John W. Marshall is currently Secretary of Public Safety in the Cabinet of Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, and was reappointed to the post in January, 2006, after serving in the Cabinet of Governor Mark Warner since January, 2002.

Prior to becoming Virginia Secretary of Public Safety in January, 2002, he served in the Virginia State Police, an agency with the Secretariat of Public Safety from 1980 to 1994, where he was assigned as a State Trooper, Narcotics Division Special Agent, Training Academy Instructor, and Field Operations Sergeant. From 1994 to 1999, he served as United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Virginia. In 1999, he was appointed as the first African-American Director of the United States Marshals Service by President Bill Clinton, serving in that post until 2001. His educational background includes a B.A. in government from Georgetown University, and a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Administration of Justice from Virginia Commonwealth University. He is the son of Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American U.S. Supreme Court Justice, and the brother of Thurgood Marshall, Jr., former Cabinet Secretary to President Clinton.