School resource officers; require school districts to employ for each school under its control.

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To: Education
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Butler-Washington

HOUSE BILL NO. 1374

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-7-321, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO REQUIRE THE SCHOOL BOARD OF EACH SCHOOL DISTRICT TO EMPLOY ONE 2
OR MORE PERSONS AS SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS, WHO SHALL BE 3
DESIGNATED AS PEACE OFFICERS IN OR ON ALL PROPERTIES OPERATED FOR 4
SCHOOL PURPOSES; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 37-3-82, MISSISSIPPI 5
CODE OF 1972, FOR THE PURPOSE OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENTS; AND FOR 6
RELATED PURPOSES. 7
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 8
SECTION 1. Section 37-7-321, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 9
amended as follows: 10
37-7-321. (1) The school board of * * * each school 11
district within the State of Mississippi * * * shall employ one or 12
more persons as * * * school resource officers and * * * shall 13
designate * * * those persons as peace officers in or on * * * all 14
properties operated for school purposes by * * * the board upon 15
their taking * * * the oath of office and making * * * the 16
necessary bond as required of a constable of the county in which 17
the school district is situated. The school board shall enter 18
into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), in a manner similar to 19
that executed under the MCOPS program prescribed in Section 20
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37-3-82, with the local law enforcement agency having primary 21
jurisdiction in the municipality or county in which the school 22
district is located, which shall be signed by the law enforcement 23
executive and the appropriate school official(s), to document the 24
roles and responsibilities to be undertaken by the school resource 25
officers assigned to work in and around primary or secondary 26
schools within the school district. 27
(2) Any person employed by a school board as a security 28
guard or school resource officer or in any other position that has 29
the powers of a peace officer must receive a minimum level of 30
basic law enforcement training, as jointly determined and 31
prescribed by the Board on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and 32
Training and the State Board of Education, within two (2) years of 33
the person's initial employment in such position. Upon the 34
failure of any person employed in such position to receive the 35
required training within the designated time, the person may not 36
exercise the powers of a peace officer in or on the property of 37
the school district. 38
(3) The school board is authorized and empowered, in its 39
discretion, and subject to the approval of the Federal 40
Communications Commission, to install and operate a noncommercial 41
radio broadcasting and transmission station for educational and 42
vocational educational purposes. 43
(4) If a law enforcement officer is duly appointed to be a 44
peace officer by a school district under this section, the local 45
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school board may enter into an interlocal agreement with other law 46
enforcement entities for the provision of equipment or traffic 47
control duties, however, the duty to enforce traffic regulations 48
and to enforce the laws of the state or municipality off of school 49
property lies with the local police or sheriff's department which 50
cannot withhold its services solely because of the lack of such an 51
agreement. 52
SECTION 2. Section 37-3-82, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 53
brought forward as follows: 54
37-3-82. (1) There is hereby established the Mississippi 55
Community Oriented Policing Services in Schools (MCOPS) grant 56
program in the State Department of Education to provide funding, 57
pursuant to specific appropriation by the Legislature therefor, to 58
assist law enforcement agencies in providing additional School 59
Resource Officers to engage in community policing in and around 60
primary and secondary schools. The MCOPS program shall authorize 61
the State Department of Education to make grants to increase 62
deployment of law enforcement officers in order (a) to increase or 63
enhance community policing in this state, (b) that trained, sworn 64
enforcement officers assigned to schools play an integral part in 65
the development and/or enhancement of a comprehensive school 66
safety plan, and (c) that the presence of these officers shall 67
provide schools with a direct link to local law enforcement 68
agencies. 69
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(2) The MCOPS program shall meet the following requirements 70
and standards: 71
(a) This program shall provide an incentive for law 72
enforcement agencies to build collaborative partnerships with the 73
school community and to use community policing efforts to combat 74
school violence and implement educational programs to improve 75
student and school safety. 76
(b) The additional School Resource Officers must devote 77
at least seventy-five percent (75%) of their time to work in and 78
around primary and secondary schools, in addition to the time that 79
School Resource Officers are devoting in the absence of the MCOPS 80
in Schools grant. 81
(c) Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, the MCOPS 82
in Schools program shall provide a minimum state contribution of 83
up to Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) per officer position over 84
the one-year grant period, to be matched from local funds on a 85
50/50 matching basis. Officers paid with MCOPS funds may be 86
employed by the local law enforcement agency or by the local 87
school district. MCOPS funds may be used to pay for entry-level 88
salaries and benefits of newly trained additional School Resource 89
Officers and may be used to pay the salaries and benefits of 90
School Resource Officers employed prior to July 1, 2013. All 91
jurisdictions that apply must demonstrate that they have primary 92
law enforcement authority over the school(s) identified in their 93
application and demonstrate their inability to implement this 94
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project without state assistance. Schools or law enforcement 95
agencies may not reduce its overall federal, state, locally funded 96
level of sworn officers (including other School Resource Officers 97
or other sworn officers assigned to the schools) as a result of 98
applying for or receiving MCOPS in Schools grant funding. MCOPS 99
in Schools funding may be used to rehire sworn officers previously 100
employed who have been laid off for financial reasons unrelated to 101
the availability of the MCOPS in Schools grant, but must obtain 102
prior written approval from the State Department of Education. 103
MCOPS in Schools funding may be used to train school resource 104
officers. In order to be eligible for such program, each local 105
school board desiring to participate shall apply to the State 106
Department of Education by May 31 before the beginning of the 107
applicable fiscal year on forms provided by the department. The 108
State Department of Education shall determine by July 1 of each 109
succeeding year which local school districts have submitted 110
approved applications for School Resource Officer funding. 111
(d) School Resource Officers (SROs) may serve in a 112
variety of roles, including, but not limited to, that of a law 113
enforcement officer/safety specialist, law-related educator, and 114
problem-solver/community liaison. These officers may teach 115
programs such as crime prevention, substance abuse prevention, and 116
gang resistance as well as monitor and assist troubled students 117
through mentoring programs. The School Resource Officer(s) may 118
also identify physical changes in the environment that may reduce 119
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crime in and around the schools, as well as assist in developing 120
school policies which address criminal activity and school safety. 121
The application must also include a Memorandum of Understanding 122
(MOU), signed by the law enforcement executive and the appropriate 123
school official(s), to document the roles and responsibilities to 124
be undertaken by the law enforcement agency and the educational 125
school partner(s) through this collaborative effort. The 126
application must also include a Narrative Addendum to document 127
that the School Resource Officer(s) will be assigned to work in 128
and around primary or secondary schools and provide supporting 129
documentation in the following areas: problem identification and 130
justification, community policing strategies to be used by the 131
officers, quality and level of commitment to the effort, and the 132
link to community policing. 133
(e) All agencies receiving awards through the MCOPS in 134
Schools program are required to send the School Resource Officer 135
position(s) funded by this grant, to the Mississippi Law 136
Enforcement Officers' Training Academy where they shall be 137
required to participate in training through the Advanced Law 138
Enforcement Rapid Response Training Program at the academy, with 139
the cost to be defrayed from the MCOPS program. The MCOPS Office 140
of the State Department of Education will reimburse grantees for 141
training, per diem, travel, and lodging costs for attendance of 142
required participants up to a maximum of One Thousand Two Hundred 143
Dollars ($1,200.00) per person attending. Applicants receiving an 144
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ST: School resource officers; require school
districts to employ for each school under its
control.
MCOPS in Schools grant, will receive additional training 145
information following notification of the grant award. The MCOPS 146
in Schools training requirement must be completed prior to the end 147
of twelve-month grant funding for officer positions. 148
(3) The State Department of Education shall promulgate rules 149
and regulations prescribing procedures for the application, 150
expenditure requirements and the administration of the Mississippi 151
Community Oriented Policing Services in Schools (MCOPS) program 152
established in this section, and shall make a report on the 153
implementation of the MCOPS program with any recommendations to 154
the 2020 Regular Session of the Legislature. 155
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from 156
and after July 1, 2026. 157