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

The "Countering Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act" is a focused piece of legislation aimed at beefing up security for state and local judges and court personnel. Think of it as creating a centralized, expert-led security operations center for the judicial branch, which often operates on shoestring budgets at the local level. The bill directs the State Justice Institute (SJI) to provide financial and technical support to national nonprofit organizations to establish and run a State Judicial Threat Intelligence and Resource Center (SEC. 3).

The Judicial Security Upgrade

This isn't just about putting more guards on doors—it’s about intelligence and coordination. The core function of the new Center is to create a national, coordinated approach to judicial security. Currently, a local judge dealing with a threat might be reliant solely on their county sheriff or local police. This Center changes that by offering technical assistance, training, and physical security assessments for courts, residences, and other locations where court business happens (SEC. 3). For a judge in a rural county, getting a professional security assessment of their home or courthouse is a huge, necessary upgrade that local budgets often can’t cover.

The National Threat Database

One of the most significant changes is the mandate to develop a national database for reporting, tracking, and sharing information about threats and incidents against judicial officers and court staff (SEC. 3). This means that if someone makes a credible threat against a judge in one state, that information can be quickly shared with law enforcement and fusion centers across the country. This shifts security from a reactive, localized problem to a proactive, national intelligence effort. The Center must also coordinate with Federal, State, and local law enforcement to reduce these threats, essentially becoming the central hub for judicial protection.

Who Gets the Job?

To run this critical new center, the SJI can only work with an "eligible organization," which the bill defines very specifically (SEC. 2). This organization must be a national nonprofit that already has deep experience in judicial security, courthouse design standards, and a thorough understanding of the challenges faced by various court systems—from busy trial courts to small, limited-jurisdiction courts. This stringent definition is designed to ensure that the organization running the Center is a proven expert, but it also means the SJI has significant discretion in determining which national nonprofit meets the bar for "national-level expertise."

Keeping Score

To ensure accountability and track the scope of the problem, the SJI must submit an annual report to Congress detailing the threats made against state and local judiciary members and court staff (SEC. 4). This report must include the total number of threats received, broken down by type and level of seriousness. This annual data dump will provide the first clear, national picture of the threats facing the people who keep our court systems running, which is valuable information for future policy and funding decisions.