Just over one-quarter of federal judges do not participate in a federal home security program despite threats against judges becoming “more complex than ever before,” the Department of Justice inspector general announced Tuesday.

About 72% of federal judges have enrolled in the Home Intrusion Detection System, under which judges can be reimbursed for installing a home security system, Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz reported.

The program was created after a fatal attack on a judge in Chicago in 2005. The U.S. Marshals Service protects 2,700 federal judges.

“According to USMS data, the safety of federal judges has historically been at greater risk when they are away from the courthouse, and there have been seven attacks on federal judges in their homes since 1979,” Mr. Horowitz’s report states.

The Marshals Service has opened more than 1,000 investigations of potential threats to judges over the past four years, the report notes.

“Today’s threat landscape, which largely has moved to online and social media platforms, is more complex than ever before, with particularly high-threat environments resulting from terrorism and organized crime,” the report says.

More than 1,600 judges are being reimbursed for installing and utilizing monitor security systems at their homes.

“At the end of December 2023, 1,833 judges — about 72 percent of all eligible judges — were enrolled in the HIDS program,” the inspector general’s review found.

To improve participation in the program, the IG recommends the Marshals Service survey and communicate with judges about their security needs.

The report’s release follows news last week that an Alaska man was arrested and charged with threatening to torture and kill six U.S. Supreme Court justices.

Meanwhile, a California man is awaiting trial on charges of attempting to assassinate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.

Nicholas Roske traveled to Justice Kavanaugh’s home with weapons in 2002 following the leak of a draft opinion revealing that the justices were poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that had given women a national right to abortion. The high court did overturn Roe and returned jurisdiction over abortion to the states.

Mr. Roske’s trial is scheduled for June 2025.

• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.