U.S. Senate passes judicial security bill

The U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan Countering Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act (S.3984) by unanimous consent on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. The bipartisan legislation, led by Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Chris Coons (D-Del.), establishes a State Judicial Threat Intelligence and Resource Center to provide technical assistance, training, and monitoring of threats for state and local judges and court personnel. The bill now moves to the House for consideration.

Protecting state court judges, staff

While the federal judiciary relies on the U.S. Marshals Service to monitor, address, and develop best practices around threats and preventing violence, judicial officers who serve in state and local courts do not have a resource center to provide similar assistance and education. Due to the interstate nature of these threats, the bill addresses the importance of pooling state resources to ensure the safety of state and local judges. 

"This legislation is an important step to ensuring the security of state judges and court personnel in America," said NCSC President Elizabeth T. Clement. "We applaud the Senate for unanimously passing this important legislation to help keep our judges and court staff safe."

Increasing threats

Nationwide, judicial officers are subjected to frequent threats of violence. In 2021, individuals protected by the U.S. Marshals Service — including federal judges, prosecutors, and court officials — faced over 4,500 threats, a 400% increase since 2015. In the last several years, state judges and court personnel in multiple states, including Nevada, Colorado, Texas, Ohio, Mississippi, Rhode Island, New York, California, Kentucky, Michigan, Wyoming, Idaho, and Indiana, have been killed, attacked, and threatened with violence against them and their families for doing their jobs and deciding cases according to law. The defendant in a family court case murdered Washington County Circuit Court Judge Andrew F. Wilkinson outside his Maryland home in 2023, and the defendant in a criminal court case murdered former Juneau County Circuit Court Judge John Roemer in his Wisconsin home in 2022. The threat of violence extends to court personnel and state court facilities which face bomb threats and threats of violence as well.

Countering attacks

The Countering Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act would create a State Judicial Threat Intelligence and Resource Center to provide technical assistance to state and local judges and court personnel around judicial security; physical security assessments for courts, homes, and other facilities where judicial officers and staff conduct court-related business; and research to identify, examine, and advance best practices around judicial security. By creating a centralized resource center, this bill protects our judges and state court administrators and allows them to administer justice to the fullest.