- 2024, Education
Authorizes retired law enforcement and former military to serve as SROs.
HB 1899 / SB 2025
Bill Description
Bill Sponsors
Rep. Tim Rudd
Sen. Shane Reeves
Bill Co-Sponsors
House: Keisling, Bulso, Capley, Russell, Grills, Burkhart, Lynn, Leatherwood, Moody, Todd, Hardaway, Cepicky
TLRC Statement on Bill
Under present law, for the purposes of the School Security Act of 1981 (“Act”), a “school resource officer” means (i) an officer, employee, or agent of the government who has a duty imposed by law to maintain public order; or make arrests for offenses, whether that duty extends to all offenses or is limited to specific offenses, and investigate the commission or suspected commission of offenses (“law enforcement officer”); and (ii) who is in compliance with all laws, rules, and regulations of the peace officers standards and training commission and who has been assigned to a school in accordance with a memorandum of understanding between the chief of the appropriate law enforcement agency and the LEA. Present law clarifies that a “school resource officer” specifically includes a sheriff, sheriff’s deputy, and, only for purposes of the enhancement of a crime, a deputy jailer.
This bill provides that under the Act, a “school resource officer” also means (i) an individual who is no more than seven years retired from service as a law enforcement officer from a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency (“retired law enforcement officer”) who has been assigned to a public school by the director of schools or director of the public charter school; or (ii) an honorably discharged veteran of the United States armed forces who has been assigned to a public school by the director of schools or by the director of the public charter school.
This bill authorizes a school to employ a retired law enforcement officer or honorably discharged veteran of the U.S. armed forces to provide security on school premises. This bill requires each local board of education and public charter school governing body that intends to employ a retired law enforcement officer or honorably discharged veteran as a school resource officer to adopt a policy that outlines the duties, responsibilities, and authority of a school resource officer, including any limitations on such a school resource officer’s authority. Each policy must ensure compliance with federal and state privacy laws.
