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Josh Duggar’s prison move from FCI Seagoville to a federal medical center isn’t the only major update in the former reality TV star’s case. Around the same time that Josh Duggar was moved out of the federal lockup he had been at since 2022, a judge tossed out his latest motion to vacate his conviction. Not only did the judge toss the appeal, but he called Duggar “not credible” in the process. Here is everything we know so far.

Josh Duggar’s Latest Motion to Vacate Has Been Denied

On June 2, U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks, the judge who presided over Josh Duggar’s 2021 trial, rejected his motion to vacate his conviction. In the end, the strength, or lack thereof, of Duggar’s argument didn’t even matter. Judge Brooks threw out the motion because he believes Josh Duggar missed a critical filing deadline, despite the disgraced reality TV star insisting he had not.

Josh Duggar has attempted to appeal his conviction multiple times before, but this time around, the evidence didn’t matter. During an earlier court hearing, the prosecution argued that Josh Duggar failed to submit his motion by a June 24 filing deadline. Josh’s counsel attempted to argue that Duggar had dropped the paperwork into a prison mailbox on June 24, which technically counts as submitted, according to federal prison regulations.

There was one main problem with Duggar’s argument: the prosecution had the mail logs that showed Duggar had slipped absolutely nothing in the mailbox on June 24, or on the days preceding the deadline. According to court documents, just two mail pieces were submitted on that date, and neither was sent from Duggar. Duggar’s appeal made it to the U.S. Attorney’s Office on July 29, 2025.

Judge Brooks didn’t just toss out Duggar’s appeal. He made it clear that he was unconvinced by the inmate’s attempt to lie his way into the appeals process. The judge noted that Josh Duggar was asking the court to believe “something akin to a magic bullet theory.” He called his entire story “not credible.”

The Denied Motion Is Likely the End of the Road for Josh Duggar’s appeals

Josh Duggar and his counsel, Beau Brindley, were desperate to make it seem like the inmate submitted his paperwork on time. There is a good reason for that; at this point, it was likely Josh’s final hope for an early prison release. The motion was part of his fourth, and likely final, bid to appeal.

Josh Duggar has been denied post-conviction relief by local judges, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He is basically out of options for appeals, and, according to previous testimony, pretty much out of money, too. It appears Josh will remain in federal custody until February 2033.

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