Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter this week asked staff to remove House members’ home addresses and some other personal information from legislative information available to the public following the deaths of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband at their home.
Another Minnesota lawmaker and his wife were shot and injured in the same targeted attack and the alleged gunman had the home addresses of others, officials have said.
“We’ve had conversations with our clerk about not having home addresses on some of the materials we’ve got, so we’re looking to rectify that,” Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, told Alabama Daily News this week.
Similar actions are being taken in other state houses following the killings of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and the shootings of Minnesota Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.
Vance Boelter faces murder and stalking charges. Authorities said Boelter had a list of dozens of state and federal elected officials in Minnesota and meticulous notes on the homes and people he targeted, The Associated Press reported. He also stopped by the homes of two other legislators that night, according to police.
Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, sent Alabama senators a message about safety following the shootings.
“While the events in Minnesota seem to be isolated indigents, please never hesitate to involve your local law enforcement officials should you or your families ever feel unsafe,” Gudger told his colleagues. “… Each one of us has been called to serve, but that is never at the expense of our safety or the safety of our families.”
Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, told ADN he is looking into ways of keeping lawmakers’ home addresses offline following the shootings and whether legislation is needed.
Meanwhile, security around the capitol complex in Montgomery will increase after the Legislature put a $1.5 million line item in the 2026 General Fund budget. That’s in addition to an existing $700,000 State House security line item in the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s allocations.
“I think that’s going to be good not just for members, but for the people who come to visit, whether they’re here for a particular issue, or the school groups that come to visit. It will make a safe atmosphere,” Ledbetter said.
The new funds will be used to bolster safety and preparedness at the State House, Capitol and surrounding areas, ALEA spokeswoman Amanda Wasden told ADN.
“These funds will support the hiring of additional ALEA troopers in fiscal year 2026, whose primary assignment will be to enhance security within the entire Capitol complex,” she said. “In addition to personnel, the appropriation will cover necessary training and equipment costs to ensure troopers are fully prepared to respond to a broad range of emergency situations.”
Information about the current number of troopers assigned to the complex wasn’t available Thursday.
“In the wake of recent tragic events in Minnesota involving political violence, we are reminded how important it is to take measured steps to safeguard our institutions,” Wasden said.
Lawmakers want to be accessible and aren’t above criticism, Ledbetter said, but the anonymity of social media allows for ugly and disparaging online attacks public officials can receive. Threats of violence against office holders and their families are unacceptable.
“People that put themselves out for elected office, most of the time they do it and take time away from their family or take pay cuts to do it,” he said. “I think it’s going to get harder and harder to get people to run. It’s not a good situation and that’s not what we should do in a democracy. It’s alarming.”
Conversations with law enforcement continue, Ledbetter said.
“We’re going to do everything possible to keep our members and the people who visit the State House safe,” Ledbetter said.