement Tactics, Active Shooter, and Use of Force.
In addition to his extensive law enforcement career, Mr. Kilbride is a combat veteran, having served with the United States Marine Corps for over 24 years, 6 of those years on active duty as a Rifleman and Platoon Sargent with the 1st Battalion 3rd Marines, and the following 18 years in the reserves, where he served as a Military Police Officer and Investigator with the Criminal Investigation Division before retiring honorably as a First Sergeant. Mr. Kilbride has also served in state/local law enforcement, as a Patrol Police Officer/Master Police Officer at two different Police Departments in South Carolina, as well as a Homicide Detective in the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office in Newark, New Jersey, where he investigated and assisted in more than 100 murders cases between 2011 and 2019.
Mr. Kilbride holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the Centenary University, and has received more than 20 Special Achievement and Special Acts awards from both U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security. While serving on the NY/NJ RFTF, Mr. Kilbride and his team received the ICE Director’s Award in 2011 for “Excellence in Law Enforcement,” and in 2001, he was named the “Investigator of the Year” by the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation for Supervising the post-9/11 Deputy Attorney General’s Alien Absconder Initiative in New York City, resulting in over 300 felony arrests. Mr. Kilbride is a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association.