Legislation to protect the home addresses of

judges and other court officials

February 16, 2022

By Bill Raftery

In 2022, state legislatures have been busy with increased concerns over judicial security. Several
states already moved to prevent access to the home addresses of judges and their families as well
as the home information for other judicial personnel. A review of some of that legislation can be
found in this 2021 Trending Topics piece.

So far there have been over 15 pieces of legislation introduced across 13 states seeking to protect
the home addresses of judges and other court officials. The legislation has focused on 3 key
areas:

• Several bills would make it a crime to release the home address or other personal
information of a judge or his/her family. Some bills make the release itself criminal while
others require an additional element, such as with intent to harass or threaten.
• Other bills focus on prohibiting access of the public by requiring that public entities and
officials deny any request to release the addresses or other personal information. This
takes two forms: either the judge may request the public entity remove or restrict the
information or the information is simply deemed automatically exempted from public
access.
• Others focus on the ability of a judge to require that the information be removed upon
finding that the information is already available online or through a private entity.

A listing of the active pending legislation can be found below.

Is your state also looking to protect the personal information of judges and other court staff?
Email us at Knowledge@ncsc.org or call 800-616-6164 and let us know. Follow the National
Center for State Courts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Vimeo.

1. Alabama SB 204: Makes it a Class C misdemeanor to knowingly disclose the home

address or unpublished phone number of law enforcement officers, judges, and
 prosecutors with the intent of exposing them to harassment, the risk of harm to life or
property, or with reckless disregard of the possibility of such exposure.
2. Florida HB 391 / SB 432: Provides an exemption from public records requirements for
certain identifying and location information of current and former judicial assistants and
their spouses and children.
3. Hawaii HB 1539 / SB 2116: Prohibits the posting of judges and other court staff personal
information on the internet with the intent to intimidate or threaten. Establishes a judicial
security task force to review and recommend additional measures to enhance the security
of judges and judiciary personnel.
4. Illinois HB 2937: Defines "internet data aggregator." Provides that it shall additionally be
unlawful for an internet data aggregator to sell, license, trade, purchase, or otherwise
provide or make available for consideration a judicial officer's personally identifiable
information, regardless of intent, if the judicial officer has properly made a written
request to not disclose the personal information.
5. Michigan SB 869: A judge may submit a written request, on a form prescribed by the
state court administrative office, to a public body or person to prevent disclosure of their
home address and other personal information as defined in the bill.
6. Mississippi SB 2167: A judge may request from any public body the redaction of
personal information defined in the bill.
7. Missouri HB 2037: A government agency will not publicly post or display a judicial
officer's personal information if the agency receives a written request from the officer to
refrain from publishing the information. The written request must specify which
information is meant to remain private. Prohibits persons, businesses, and associations
from publicly posting or displaying on the internet a judicial officer's personal
information as long as the person, business, or association receives a written request to
refrain from publishing the information. Creates the offense of knowingly publicly
posting on the internet the personal information of a judicial officer or of the officer's
immediate family for purposes of tampering with a judicial officer or if the person knows
or should know that publicly posting the information would pose an imminent and
serious threat to the health and safety of the judicial officer or of the officer's family, and
the violation is the proximate cause of bodily injury or death of the officer or a member
of the officer's immediate family. This offense is a class D felony.
8. Nebraska LB 1178: Now includes judges alongside the existing allowance for law
enforcement officers to the list of individuals who may request that their personal
residential property records be withheld from online publication by county offices.
Members of the public would still be able to access these public records but would need
to do so in writing at the county office.
9. New Jersey SB 184: Makes publishing on internet home address or unpublished
telephone number of judges, prosecutors and certain court personnel a crime of the fourth
degree under certain circumstances.
10. New Mexico HB 99: Creates new fourth degree felony of threating a judge or an
immediate family member. Creates new misdemeanor crime for malicious sharing of
personal information of a judge or an immediate family member.
11. New York AB 3089: Makes it a Class E felony to disclose or publish the home address or
unpublished home telephone number of any active or retired judge or prosecutor with
intent to expose the person to harassment or risk of harm to life or property.
12. Oklahoma HB 3810: Makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly publish any justice or judge's
personal information in any publication, website, or media. Provides all justice and judge
personal information shall be confidential and shall not be publicly available on any state
or political subdivision publication, website, or media, but instead kept in a secure
location where it may be made available to authorized persons pursuant to law or as
specifically authorized in writing by the justice or judge. Provides any justice or judge
who finds his or her personal information is publicly available may request that the
government entity remove the personal information.
13. Oklahoma HB 3939: Provides all justices and judges shall be permitted to request to a
county assessor that their personal information not be made publicly available on the
internet, but instead kept in a secure location at a county assessor's office where it may be
made available to authorized persons pursuant to law.
14. South Dakota HB 1106: Provides that any personally identifiable information of a circuit
court judge or justice of the Supreme Court contained in a statement of financial interest
is not open to public inspection. Provides home address information on the voter
registration record for a magistrate judge, circuit court judge, or justice of the Supreme
Court is not open to public inspection.