Last month, in front of a judge and jury during a murder trial in the Baltimore City Circuit Court, three individuals attempted to attack the defendant. While they were quickly subdued and arrested, this is not the only such incident of courthouse violence we have experienced recently in Maryland. Just this past May, the defendant in a murder case in Howard County was similarly attacked in one of their circuit courtrooms.
As sheriff of Baltimore City, I am compelled to raise the alarm on court security funding inadequacies. Following the murder of Judge Andrew Wilkinson in Washington County in 2023, a task force was legislatively created to study the issue of the safety of judicial facilities throughout Maryland. As a member of that task force, I learned that staffing for court security officers is significantly underfunded by local governments, not only in Baltimore but all around the state.
During the past two legislative sessions, I testified before the General Assembly that in the Baltimore City courthouse facilities, our ability to provide safe and secure environments has struggled to keep pace with increasing demands, due to insufficient funding over the decades. I have also shared this same information with the Baltimore City Council during my two most recent budget hearings.
My testimony included the following important fact: 49 years ago, when responsibility for courthouse security in Baltimore was transferred from the judiciary to the Sheriff’s Office, there were three court security officer personnel funded per each judge; today, that ratio has fallen to 0.8. While our legislative leaders grasped the importance of this issue, state and local governments have yet to prioritize security funding for our courthouses.
Fortunately, we have another opportunity to focus on this issue in the coming weeks. When Gov. Wes Moore signed Senate Bill 621 this past April, it mandated that sheriffs around the state identify the safety and staffing needs of the various courthouse buildings, as well as any impediments to our abilities to achieve adequate security standards. We will submit our findings to the chief judge of the Maryland Supreme Court by Sept. 30. It should come as no surprise to anyone if the data identifies underfunding from local governments as the prevailing impediment to courthouse security.
If we cannot craft a solution at the statewide level, then each individual sheriff’s office and circuit court will be left to battle for resources in an adversarial budget process with their local governments. This is a battle that the courts are presently losing in the city and in the counties around the state. In our current polarized political environment, and with incidents of court violence on the rise, the bill for rightsizing funding has come due.
Court security is essential in upholding the integrity and effectiveness of the judicial process in a democratic and free society. Violence from the street cannot be allowed to impact the pursuit of justice within the courthouse. This is why it is not enough just to set best practice court security standards. These standards must be funded, and under the structures currently set in law, that means a mandate on local governments, unfortunately.
As Baltimore City sheriff and on behalf of my hardworking court security officers and deputies, I give you my word that we will continue doing our part to keep your courthouses in Baltimore City safe. However, I am asking everyone — particularly state and local bar associations — to join me in convincing all our elected leaders that we must find a funding solution to address the shortfall we face in our courthouses around the state.
Sam Cogen is the sheriff of Baltimore City.