Colorado legislators unveiled a 60‑page bill that would expand protections for elected officials, staff, and judicial employees, responding to a string of high‑profile attacks nationwide and growing safety concerns inside courthouses and the state Capitol.

Part of their effort is to shield widely consumed information, such as candidates’ disclosure statements, from public view, a move likely to invite criticism from several quarters.

Among the provisions of House Bill 1422 is the establishment of an Administrator of Legislative Safety, a law enforcement officer who would serve as a point of contact for members and employees of the Colorado General Assembly to discuss matters of personal safety and work alongside the Colorado State Patrol.

Because the bill was introduced without a fiscal note, its potential cost to the state remains unknown.

Sponsored by Rep. Chad Clifford, D-Greenwood Village, Senate President James Coleman, D-Denver, and Sen. Lisa Frizell, R-Castle Rock, HB 1422 also expands the list of individuals who are under the protection of the Colorado State Patrol while at the Capitol. It repeals a requirement for candidate disclosure statements and descriptions of candidates’ property to be publicly available on the Secretary of State’s website.

As for the judicial branch, the bill orders the creation of a courthouse security task force and requires sheriffs to adopt the recommended standards established by that task force. Additionally, the measure expands the list of individuals eligible to request the removal of personal information from online records to include judicial employees, elected officials, and their staff, and it establishes civil remedies for individuals whose personal information was not removed despite requesting for it.

In pushing for the legislation, Colorado lawmakers cited the killing of Minnesota legislator Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, last June. In the same attack, state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were also shot but survived.

House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, who had known Hortman, said the legislator was a “brilliant public servant, a champion for her state, and simply a wonderful person.”

Coleman told Colorado Politics that legislative leaders were in “close and ongoing communication” with the state patrol and other law enforcement agencies about any necessary additional security measures for elected officials and their staff. 

In April last year, an arsonist set fire to the governor’s mansion in Pennsylvania while Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family were inside. No one was injured.

In September, conservative activist Charlie Kirk assassinated while speaking at a college in Utah.

“Political violence is never acceptable,” Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement following Kirk’s death. “This is a challenging time for so many in our country, but any divisions we face will never be solved by trying to hurt each other.”

According to the Associated Press, state capitols around the country have been ramping up security measures in the wake of political violence.

Colorado is already one of several states that allow candidates to use campaign funds for personal security, and the National Conference of State Legislatures recently created a $1.5 million fund to reimburse state legislatures for expenses related to lawmakers’ personal safety and security while they’re away from their statehouses.

Members of the state’s judicial branch are worried about their personal safety, too. During a January meeting with the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee, Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez requested funding for a full-time employee to work with a task force addressing physical security for court and probation facilities

Security “came up in literally every single district visit that we had,” said Márquez, referring to trips she took over the past year to all 23 of Colorado’s judicial districts.

“I also want to be clear that it’s not just our judges,” Márquez said. “What surprised me about these visits around the state is that these challenges are being experienced as well by our court and probation staff. All across our state, I saw aging court facilities and, frankly, in some instances, glaring security vulnerabilities.”

Late last year, a 36-year-old Aurora man was arrested for attacking a defense lawyer at the Arapahoe County Courthouse.

Márquez added that the very same day, “a defendant jumped across the bench and came close to attacking one of our judicial officers.”

Colorado Politics could not verify the timing, but the district attorney’s office confirmed there was an attempted attack on a district judge in July.

House Bill 1422 is scheduled to be heard by the House State, Civic, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee on Monday.

Steve Karnowski and Scott Bauer of the Associated Press and Michael Karlik contributed to this story.