Nearly a year after the assassination of Minnesota House leader Melissa Hortman, lawmakers across the United States are bolstering security at state capitols and adding more safeguards for elected officials, the Associated Press reported. In Minnesota, the approach now includes locked Capitol entrances and weapons detection, with additional screening for people trying to watch debate proceedings.
At the Minnesota Capitol, most doors are now locked, and those entering must go through weapons detectors. The AP reported that people entering the visitors’ galleries to watch floor debates must also go through a second set of detectors, reflecting a layered security model for public access.
“It’s important for us to be able to not have our government fall apart if our legislators are under threat,” Minnesota Rep. Julie Green said in comments to the AP. Green described the issue as “a complicated, complex, very emotional issue,” and pointed to the empty seat where Hortman once worked, decorated with fresh roses, her portrait and a speaker’s gavel.
The security upgrades are taking shape after high-profile attacks have increased lawmakers’ sense that threats can be sudden and personal. In addition to the killings of Hortman and Charlie Kirk, the AP cited violence that included an arson attack at the home of Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, an assassination attempt on then-candidate Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally in 2024, and a hammer attack on the husband of Democratic then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at their California home in 2022.
Across state governments, the changes include rules that make it easier for candidates to spend campaign money on protection. The AP reported that 25 states, including Minnesota, formally allow candidates to use campaign funds for personal security, with most of the changes coming after the killings of Kirk and Hortman.
The AP said 11 states have laws permitting campaign-funded personal security, while others have approved it through rules or other mechanisms, citing the National Conference of State Legislatures and the VoteMama Foundation. The AP also reported that Alabama, Oregon, Nebraska and Utah enacted such laws this year, while bills to legalize it are pending in about a dozen other states.
Some of the most visible security steps at capitols involve controlling access to public buildings through screening technology. The AP reported that metal detectors were installed at Alaska’s Capitol last year, and said Democratic Rep. Sara Hannan attributed that change to “increased risk of violence in our public institutions.” The AP said lawmakers there approved the detectors before Hortman was killed.
Not every state has moved in the same direction. The AP reported that Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos resisted installing metal detectors in his state, saying he didn’t want to “fortify” the Capitol, and it said Wisconsin is among 11 state capitols that do not have metal detectors, according to a state audit.
Minnesota lawmakers are also considering a structural change to its Capitol security operations. The AP reported that they are considering creating a special unit within the State Patrol, which oversees Capitol security, that would provide protection for legislators as well as for the state attorney general, secretary of state, state auditor and Supreme Court justices.
In remarks connected to the initiative, one lead author is Democratic Sen. John Hoffman, who survived being shot nine times on the night Hortman was killed. The AP said prosecutors described the gunman as disguised as a police officer who began a rampage by shooting Hoffman and his wife, then stopped at the residences of two other lawmakers who weren’t home before going to Hortman’s home, where the representative was killed.
The AP also reported that prosecutors said the gunman wounded Hortman’s husband and killed Hortman, and wounded their dog so severely that it had to be euthanized. At a Tuesday hearing, the AP said Hoffman called his measure “a necessary response” and said it would “keep elected officials and Supreme Court justices safe and dedicate the resources necessary and hopefully stop future tragedies from happening.”
Beyond physical security at entrances, the AP said states are also addressing protection of personal information. The AP reported that North Dakota lawmakers on Wednesday discussed a bill draft for next year that would make confidential the home addresses of candidates and public officials upon request.
The AP cited a broader effort by the National Conference of State Legislatures to help fund security costs, including a $1.5 million fund created in February to reimburse legislatures for expenses related to lawmakers’ personal safety and security while they’re away from their statehouses. NCSL spokesperson Katie Ziegler told the AP that more than 30 states have applied or are preparing to for reimbursement.
The AP said security spending is also rising for federal campaigns. It reported that security spending for congressional and presidential campaigns has jumped fivefold over the past decade, and that federal political committees spent more than $40 million on expenses labeled as security during the 2023-24 campaign cycle, according to an April report from the nonpartisan Public Service Alliance.