William J. Taylor was sworn in as the 8th Chief Marshal of DeKalb County State Court and Chief Constable of DeKalb County Magistrate Court on February 1, 2021. Taylor joined the Marshal’s Office in 2014 as the Major commanding the Field Division and in 2017, he was promoted to Deputy Chief Marshal overseeing the day-to-day operations of the department.
As Marshal, Taylor leads a staff of 64 in which 57 are sworn deputies and 7 administrative staffers. The Marshal’s Office is the law enforcement arm of State and Magistrate Courts. One of the major roles of the Marshal’s Office is executing all writs in dispossessory cases out of Magistrate Court and civil service out of State and Magistrate Courts. In addition, the office also handles the security for all of State and Magistrate Courts.
Taylor a native of Chicago, IL, retired from the U.S. Air Force after 24 years of service. His first 9 years were spent as a law enforcement specialist and the last 15 years were spent as a special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. He participated in several deployments in support of wartime operations in the middle east during his military career.
Taylor is currently a doctoral student pursuing his Doctorate degree in Criminal Justice Leadership at Liberty University. He earned his master’s degree in Public Safety Administration from Columbus State University through the Georgia Command College, a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration from Columbia Southern University and an associate degree in Criminal Justice from the Community College of the Air Force. In addition, he is also a graduate of the Senior Management Institute of Policing (SMIP), Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), the Southern Police Institute (SPI) at the University of Louisville, the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar (LEEDS), the Georgia Chiefs of Police Executive Training Program and Leadership DeKalb class of 2022. Taylor holds both the executive and management certifications through the Georgia POST.