Countering Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act

This bill, called the Countering Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act, lets the State Justice Institute fund a national nonprofit to create a State Judicial Threat Intelligence and Resource Center. The center would help keep judges and court staff safe by training courts and local police, making safety guides, and doing security checks at courthouses and at judges’ homes when they do court work. It would also watch for threats, work with law enforcement to respond, set common reporting rules, build a national database to track threats and incidents, and study what safety steps work best.

The nonprofit must have strong, national experience in court security, courthouse design standards, and how state courts serve the public, including experience with many types of courts (trial, appeals, rural, and limited‑jurisdiction). After the center is set up, the State Justice Institute must send Congress a yearly report that counts threats against state and local judges and court staff and explains what types they are and how serious they are.

Key points:

• Who is affected: State and local judges and court staff; state and local courts; local law enforcement; qualified national nonprofits.
• What changes: New center to train on security, monitor and share threat information, coordinate with law enforcement, standardize reporting, and run a national threat database; research on best practices.
• When: Annual threat reports begin within a year after the center is established.