As the Minnesota Legislature convened this week, several new security measures were put in place to protect lawmakers, Capitol staff, and members of the public who enter the Capitol building. The most significant change is the addition of security checkpoints at four building entrances. The checkpoint scanners are not metal detectors. Instead, the walk-through scanners use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to form images of and analyze objects carried on a person’s body and flag those items that require hand screenings or a pass through a separate X-ray scanner. Removing jackets, shoes, or belts is not required, according to Col. Christina Bogojevic, chief of the Minnesota State Patrol.
Anyone with a prohibited item will not be able to enter the building with it. A person who refuses screening will not be permitted to enter.
Although legislative staff are required to undergo these new screenings, Legislators, the governor, other executive officials, and the state Supreme Court members are exempt from screening procedures.
“No single measure eliminates all risk, but this one meaningfully reduces preventable risks and violence in a shared civic space where the public, elected officials, and staff gather on a regular basis,” said Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson. “It is focused on safety and accessibility, not on restriction,” he said, adding that this type of weapons screening is a widely used safety practice in government buildings nationwide.
Under current law, people with a valid permit to carry may bring a firearm into the Capitol. The new security measures will not change that. Permit holders will need to identify themselves to a State Patrol officer staffing a scanner and produce their permit and a valid government-issued ID.
The new security measures, which were recommended by the Advisory Committee on Capitol Area Security, were authorized by an executive order issued by Gov. Tim Walz on January 26, 2026. The order directed the public safety department to “put in place the equipment and trained personnel necessary to implement weapons screening to ensure that unlawful, dangerous items are not introduced into the Minnesota State Capitol.”
The department’s advisory committee met monthly between August and November after the assassination of House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark and the shooting of Sen. John Hoffman (DFL-Champlin) in June.
The State Capitol in St. Paul is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Hours may be extended if official legislative business is conducted outside those hours.
