AG Griffin donates $1 million to U.S. Marshals Museum fundraising campaign

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by Michael Tilley ([email protected]) ago 0 views 

Another $1 million has been raised toward a $12 million matching fundraising campaign to support the U.S. Marshals Museum, with Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin in Fort Smith on Friday (July 10) to present the $1 million check to museum board member and Fort Smith businessman Bennie Westphal.

The $24 million expected from the campaign will fund a portion of the museum’s $2.5 million annual operations, according to museum officials. With the $1 million from Griffin, the museum has raised $8 million of the $12 million goal. Westphal is part of the museum board spearheading the fundraising campaign.

Museum officials on March 12 announced a national fundraising campaign with a goal of at least $24 million. The core of the campaign is a dollar-for-dollar $12 million matching grant. According to a museum statement, the “A New Frontier of Giving” campaign will help the museum improve access, civic education, and better manage the history of the nation’s first federal law enforcement agency. The matching grant donor has chosen to remain anonymous, according to the museum.

Griffin, who said the money was from lawsuit settlement proceeds and had previously given $250,000 to the museum, praised the museum as being an “international-level facility.” He said museums “bring knowledge to life.”

“You’ve got a real treasure here,” Griffin said told the audience, adding later, “There is no great city that doesn’t have museums.”

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin (center) presents a $1 million check to U.S. Marshals Museum board member Bennie Westphal during an event Friday (July 10) at the Fort Smith-based museum.

During a brief interview with Talk Business & Politics, Griffin said the decision to support the museum “wasn’t that hard,” with the process “being a matter of what (money) we had available” from settlement proceeds.

Benjamin Johnson, museum president and CEO, said the end of 2026 is the timeline to complete the match, and he is confident they will reach the goal.

“We have a lot of asks out, with several that have said ‘yes,’ in some capacity,” Johnson said. “But we don’t have them back yet.”

Johnson also thanked Sen. Justin Boyd, R-Fort Smith, and Rep. Jay Richardson, D-Fort Smith, for their coordination in the effort.

“We are grateful to Attorney General Griffin, Representative Richardson, Senator Boyd, and all of the supporters who are helping ensure that the Museum can continue educating visitors about justice, service, courage, and the rule of law for generations to come,” Johnson said in a statement.

The 53,000-square-foot museum is located at 789 Riverfront Drive on the Arkansas River in downtown Fort Smith. The museum opened on July 1, 2023, after 16 years of fundraising, construction and speculation. In January 2007, the U.S. Marshals Service selected Fort Smith as the site for the national museum. The Robbie Westphal family, led by Bennie Westphal and Robin Westphal Clegg, donated the riverfront land for the museum. A ceremonial groundbreaking was held in September 2015. (Bennie Westphal is an investor in Natural State Media, the parent company of Talk Business & Politics.)

The museum, with exhibits that cover the more than 236 years of the U.S. Marshals Service history, is a nonprofit that does not receive ongoing operating funds from the city, state or federal government.

Funding is seen as critical to the operations of the museum. In mid-2025 the museum cut 2.5 full-time equivalent positions as part of “difficult choices” to respond to a downturn in visitors. After the cuts, the museum had 17 employees, with some of those being part-time and seasonal, according to Johnson. Johnson said Friday the museum has 18 employees.