A federal judge in Northwest Arkansas has shut down Josh Duggar’s motion to vacate his sentence for possessing child sexual abuse materials, according to court documents.
Duggar, 38, was seeking to overturn his conviction after he was sentenced in 2021 to more than 12 years in federal prison, arguing his constitutional rights were violated.
In a June 1 order filed in the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, Judge Timothy Brooks denied Duggar’s appeal, stating that Duggar had filed the motion too late.
Brooks said that Duggar’s appeal was received by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on July 29, 2025, more than a month after the scheduled deadline. The court did not receive a copy of the appeal until August 2025, according to the order.
Duggar claimed that he should have been protected by the “prison mailbox rule,” which requires that courts consider their motions timely if they are “deposited in the institution’s internal mailing system on or before the last day for filing,” the order said.
Brooks said that Duggar’s testimony regarding how and when he mailed the documents was “not credible,” and Duggar has not “met his burden of convincing the Court that he mailed either copy of his motion” on time.
“The Court can grant Mr. Duggar one coincidence,” Brooks said in the order. “Perhaps even two or three odd happenstances. But Mr. Duggar is asking the Court to believe something akin to a magic bullet theory—a sequential chain of events that defies common sense. Collectively, this chain of events—where Murphy’s law was lurking at every turn—is simply not credible.”
Duggar moves facilities
Federal prison records show that Duggar was recently moved from the FCI Seagoville Unit in central Texas to the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth. The facilities are roughly 45 miles away from each other. The Bureau of Prisons website describes FMC Fort Worth as an administrative security federal medical center with a detention facility. The BOP notes that all federal inmates receive essential medical, dental, and mental health services. A BOP spokesperson told KNWA/FOX24 that Duggar officially transferred the Seagoville unit to the FMC in Fort Worth on May 29.
When asked if there was any reason as to why Duggar was moved, the spokesperson said the following: “For privacy, safety, and security reasons, we do not discuss the conditions of confinement for any individual in our custody, including reasons for transfer.”
Duggar is expected to be released from prison on Feb. 2, 2033.
