Upon the retirement of United States Marshal (USM) William R. Hart Jr. on August 30, 2025, pursuant to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, Chief Deputy United States Marshal Katherine R. Burns assumed the role of Acting United States Marshal for the District of New Hampshire.
In 2004, Acting USM Burns began her law enforcement career as a police officer with the Kingston, NH Police Department, assigned to patrol and investigations.
In 2009, Acting USM Burns transitioned to federal service, joining the U.S. Marshals Service with an initial assignment at District of Columbia, Superior Court. In 2012, she transferred to the District of Massachusetts (D/MA) where she ultimately promoted to Supervisor. In this role, she supervised both operations and investigations in all three (3) District of Massachusetts offices. Due to her extensive experience in threat investigations, Acting USM Burns and D/MA were selected to serve as the pilot Supervisor and district, for the newly established Judicial Security Unit (JSU). This pilot ultimately served as a model, during agencywide implementation. Acting USM Burns held the JSU Supervisory position for several years, also serving in an NTE as acting Assistant Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal, until promoting to Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal for the District of New Hampshire in 2023.
Acting USM Burns has received recognition and several awards throughout her career, highlighting her significant contributions to complex law enforcement operations. Early in her career as a Kingston Police Officer, she was recognized as Officer of the Year and received commendations for her substantial impact in the community, while working undercover operations with the Drug Enforcement Administration, state and federal partners. Once employed by the U.S. Marshals Service, she continued to be recognized for her investigative efforts. Among accolades received include investigative achievement awards from the United States Attorney’s Office for her involvement in the high-profile Boston Marathon Bombing investigation (U.S. v Dzhokar Tsarnaev) where she served as the lead threat investigator and in the case of U.S. v. John George Jr.
Simultaneous to her law enforcement employment, Acting USM Burns earned her bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Saint Anselm College in 2008, and further advanced her education by completing her master’s degree in Executive Leadership for Criminal Justice from Anna Maria College in 2018.