After Minnesota shooting, some states are more tightly guarding officials' personal information
Lawmakers in several states are taking action to remove their home addresses from online directories and enhance security measures. This follows the recent killing of a Minnesota legislator and the wounding of another in their homes, in what Governor Tim Walz called a targeted political attack. Vance Boelter is in custody, facing charges related to the death of former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and the wounding of Senator John Hoffman and their spouses. Authorities say Boelter had compiled a list of state and federal officials' addresses.
While the Minnesota Legislature's website doesn't list home addresses, some states are proactively removing such information. North Dakota's legislative staff removed lawmakers' addresses from their webpages, while New Mexico also removed legislators' home addresses from its Statehouse website. Colorado fulfilled requests from at least 31 elected officials to remove their personal information from a public campaign finance database. Wisconsin lawmakers have requested additional security for an upcoming Assembly session.
Even before the Minnesota shooting, states had been increasing efforts to protect officials' information. Oregon passed a bill to redact home addresses from online campaign filings. Louisiana added statewide elected officials and legislators to the list of those who can request personal information removal from public records. Georgia now requires redaction of home addresses from campaign finance reports. Illinois stopped publishing candidates' street addresses online last year. New Jersey exempted the home addresses of judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement from public records disclosure in 2020 after a judge's son was killed. Maryland enacted a law in 2024 to prevent the online publishing of judges' personal information after a judge was shot.
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