Since the murders of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and Democratic Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, more than 15 states have passed legislation or approved changes to rules allowing lawmakers to access campaign funds for personal security, a sign of growing concern about political violence in the US.
This year alone, Utah, South Dakota, Alabama, Nebraska and Oregon changed policies to allow state lawmakers to use campaign funds for security. More states, including Tennessee, are considering such measures.
“Increased violence … was the driving force behind the legislation,” said GOP Oregon state Senator David Brock Smith, who voted in favor of the bill signed by the governor earlier this month, adding that he has personally received death threats.
The new law, he said, would allow legislators to install security systems and cameras “to keep themselves safe if they’re home, or to keep their families safe when they’re not.”
More than two dozen states, from Georgia to Minnesota, now allow some officeholders to pay for security from campaign funds and contributions from private individuals, either through legislation, ethics rulings or decisions of their respective secretaries of state or state attorneys general. Policies vary from state to state – some only allow officers to purchase video or alarm security systems, while others set aside funds to pay for private security personnel.
“Lawmakers across the country have received threats, and in the state of Utah we’ve certainly seen an increase,” said Assistant Majority Whip Michael McKell of Utah, a Republican and sponsor. election bill Which passed the Utah Legislature earlier this year. Kirk was murdered at a university in Utah. “In the last few years, it has become much more controversial.”
There have been several incidents of violence directed at political leaders in recent years, including two assassination attempts against President Donald Trump – one at a Pennsylvania campaign rally during the 2024 presidential campaign and the other at his Mar-a-Lago resort two months later – as well as the murders of Hortman and Kirk.
The motive for the first attempt on Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania, remains a mystery and the shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, was killed by federal agents. Defendant Ryan Routh was found guilty of a second attempted murder and sentenced to life in prison. Roth, who represented himself during the trial It is said that he was worried about the war in Ukraine.
The suspect in Hortman’s murder, Vance Boulter, is facing federal murder charges, and authorities said he reportedly confessed in a letter in which he described a confusing and complex plan to punish Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Boulter has pleaded not guilty. In the Kirk murder, suspect Tyler Robinson allegedly had anti-fascist and meme-culture phrases engraved on the shell casings of the bullets. A preliminary hearing in his case is scheduled to begin this month.
This week, Erica Kirk pulled out of a speaking engagement with Vice President J.D. Vance at the University of Georgia due to “serious threats.”
“I take the recommendations of my security team very seriously,” she said. in a post While on X after the event, Turning Point USA’s Andrew Colvet the threats said For Kirk these were “a terrible reflection on the state of reality and the state of our country.”
While the deaths of Hortman and Kirk were the tragic catalysts that helped clear the avenue for security payments to elected officials, lawmakers say their concerns began years earlier. In Oregon, Democrats first discussed protections such as removing lawmakers’ addresses from public records following the 2020 protests and riots in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd.
In Utah, McKell said incidents of property destruction and serious threats against lawmakers began a few years ago. McKell recalled that a Utah legislator’s house and garage were painted red; Another officer’s wife’s tires were slashed; And serious threats led the Utah Highway Patrol to park outside a legislator’s home for several days.
“We’ve had discussions for the last four to eight years about how to be safe and secure,” said McKell, whose business was vandalized. “But there’s no doubt that the events of the last year, year and a half, have certainly made it easier to pass a bill like this.”
Supporters of the policy change say the funding is necessary because legislators typically cannot pay such costs out of their own pockets. On average, state lawmakers received an annual salary of about $48,000 per year in 2025, According to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Campaign funds are seen as the best source of money because it is very difficult for elected officials to convince voters to allow the use of taxpayer funds for things like security cameras.
In a sign of growing fears, NCSL in February launched a $1.5 million grant for personal security expenses, which state lawmakers can use to purchase security cameras and outdoor lighting, register for self-defense courses, and obtain Internet security monitoring services, among other things. State legislatures can also use grants to conduct group safety training sessions for elected officials.
“This grant in response to what happened last summer really highlighted how important security is to state lawmakers,” said Katie Ziegler, NCSL’s associate director of member outreach.
