Public Schools - School Resource Officers - Firearms Required

EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MATTER ADDED TO EXISTING LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
*sb0454*

SENATE BILL 454
F1 6lr2594

By: Senators Jennings, Carozza, Gallion, Hershey, Ready, Bailey, Folden, Salling,
West, McKay, and Corderman
Introduced and read first time: February 2, 2026
Assigned to: Judicial Proceedings

A BILL ENTITLED

AN ACT concerning 1

Public Schools – School Resource Officers – Firearms Required 2

FOR the purpose of repealing a certain provision of law relating to a certain school police 3
officer’s authorization to carry a firearm under certain circumstances ; requiring a 4
school resource officer to carry a firearm while present on the premises of a certain 5
school; and generally relating to school resource officers. 6

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 7
Article – Education 8
Section 4–318(d) and 7–1508 9
Annotated Code of Maryland 10
(2025 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 11

BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 12
Article – Education 13
Section 7–1501(a) and (j) 14
Annotated Code of Maryland 15
(2025 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 16

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 17
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 18

Article – Education 19

4–318. 20

(d) (1) [Except as provided in paragraph (3) of this subsection, a] A Baltimore 21
City school police officer has all the powers of a law enforcement officer in the State. 22

2 SENATE BILL 454

(2) (i) A Baltimore City school police officer may act in an official 1
capacity only on the premises of schools and any other property used for educational 2
purposes owned, leased, or operated by, or under the control of the Baltimore City Board of 3
School Commissioners. 4

(ii) A Baltimore City school police officer may not act in an official 5
capacity on any other property unless: 6

1. Engaged in fresh pursuit of a suspected offender; 7

2. Requested or authorized to do so by the Police 8
Commissioner of Baltimore City; 9

3. The exercise of power is necessary to facilitate the orderly 10
flow of traffic to and from property owned, leased, operated by, or under the control of the 11
Baltimore City School System; or 12

4. Ordered to do so by the Mayor of Baltimore City. 13

[(3) (i) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a Baltimore City 14
school police officer whose permanent or temporary assignment is at a school or on school 15
property may carry a firearm on the premises of the school to which the officer is assigned 16
before or after regular school hours on school days and on days other than school days. 17

(ii) The B altimore City Board of School Commissioners shall 18
establish policies to implement the provisions of subparagraph (i) of this paragraph.] 19

7–1501. 20

(a) In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated. 21

(j) “School resource officer” means: 22

(1) A law enforcement officer as defined under § 1–101(c) of the Public 23
Safety Article who has been assigned to a school in accordance with a memorandum of 24
understanding between the chief of a law enforcement agency as defined under § 3–201(d) 25
of the Public Safety Article and the local education agency; or 26

(2) A Baltimore City school police officer, as defined in § 4 –318 of this 27
article. 28

7–1508. 29

(a) (1) Each local school system shall designate a school safety coordinator. 30

(2) A designated school safety coordinator shall: 31

SENATE BILL 454 3

(i) Be certified by the Center; and 1

(ii) Serve as a liaison between the local school system, the local law 2
enforcement agency, and the Center. 3

(B) A SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFI CER SHALL CARRY A FI REARM WHILE 4
PRESENT ON THE PREMISES OF THE SCHOOL TO WHICH THE OFFICER IS ASSIGNED. 5

[(b)] (C) (1) (i) On or before September 1, 2018, the Center, in 6
consultation with local school systems, shall: 7

1. Develop a specialized curriculum for use in training of 8
school resource officers and school security employees; and 9

2. Submit the curriculum to the Maryland Police Training 10
and Standards Commission for approval. 11

(ii) The specialized curriculum developed under this subsection shall 12
include training in: 13

1. De–escalation; 14

2. Disability awareness; 15

3. Maintaining a positive school climate; 16

4. Constructive interactions with students; and 17

5. Implicit bias and disability and diversity awareness with 18
specific attention to racial and ethnic disparities. 19

(iii) 1. The specialized curriculum developed under this 20
subsection may not go into effect until it is approved by the Maryland Police Training and 21
Standards Commission. 22

2. If the Maryland Police Training and Standards 23
Commission does not initially approve the specialized curriculum, the Center shall amend 24
the curriculum until it meets with the Commission’s approval. 25

(2) On or before March 1, 2019, the Center shall develop and submit to the 26
Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission for approval a model training 27
program that meets the requirements of the curriculum approved under paragraph (1) of 28
this subsection. 29

(3) Each local law enforcement agency shall: 30

(i) Enroll individuals assigned to be school resource officers in the 31
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model training program developed by the Center under paragraph (2) of this subsection; or 1

(ii) 1. Submit to the Maryland Police Trai ning and Standards 2
Commission for approval a training program that is consistent with the curriculum 3
developed under paragraph (1) of this subsection; and 4

2. Enroll individuals assigned to be school resource officers 5
in the training program developed under item 1 of this item. 6

(4) Beginning September 1, 2019, to be assigned as a school resource officer 7
an individual shall: 8

(i) Complete: 9

1. The model training program developed by the Center 10
under paragraph (2) of this subsection through inst ruction provided by the Center in 11
collaboration with the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission; or 12

2. A local law enforcement agency’s training program 13
developed under paragraph (3)(ii) of this subsection; and 14

(ii) Be certified by the Maryland Police Training and Standards 15
Commission. 16

(5) Beginning September 1, 2019, to be employed as a school security 17
employee at a public school, an individual shall complete: 18

(i) The model training program developed by the Center under 19
paragraph (2) of this subsection through instruction provided by the Center in collaboration 20
with the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission; or 21

(ii) A local law enforcement agency’s training program developed 22
under paragraph (3)(ii) of this subsection. 23

[(c)] (D) The Center shall collect data regarding the school resource officers in 24
each local school system, including: 25

(1) The number of full –time and part –time school resource officers 26
assigned to each elementary school, middle school, and high school; and 27

(2) Any other local school system employees or local law enforcement 28
officers who are fulfilling the role of a school resource officer. 29

[(d)] (E) (1) On or before December 15, 2018, the Center, in collaboration 30
with local law enforcement agencies and local school systems, shall analyze the initial data 31
collected under subsection [(c)] (D) of this section and develop guidelines to assist local 32
school systems in: 33
SENATE BILL 454 5

(i) Identifying the appropriate number and assignment of school 1
resource officers, including supplemental coverage by local law enforcement agencies; and 2

(ii) Collaborating and communicating with local law enforcement 3
agencies. 4

(2) On or before July 1, 2019, each local school system, in consultation with 5
local law enforcement agencies, shall: 6

(i) Develop a plan to implement the guidelines developed by the 7
Center; and 8

(ii) Submit the plan to the Center for review and comment. 9

[(e)] (F) (1) Before the 2018 –2019 school year begins, each local school 10
system shall file a report with the Center identifying: 11

(i) The public high schools in the local school system’s jurisdiction 12
that have a school resource officer assigned to the school; and 13

(ii) If a public high school in the local school system’s jurisdiction is 14
not assigned a school resource officer, the adequate local law enforcement coverage that 15
will be provided to the public high school. 16

(2) Beginning with the 2019 –2020 school year, and each school year 17
thereafter, before the school year begins, each local school system shall, in accordance with 18
the plan developed under subsection [(d)(2)] (E)(2) of this section, file a report identifying: 19

(i) The public schools in the local school system’s jurisdiction that 20
have a school resource officer assigned to the school; and 21

(ii) If a public school in the local school system’s jurisdiction is not 22
assigned a school resource officer, the adequate local law enforcement coverage that will be 23
provided to the public school. 24

(3) On or before October 1, 2018, and each October 1 thereafter, the Center 25
shall submit a summary of the reports required under this subsection to the Governor and, 26
in accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, the General Assembly. 27

[(f)] (G) Each local school system shall po st on the school system’s website 28
information on the role and authority of school resource officers assigned to public schools 29
within the school system. 30

[(g)] (H) (1) For fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Governor 31
shall include in the annual budget bill an appropriation of $10,000,000 for the purpose of 32
providing grants to local school systems and local law enforcement agencies to assist in 33
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meeting the requirements of subsection [(e)] (F) of this section. 1

(2) Grants provided under t his subsection shall be made to each local 2
school system based on the number of schools in each school system in proportion to the 3
total number of public schools in the State in the prior year. 4

[(h)] (I) A local school system may use funds provided under subsection [(g)] 5
(H) of this section for school security employees. 6

[(i)] (J) (1) The Center shall collect data on incidents of use of force between: 7

(i) Any school resource officer and a student while a school resource 8
officer is carrying out the officer’s duties; and 9

(ii) Any school security employee and a student while the school 10
security employee is carrying out the employee’s duties. 11

(2) On or before December 1, 2020, and each December 1 thereafter, the 12
Center shall submit a report on the data collected under paragraph (1) of this subsection 13
for each jurisdiction, in accordance with federal and State law, to the Governor and, in 14
accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, the General Assembly. 15

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 16
1, 2026. 17