Judge tells conference committee judges face rising threats, urges funding for personal and courthouse security

Judge Richard Kyle, president of the Minnesota District Judges Association, told the Safety and Security Conference Committee on May 13 that judges statewide are facing an increasing number of threats and asked lawmakers to fund a package of judicial-branch security measures.

"Over 80% of judges have taken steps just to limit and to protect their personal information," Judge Kyle said, and he told the committee that "almost 90% of responding judges have received inappropriate communications." He said 239 judges answered the association's recent survey and described a rise in incidents outside courthouses as well as threats that have forced judges and their families to change behaviors.

Kyle urged the committee to fund five priorities: personal data-protection services; a one-time home-security allowance with monthly reimbursement; additional staff for a security expansion unit and threat-assessment coordination; courthouse-security matching grants for counties; and a Chief Justice security detail for public events. He also said the judicial branch has reported roughly 140 incidents in the first quarter of 2026 — about double the roughly 70 incidents reported in the first quarter of 2025 — and that more cases had been referred to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's behavioral threat-assessment team.

Committee members pressed Kyle on whether threats differ by court level. He said trial (district) judges have more frequent public interactions and therefore more exposure, while appellate and supreme court judges sometimes receive intense reactions to controversial decisions. "The threats are on both levels," he said, adding that district court judges encounter greater volume because there are more district judges and more daily public contact.

Members also asked whether court staff had been surveyed. Kyle said the district judges' survey focused on judges but that internal incident reporting for staff exists and that the branch's security committee reviews incident reports; he acknowledged that staff experience many of the same threats and stressed the need to consider staff safety in any funding decision.

Kyle concluded by asking the conference committee to fund as much of the judicial branch's security request as the budget allows, acknowledging fiscal constraints but urging that available dollars be put to use to protect judges and court staff.

The conference committee recessed at the end of the hearing; members did not take final action on the specific judicial funding requests that day.