Removing the personal information of 18 judges from the internet, including the dark web, is the aim of a contract newly approved by the McHenry County Board.
McHenry County Circuit Court Administrator Dan Wallis said IronWall by Incogni system, which also will scrub his and his deputy administrators’ personal information, is “unfortunately” necessary “in the days we are living.”
Wallis referenced the recent shootings in Minnesota where a man is accused of stalking, then posing as a police officer and going to the homes of several lawmakers. He shot and killed one and wounded another, according to the Associated Press.
Federal authorities said he also went to the homes of two other state legislators but did not encounter them. Officials in other states, including Illinois, have said they were on the man’s target list.
The suspect “planned his attacks carefully, researching intended victims and their families and conducting surveillance of their homes,” according to the AP.
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The McHenry County Board approved the $38,000, five-year contract in June with a resolution stating: “National incidents have demonstrated the real and growing threat to judicial officers, including targeted harassment, doxxing, and attempted violence.”
Federal judicial officials have warned Congress is not putting enough funding toward security, and more than five dozen judges handling cases related to the Trump administration are receiving “enhanced online security screening,” according to the AP.
Closer to home, Jonathon T. Larson, 26, of McHenry was accused of threatening to attack the McHenry County judge who presided over Larson’s child custody case. Larson was angry about the child support the judge ordered him to pay, according to vulgar text messages Larson sent the child’s mother in which he threatened to “burn him alive” and “eat his [expletive] face off.”
Larson pleaded guilty last month to harassment and was sentenced to 24 months probation and 180 days in county jail, time that was deemed served from his time locked up pretrial.
In another case, a man is accused of threatening a McHenry County judge and placing a $1.95 million “false lien” on his house, according to authorities and court records.
Just this month, a man was accused of attempting to enter the courthouse in Woodstock with a weapon and then fleeing.
And Lake County authorities are also investigating what they said were recent threats against judges.
Wallis said the program was already being considered before the local incidents.
“Public officials can be at risk,” he said. “This was an opportunity to take a proactive approach for the safety of our judges.”
When Wallis ran his name through the program, he said he found his information on 10 databases, including his home address and birthday.
Now, he can notify those databases, and if his information is not removed, Wallis said, he can take legal action. The system also has “emergency response protocols” to respond to active threats, according to Wallis and county documents.