May 9, 2024
By Bill Raftery
This year alone, over 60 pieces of legislation were introduced across 24 states to address court and judicial security concerns. Among those bills, 11 made their way into law or to a governor’s desk this year.
- Georgia S.B. 508, currently on the governor’s desk, provides a means by which state and federal judges and their spouses can prohibit state or local government entities from releasing their personally identifiable information. Upon request by the judge or spouse, the Georgia Administrative Office of the Courts shall provide written notice to each state or local government to restrict access to such personally identifiable information.
- Florida H.B. 983, as approved by the legislature, expands existing laws that create a public-record exemption for personally identifying and location information for judges and others to cover current clerks of the circuit courts, deputy clerks of the circuit courts, clerk personnel, and their families.
- Hawaii H.B. 1916, currently on the governor’s desk, seeks to protect information about public servants, including active, formerly active, or retired state and federal judges and their families. Among the bill’s provisions
- Authorizes state and federal judges and their families to request that a government agency, person, or organization not make publicly available on the Internet the protected personal information of the covered public servant and their family;
- Provides the covered public servant’s employer may make the request on behalf of the public servant; and
- Allows for the public servant to seek injunctive or declaratory relief in the circuit court to seek enforcement of the request.
- Idaho S.B. 1277 amends a 2023 law (SB 1059) enacted to protect the confidentiality of judicial officers’ “residential street address” by defining what that term means.
- Maryland S.B. 575 is named the “Judge Andrew F. Wilkinson Judicial Security Act” after the judge killed in his driveway by a litigant in 2023. Among the bill’s provisions:
- Authorizes state and federal judges and their families or the Office of Information Privacy in the Administrative Office of the Courts to request that a governmental entity or person not publish personal information of the individual on the Internet, social media, or social networks or that the governmental entity or person remove the information from any existing publication;
- Authorizes civil relief for a violation of this Act where the governmental entity or person publishes and/or refuses to remove the information;
- Establishes a criminal penalty for publicly posting personal information of a protected individual under certain circumstances;
- Establishes a Judicial Address Confidentiality Program; and
- Creates a Task Force to Ensure the Safety of Judicial Facilities, which is to identify minimum requirements for courthouse safety, the number of security officers and the qualifications of those officers, and other minimum standards.
- Virginia S.B. 386/H.B. 679 establishes certain minimum standards for ensuring security and accessibility in quarters for magistrates including:
- an entrance, exit, and parking for magistrates that is separate from those for members of the public; and
- physical security of the magistrate, including controlled access to interior spaces or intrusion detection, a secure physical barrier between the magistrate and members of the public, and a readily accessible duress button that connects the magistrate to local law enforcement.
- A package of Wisconsin bills to protect judges includes:
- A.B. 965 provides picketing, parading, or demonstrating at or near a judge’s home with the intent to interfere with, obstruct, or impede the administration of justice or with the intent to influence a judge in the discharge of the judge’s duties is a Class A misdemeanor;
- A.B. 966 allows judicial officers to request that certain information be protected from public disclosure and removed from public display and provides civil remedies against data brokers, businesses, associations, and other persons who attempt to distribute that information and/or post it online; the bill also creates a Class G felony where that information is published with the intent to create or increase a threat to the health and safety of the judicial officer or the judicial officer’s immediate family; and
- A.B. 967 provides that judicial security forms to establish certain safety and evacuation protocols for judicial officers are exempt from public records disclosure.
- Wyoming S.F. 39 expands the existing crime of influencing, intimidating, or impeding jurors or witnesses to include judges.
For more information on judicial security or to track legislation affecting the courts, visit www.ncsc.org/gaveltogavel. While there, sign up for the weekly newsletter published during state legislative sessions.
Is your state also trying to protect the personal information of judges and court staff? Email us at Knowledge@ncsc.org or call 800-616-6164 and let us know. Follow the National Center for State Courts on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and Vimeo. For more Trending Topics posts, visit ncsc.org/trendingtopics or subscribe to the LinkedIn newsletter.