TAOS, N.M. (AP) — A judge's decision to allow the release of an extended family accused of child abuse at a ramshackle desert compound in New Mexico prompted a political uproar Tuesday among prominent Republican lawmakers outraged by the ruling.

The controversy was stoked even further when court officials condemned threats of violence made against the judge who issued the ruling and evacuated several administrative court offices as a precaution.

State District Court Judge Sarah Backus on Monday cleared the way for the release of four defendants, despite assertions by prosecutors that the group...