Josh Duggar’s prison release date pushed back for third time amid appeal battle By Teresa Roca
Josh Duggar’s prison release date has been pushed back by over a month as he continues to fight to appeal his child pornography conviction.
Page Six can exclusively reveal Duggar’s release from FCI Seagoville in Dallas, Texas, has been extended from Dec. 23, 2032, to Feb. 2, 2033.
A lawyer for Duggar did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
The father of seven was arrested and charged with possessing and receiving child pornography in April 2021.
He was found guilty after a two-week trial in Arkansas — which members of his family including his dad, Jim Bob Duggar, and his wife, Anna Duggar, attended — and was sentenced to 12 years and 7 months.
This is the third time Josh’s release date has been pushed back. His release date was originally in August 2032 before it was pushed to October 2032.
Josh, 38, has been desperately fighting to be released from prison by filing a series of failed appeals.
In his latest bid for freedom filed in May 2025, he requested the court provide him with a new legal team, claiming he lacks the resources, legal knowledge and funds to hire representation.
Though the court denied his request, he hired Chicago-based lawyer Beau B. Brindley.
A hearing took place on April 15 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, which Josh attended via Zoom.
His legal team provided eight arguments as to why he should be granted a new trial or have his conviction thrown out.
Arguments included a Department of Justice expert allegedly lying under oath, his previous legal team’s failure to question a person who had access to the computer holding child pornography images and more, according to People.
The outlet reported the Arkansas judge is waiting to see if the appeal was filed by the deadline before continuing with the case.
Josh initially filed to appeal his sentence in October 2022 — with the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals denying his request for a new trial.
The “19 Kids and Counting” alum’s then-lawyer claimed federal agents seized his phone while he attempted to contact his attorney during a raid at his Arkansas car lot a year and a half before he was arrested.
The court explained in its denial, “When [Josh] Duggar signed a form acknowledging his rights, he had the agents ‘scratch … out’ the portion saying that he was being ‘taken into custody.’ Modifying the form made it clear he was free to leave.
“[Josh] Duggar sat in the front passenger seat of the agents’ truck during the interview. They ‘did not handcuff him, the doors remained unlocked, and he entered and exited the front seat of the vehicle on his own,’ which means he retained freedom of movement throughout the encounter.”
The court filing continued, “And although the agents ‘initiated contact with’ [Josh] Duggar, he still ‘voluntarily acquiesced’ to the questioning. Indeed, he began the interview with a question of his own—'[h]as somebody been downloading child pornography?’—and ‘continued to converse’ with them for about an hour.
“Finally, [Josh] Duggar was not ‘arrest[ed] at the termination of the questioning.’ To the contrary, he ended the interview on his own and then left the dealership—hardly an option available to someone in custody.”
The appeal was officially denied by the Supreme Court in June 2024.
Bay County Sheriffs Office / BACKGRID
Josh’s younger brother Joseph was arrested on March 18 in Arkansas — on charges out of Bay County in Florida — for lewd and lascivious behavior involving a victim younger than the age of 12 and lewd and lascivious behavior toward a victim age 18 or older.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges during a Florida court hearing.
Joseph was also hit with additional charges in Arkansas, including four second-degree counts of endangering the welfare of a minor, and four second-degree counts of false imprisonment on March 20.
His wife, Kendra Duggar, received the same charges and was bonded out after she turned herself in.
The couple are due back in Arkansas court on April 29.
