Minnesota Capitol security enhancements underway

Security changes at the Minnesota State Capitol are underway, but it will still be a couple of months before an advisory committee’s comprehensive recommendations are forwarded to the legislature.

The most notable change in the short term will be more uniform security personnel on the job, following the recent hiring of 20 new security officers.

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“Mid to late November is when they will start their training and then be put into their own classification and be out there in the field, so to speak, and functioning as Capitol security officers and our eyes and ears that are out there,” says Lt. Col. Jeremy Geiger of the Minnesota State Patrol.

Geiger says more state troopers will also be assigned to the Capitol complex, along with a new captain to help oversee security, as well as an existing captain.

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Additionally, a trooper will be assigned to work with the BCA investigating threats involving the Capitol complex. There have been 50 threats investigated so far in 2025 — compared to 19 in all of 2024. 13 cases this year have been referred for prosecution.

The Advisory Committee on Capitol Security also learned more about the consulting firm hired to study Capitol complex security and to make recommendations for improvements. The Axtell Group is headed by former St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell. He addressed the committee to outline the work that will be done, but says it’s too soon to report any findings.

One lawmaker was concerned that the contract with the consulting firm only calls for studying four of 14 buildings that make up the Capitol complex, including the Capitol itself, the Senate Office Building, the Centennial Office Building (where House members are temporarily officing) and the Judicial Building.

“There are other buildings on the campus that obviously the public interacts with,” said Rep. Jim Nash, R-Waconia. “People who actually perhaps serve in these buildings will walk over to for a number of different reasons, and I’m wondering why have those buildings been excluded from the comprehensive, I believe it was called a comprehensive security assessment,  because without those buildings in my estimation it is not comprehensive.”

Axtell said his firm’s contract only calls for a review of those four buildings, and Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson explained why. He says they are the most heavily visited buildings, and all that could be budgeted for at this point.

“This assessment, once it’s completed, does not preclude us from coming back to the legislature and asking for more funds to complete the rest of the Capitol area completely,” he said. “I think that actually would be a wise idea.”

The committee, chaired by DFL Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, includes House and Senate members, law enforcement, and sergeant-at-arms staff from the House and Senate. They will continue meeting until they come up with recommendations for the legislature when it reconvenes in February.

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