New Bill Creates National Threat Center to Protect State and Local Judges and Court Staff

The Countering Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act is exactly what it sounds like: a plan to beef up security for the people running our state and local courts. This bill, which amends the State Justice Institute Act of 1984, sets up a brand new State judicial threat intelligence and resource center to keep judges and court staff safe. Think of it as a specialized, national security hub designed to handle the unique dangers faced by the judiciary.

This new center is tasked with a few key missions. First, it will provide technical assistance and training on court security, offering safety education for judges, court personnel, and local police. Second, it must actively monitor and coordinate efforts to reduce threats against state and local judges and staff, working closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement. For the everyday person, this means that the people making decisions in your local courthouse—from family court to criminal court—should have better protection, which ultimately helps keep the justice system running smoothly and securely.

The National Security Upgrade

The most significant change here is the focus on standardized threat data. The center is required to develop a national system for reporting, tracking, and sharing information about threats targeting state and local judicial officers and staff (Sec. 3). Currently, if a judge in a rural county gets threatened, that information might stay local. This bill aims to connect the dots nationwide, sharing data with groups like local police and fusion centers. It also mandates the development of standard ways for courts to report incidents and evaluate threats, which is a necessary step toward consistent security across different jurisdictions.

Who’s Footing the Bill and Doing the Paperwork?

While the goal of protecting judges is clearly beneficial, the creation of this new center and its infrastructure will require funding, meaning taxpayers will ultimately bear the cost. Furthermore, the bill creates new administrative burdens on state and local courts. They will be the ones responsible for implementing the new, standardized reporting systems the national center develops. For a busy local court system, especially those already stretched thin, integrating these new reporting requirements could be a significant administrative lift.

Beyond establishing the center, the bill tightens up who the State Justice Institute can partner with. It defines an “eligible organization” as a national nonprofit that has specific, proven expertise in judicial security, courthouse design, and understanding diverse state judicial systems (Sec. 2). This ensures that the Institute only partners with groups that have the necessary national experience and expertise to tackle these complex security issues.

Finally, once the center is established, the State Justice Institute must send an annual report to Congress detailing exactly how many threats were made against state and local judiciary members and staff, broken down by type and severity (Sec. 4). This reporting requirement is designed to provide hard data on the scope of the problem, offering Congress—and the public—a clearer picture of the risks facing the people who uphold our laws.