Wisconsin is on pace to see a spike in credible threats against state judges and justices in 2025, according to numbers compiled by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
A court spokesperson says that’s partly because judges and staff across Wisconsin are being encouraged to report threats to make sure law enforcement agencies are aware of them.
The Joint Finance Committee is slated to take up a request from the Supreme Court to oversee a proposed Office of the Marshals to serve as a law enforcement agency for the Wisconsin court system.
Ahead of the hearing, the LFB prepared background on the request. That includes numbers the agency compiled showing between January and March, there had been 22 credible, identified threats against judges and justices referred to law enforcement for formal investigation. That’s compared to 29 in all of 2024 and 46 in 2023.
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The number of reports over the first three months of the year puts the state on pace for some 88 such threats for all of 2025.
The LFB didn’t include any details on the reported threats in materials it prepared ahead of the meeting.
The court spokesperson said threats are deemed credible if someone has the means and access to follow up on them.
The committee will consider a proposal in Dem Gov. Tony Evers’ budget to provide 8.4 full-time equivalent general-fund supported positions to create a new Offices of the Marshals for the Supreme Court, with nearly $2.3 million to cover the costs. With the 1.6 FTEs already authorized for the Supreme Court for a civilian marshal and a deputy marshal, the proposal would create a force of 10 under the direction of the Supreme Court.
Former Chief Justice Annette Ziegler two years ago pushed lawmakers to bolster security for Wisconsin judges after retired Juneau County Judge John Roemer was executed in his home. Police said a man Roemer had sent to prison more than a decade earlier was found inside the judge’s house, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot.
According to LFB, the Department of Administration currently has four positions assigned to the court for protective services, including a Capitol Police sergeant. All four positions are funded with federal COVID-19 money, with those positions set to expire Aug. 31, 2026.
As part of the materials LFB prepared for the committee, the agency outlined other options such as creating new positions within Capitol Police to continue providing services after the COVID-19 funds expire or to provide funding for four new State Trooper positions to do the work.
The offices of the committee co-chairs didn’t immediately return a call today about the proposal.
