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AN ACT relating to school safety. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 158.441 is amended to read as follows: 3
As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise: 4
(1) "Intervention services" means any preventive, developmental, corrective, 5
supportive services or treatment provided to a student who is at risk of school 6
failure, is at risk of participation in violent behavior or juvenile crime, or has been 7
expelled from the school district. Services may include, but are not limited to, 8
screening to identify students at risk for emotional disabilities and antisocial 9
behavior; direct instruction in academic, social, problem solving, and conflict 10
resolution skills; alternative educational programs; psychological services; 11
identification and assessment of abilities; counseling services; medical services; day 12
treatment; family services; work and community service programs; 13
(2) "Kentucky State Police school resource officer" or "KSPSRO" means a Kentucky 14
State Police officer, CVE R Class, or Trooper R Class, as defined in KRS 16.010, 15
who is employed by a school district as a school resource officer, as defined in this 16
section, through a contract as secondary employment for the officer; 17
(3) "School activities" means official school functions held on school property, 18
including student attendance days as defined in KRS 158.070, athletic events, and 19
graduation; 20
(4) "School property" means any public, private, or parochial school building, public, 21
private, or parochial school vehicle, public, private, or parochial school campus, 22
grounds, recreational area, or athletic field in the charge of the school district or 23
private or parochial school; 24
(5) "School resource officer" or "SRO" means an officer whose primary job function is 25
to work with youth at a school site as described in KRS 158.4414, who has 26
specialized training to work with youth at a school site pursuant to KRS 158.4414, 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 1749
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and who is: 1
(a) 1. A sworn law enforcement officer; 2
2. A special law enforcement officer appointed pursuant to KRS 61.902; or 3
3. A police officer appointed pursuant to KRS 158.471; and 4
(b) Employed: 5
1. Through a contract between a local law enforcement agency and a 6
school district or private or parochial school; 7
2. Through a contract as secondary employment for an officer, as defined 8
in KRS 16.010, between the Department of Kentucky State Police and a 9
school district or private or parochial school; or 10
3. Directly by a local board of education; 11
(6) "School safety" means a program of prevention that protects students and staff of 12
public, private, or parochial schools from substance abuse, violence, bullying, 13
theft, the sale or use of illegal substances, exposure to weapons and threats on 14
school grounds, and injury from severe weather, fire, and natural disasters; and 15
(7) "School security" means procedures followed and measures taken to ensure the 16
security of public, private, or parochial school buildings, classrooms, and other 17
school facilities and properties. 18
Section 2. KRS 158.4414 is amended to read as follows: 19
(1) Local boards of education, school district superintendents, administrators of state-20
controlled facilities, and local and state law enforcement agencies shall cooperate to 21
assign, by August 1, 2022, one (1) or more certified school resource officers to 22
serve each campus where one (1) or more school buildings are used to deliver 23
instruction to students on a continuous basis. 24
(2) Local boards of education shall ensure, for each campus in the district, that at least 25
one (1) certified school resource officer is assigned to and working on-site full-time 26
in the school building or buildings on the campus. If sufficient funds and qualified 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 1749
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personnel are not available for this purpose for every campus, the local board of 1
education shall fulfill the requirements of this subsection on a per campus basis, as 2
approved in writing by the state school security marshal, until a certified school 3
resource officer is assigned to and working on-site full-time on each campus in the 4
district. 5
(3) Local boards of education utilizing a school resource officer employed by a law 6
enforcement agency or the Department of Kentucky State Police shall enter into a 7
memorandum of understanding with the law enforcement agency or the Department 8
of Kentucky State Police that specifically states the purpose of the school resource 9
officer program and clearly defines the roles and expectations of each party 10
involved in the program. The memorandum shall provide that the school resource 11
officer shall not be responsible for school discipline matters that are the 12
responsibility of school administrators or school employees. 13
(4) Local boards of education utilizing a school resource officer employed directly by 14
the local board of education shall adopt policies and procedures that specifically 15
state the purpose of the school resource officer program and clearly define the roles 16
and expectations of school resource officers and other school employees. 17
(5) In accordance with KRS 61.926, 527.020, and 527.070, as applicable, each school 18
resource officer shall be armed with a firearm, notwithstanding any provision of 19
local board policy, local school council policy, or memorandum of agreement. 20
(6) On or before January 1, 2020, the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council, in 21
collaboration with the Center for School Safety, shall promulgate administrative 22
regulations in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A to establish three (3) levels of 23
training for certification of school resource officers first employed as a school 24
resource officer on or after March 11, 2019: School Resource Officer Training I 25
(SRO I), School Resource Officer Training II (SRO II), and School Resource 26
Officer Training III (SRO III). Each level shall consist of forty (40) hours of 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 1749
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training, with SRO I to be completed within one (1) year of the date of the officer's 1
employment and SRO II and SRO III within the subsequent two (2) years. 2
(7) Course curriculum for school resource officers employed on or after March 11, 3
2019, shall include but not be limited to: 4
(a) Foundations of school-based law enforcement; 5
(b) Threat assessment and response; 6
(c) Youth drug use and abuse; 7
(d) Social media and cyber security; 8
(e) School resource officers as teachers and mentors; 9
(f) Youth mental health awareness; 10
(g) Diversity and bias awareness training; 11
(h) Trauma-informed action; 12
(i) Understanding students with special needs; and 13
(j) De-escalation strategies. 14
(8) Effective January 1, 2020, all school resource officers with active school resource 15
officer certification status shall successfully complete forty (40) hours of annual in-16
service training that has been certified or recognized by the Kentucky Law 17
Enforcement Council for school resource officers. 18
(9) In the event of extenuating circumstances beyond the control of an officer that 19
prevent the officer from completing the in-service training within one (1) year, the 20
commissioner of the Department of Criminal Justice Training or a designee may 21
grant the officer an extension of time, not to exceed one hundred eighty (180) days, 22
in which to complete the training. 23
(10) Any school resource officer who fails to successfully complete training 24
requirements within the specified time periods, including any approved time 25
extensions, shall lose his or her school resource officer certification and shall no 26
longer serve in the capacity of a school resource officer in a school. 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 1749
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(11) When a school resource officer is deficient in required training, the commissioner 1
of the Department of Criminal Justice Training or his or her designee shall notify 2
the council, which shall notify the officer and the officer's employing agency. 3
(12) A school resource officer who has lost school resource officer certification due 4
solely to the officer's failure to meet the training requirements of this section may 5
regain certification status as a school resource officer and may resume service in the 6
capacity of a school resource officer in a school setting upon successful completion 7
of the training deficiency. 8
(13) No later than November 1 of each year, the local school district superintendent shall 9
report to the Center for School Safety the number and placement of school resource 10
officers in the district. The report shall include the source of funding and method of 11
employment for each position. 12
(14) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted or construed to require a local 13
government or any of its agencies or offices to fund the school resource officer 14
positions required of local boards of education under this section. For purposes of 15
this subsection, "local government" has the same meaning as in KRS 65.8840. 16
(15) Nothing in this section shall prevent a private or parochial school from entering 17
into a memorandum of understanding with a local law enforcement agency or the 18
Department of Kentucky State Police to provide school resource officers 19
employed by the local law enforcement agency or the Department of Kentucky 20
State Police so long as the requirements of this section are followed by all parties 21
to the memorandum of understanding. 22