Minnesota Senate Approves Protective-Services Unit and Capitol Security Upgrades

Overview

• Senators passed a public-safety package Monday by a 45–19 vote that strengthens security for the Capitol, courts, and elected officials.
• The plan creates a protective-services unit to guard officials under credible threat, conduct threat assessments, and coordinate with the State Patrol and sergeants-at-arms.
• Capitol measures include ongoing funding for fewer public entrances, metal detectors for weapons screening, and other physical upgrades, with added privacy and home-security support for judges.
• The House is moving a companion bill toward a floor vote, though it has not been brought up yet.
• The push follows last June’s attacks that killed former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband and, about 90 minutes earlier, wounded Sen. John Hoffman and his wife in a shooting by a man posing as a police officer, identified as Vance Boelter.