Hardening Courthouse Security: 3 Key Elements

Courthouse violence is on the rise. According to both the U.S. Marshals Service and the Center for Judicial and Executive Security, courthouse security incidents involving violence have increased every decade since 1970. This is concerning in federal courts, which have seen a sudden spike in threats. 

The U.S. Marshals Service, the agency primarily responsible for federal court security, reports serious threats to federal judges have doubled in the last four years, and they’re now deploying more protective details and security teams than they have in decades.

This problem isn’t limited to the federal court system. In a recent survey from the National Judicial College, more than half of all judges said courtroom violence and the threat of such violence have negatively affected their mental health. 

The impact extends to other courthouse employees as well. This past summer, two officers staffing a New York courthouse lobby metal detector on an otherwise normal Monday morning were ambushed and stabbed. A few months earlier, a defendant attacked her own attorney in a Wisconsin courtroom, and a brawl broke out in the viewing area of a Cincinnati courtroom.

Courthouses are constantly working to improve security and ensure safety for everyone who enters the building, and lawmakers have taken notice. So far this year, 30 states have introduced or acted on legislation addressing courthouse security and the safety of courthouse and judicial workers. In many states, there are multiple new and updated laws in the works. Texas is working on a dozen pieces of legislation right now.

Effectively hardening security for courthouse buildings starts with understanding the threats, how they’ve changed over the last several years, and how we can best respond to make sure justice isn’t derailed by courthouse security incidents.

Understanding Courthouse Security Threats

Today, there are two distinct kinds of courthouse violence. 

For ages, almost all courthouse security issues were case-related. The attacker, or someone close to them, either actively had business before the court, or had been involved in a case that didn’t turn out how they’d hoped. According to the Center for Judicial and Executive Security, as rates of violence in court buildings climbed from the 1970s through the early 2000s, it was mostly driven by case-specific issues like these.

But beginning in the early 2000s, experts noted a rise in anti-government violence targeting courts and court officers, according to the Center for Judicial and Executive Security. At the federal level, the number of these incidents rose from 592 in 2003 cases to 1,258 by 2011. State courts have seen similar increases in violence. These threats and attacks are premeditated, organized plots. The attacker has often never set foot in that courthouse or had any cases before that judge and may not have had any prior involvement with the legal system at all. In some cases, they might not even be familiar with the person they are targeting. These are attackers who target the court as a stand-in for the government in an attempt to make a political statement. These calculated threats and attacks are more akin to terrorism than crimes of passion, intended to keep our legal system from properly functioning.

These more recent court security threats have spiked in the past several years and are driving the increase in threats to federal judges. This past spring, U.S. Marshals investigated 197 threats targeting federal judges. During a single month-long period, 35 judges received threats. By comparison, over the prior five months, there were an average of 16 threats per month. 

Key Elements of Courthouse Security

The Administrative Office for U.S. Courts has issued a series of guidelines for the design of court facilities. These outline key elements for hardening both external and internal courthouse security. Their recommended security standards for interior spaces vary by room and location, and include requirements for access control devices on entryways, weapons screening, emergency lighting, panic alarms, CCTV, and more. They also outline specifications for bullet-resistant materials.

Suggested Exterior Security Measures

• Use bollards, berms, and other barriers to protect against vehicular attacks
• Maintain landscaping that limits hiding places and preserves sight lines
• Light all parking areas and pedestrian entrances
• Use CCTV cameras connected to a command and control center to monitor the perimeter, parking lots, and exit doors 
• Separate vehicle circulation systems for judges, employees, prisoner transport, and building services
• Require electronic access control for judges’ parking areas
• Create fenced, controlled-access courthouse parking areas for other court employees, jurors, and visitors
• Install intrusion detection at all perimeter doors
• Install UL 752 Level 4 bullet-resistant glazing in all exterior judge’s chamber and courtroom windows
• Tint or treat federal courthouse windows so they do not permit visual surveillance from exterior locations
• Install self-locking emergency doors equipped with remote alarms
• Funnel all visitors and staff through a secure public entrance with security screening for weapons and prohibited items
• Maintain a separate restricted entrance for judges
• Design a separate secure entrance for building supplies and services

Suggested Interior Security Measures

• Line the judge’s bench with UL 752 Level 3 bullet-resistant fiberglass or similar material
• Install forced UL 752 Level 3 ballistic-resistant transaction windows at clerks’ offices, with surrounding walls and counter reinforced with bullet-resistant fiberglass or similar material (if the facility screens everyone for weapons upon entering the building, UL 972 forced entry-resistant transaction windows might be sufficient)
• Ensure that access doors and hardware between the public area and restricted office area is UL 752 Level 3 bullet-resistant (surrounding walls within four feet of the doors should be reinforced with floor-to-ceiling bullet-resistant fiberglass or similar material)

In recent years, we have found that most courthouse security projects focus on the judge’s chambers, exterior windows (usually applying backglazing for convenience and to preserve historic character), and hardening the entryway checkpoint. 

Although it only gets a brief mention in the design guide, the entryway is the courthouse security linchpin, where building safety, security, and day-to-day operations all overlap. Enhanced ballistic security and access control here has a significant effect on building safety overall.

Prohibited Items and Access Control

Every courthouse has its own list of prohibited items, including weapons. That list might also include audio recording devices, cameras, and often cellphones and tablets, depending on your role in the courthouse. In some types of cases, witnesses and juries will be less willing to participate if they know they are being photographed and shared on social media. In longer running cases, jurors may face more serious risks of intimidation. 

Courthouse security personnel typically use metal detectors and an X-ray machine to identify prohibited items.  

Visitors who attempt to bring these items into the courthouse may be denied entry or face penalties, and court security officers are responsible for enforcing these rules.

The secure entryway is the perfect opportunity for the courts to check several boxes all at once: By controlling access to the courthouse at a single entryway checkpoint, the court can ensure the safety of everyone in the building, prevent security incidents, and ensure the fair and smooth operations of our justice system. 

At Total Security Solutions, we have decades of experience creating custom internal storefront-style checkpoints and other physical security solutions for courthouses. These systems preserve the historic character of buildings and effectively increase security without getting in the way of everyday business.

Ensuring Court Security with TSS

We pride ourselves on educating every customer, so they can make an informed decision about what it will take to ensure safety at their facility. We’ve drawn on decades of experience across tens of thousands of projects to create free materials that support good, comprehensive security planning—from bulletproofing to perimeter control. 

If you have any questions, or are ready to begin moving forward with a project, we’re here to help. Simply send us a message to get started.