School resource officers; require to undergo Mental Health First Aid training.

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To: Education;
Appropriations A
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Creekmore IV

HOUSE BILL NO. 350

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 37-3-82 AND 37-7-321, MISSISSIPPI 1
CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND LOCAL LAW 2
ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES THAT EMPLOY INDIVIDUALS TO SERVE AS SCHOOL 3
RESOURCE OFFICERS TO PROVIDE MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID TRAINING THAT 4
IS EVIDENCED-BASED AND APPROVED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL 5
HEALTH; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 6
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 7
SECTION 1. Section 37-3-82, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 8
amended as follows: 9
37-3-82. (1) There is hereby established the Mississippi 10
Community Oriented Policing Services in Schools (MCOPS) grant 11
program in the State Department of Education to provide funding, 12
pursuant to specific appropriation by the Legislature therefor, to 13
assist law enforcement agencies in providing additional School 14
Resource Officers to engage in community policing in and around 15
primary and secondary schools. The MCOPS program shall authorize 16
the State Department of Education to make grants to increase 17
deployment of law enforcement officers in order (a) to increase or 18
enhance community policing in this state, (b) that trained, sworn 19
enforcement officers assigned to schools play an integral part in 20
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the development and/or enhancement of a comprehensive school 21
safety plan, and (c) that the presence of these officers shall 22
provide schools with a direct link to local law enforcement 23
agencies. 24
(2) The MCOPS program shall meet the following requirements 25
and standards: 26
(a) This program shall provide an incentive for law 27
enforcement agencies to build collaborative partnerships with the 28
school community and to use community policing efforts to combat 29
school violence and implement educational programs to improve 30
student and school safety. 31
(b) The additional School Resource Officers must devote 32
at least seventy-five percent (75%) of their time to work in and 33
around primary and secondary schools, in addition to the time that 34
School Resource Officers are devoting in the absence of the MCOPS 35
in Schools grant. 36
(c) Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, the MCOPS 37
in Schools program shall provide a minimum state contribution of 38
up to Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) per officer position over 39
the one-year grant period, to be matched from local funds on a 40
50/50 matching basis. Officers paid with MCOPS funds may be 41
employed by the local law enforcement agency or by the local 42
school district. MCOPS funds may be used to pay for entry-level 43
salaries and benefits of newly trained additional School Resource 44
Officers and may be used to pay the salaries and benefits of 45
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School Resource Officers employed prior to July 1, 2013. All 46
jurisdictions that apply must demonstrate that they have primary 47
law enforcement authority over the school(s) identified in their 48
application and demonstrate their inability to implement this 49
project without state assistance. Schools or law enforcement 50
agencies may not reduce its overall federal, state, locally funded 51
level of sworn officers (including other School Resource Officers 52
or other sworn officers assigned to the schools) as a result of 53
applying for or receiving MCOPS in Schools grant funding. MCOPS 54
in Schools funding may be used to rehire sworn officers previously 55
employed who have been laid off for financial reasons unrelated to 56
the availability of the MCOPS in Schools grant, but must obtain 57
prior written approval from the State Department of Education. 58
MCOPS in Schools funding may be used to train school resource 59
officers. In order to be eligible for such program, each local 60
school board desiring to participate shall apply to the State 61
Department of Education by May 31 before the beginning of the 62
applicable fiscal year on forms provided by the department. The 63
State Department of Education shall determine by July 1 of each 64
succeeding year which local school districts have submitted 65
approved applications for School Resource Officer funding. 66
(d) School Resource Officers (SROs) may serve in a 67
variety of roles, including, but not limited to, that of a law 68
enforcement officer/safety specialist, law-related educator, and 69
problem-solver/community liaison. These officers may teach 70
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programs such as crime prevention, substance abuse prevention, and 71
gang resistance as well as monitor and assist troubled students 72
through mentoring programs. The School Resource Officer(s) may 73
also identify physical changes in the environment that may reduce 74
crime in and around the schools, as well as assist in developing 75
school policies which address criminal activity and school safety. 76
The application must also include a Memorandum of Understanding 77
(MOU), signed by the law enforcement executive and the appropriate 78
school official(s), to document the roles and responsibilities to 79
be undertaken by the law enforcement agency and the educational 80
school partner(s) through this collaborative effort. The 81
application must also include a Narrative Addendum to document 82
that the School Resource Officer(s) will be assigned to work in 83
and around primary or secondary schools and provide supporting 84
documentation in the following areas: problem identification and 85
justification, community policing strategies to be used by the 86
officers, quality and level of commitment to the effort, and the 87
link to community policing. 88
(e) All agencies receiving awards through the MCOPS in 89
Schools program are required to send the School Resource Officer 90
position(s) funded by this grant, to the Mississippi Law 91
Enforcement Officers' Training Academy where they shall be 92
required to participate in training through the Advanced Law 93
Enforcement Rapid Response Training Program at the academy, with 94
the cost to be defrayed from the MCOPS program. The MCOPS Office 95
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of the State Department of Education will reimburse grantees for 96
training, per diem, travel, and lodging costs for attendance of 97
required participants up to a maximum of One Thousand Two Hundred 98
Dollars ($1,200.00) per person attending. Applicants receiving an 99
MCOPS in Schools grant, will receive additional training 100
information following notification of the grant award. The MCOPS 101
in Schools training requirement must be completed prior to the end 102
of twelve-month grant funding for officer positions. 103
(f) Each school district that employs or enters into an 104
interlocal agreement with a local law enforcement agency for the 105
purpose of providing school resource officers to the schools 106
within the local school district shall be provided Mental Health 107
First Aid training that is evidence-based and approved by the 108
Department of Mental Health to all of those officers as a 109
component of their initial minimum level of law enforcement 110
training requirements and any required continuing education or 111
certification training during the time of continued employment by 112
the school district or with the local law enforcement agency. 113
(3) The State Department of Education shall promulgate rules 114
and regulations prescribing procedures for the application, 115
expenditure requirements and the administration of the Mississippi 116
Community Oriented Policing Services in Schools (MCOPS) program 117
established in this section, and shall make a report on the 118
implementation of the MCOPS program with any recommendations to 119
the 2020 Regular Session of the Legislature. 120
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SECTION 2. Section 37-7-321, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 121
amended as follows: 122
37-7-321. (1) The school board of any school district 123
within the State of Mississippi, in its discretion, may employ one 124
or more persons as security personnel and may designate such 125
persons as peace officers in or on any property operated for 126
school purposes by such board upon their taking such oath and 127
making such bond as required of a constable of the county in which 128
the school district is situated. 129
(2) Any person employed by a school board as a security 130
guard or school resource officer or in any other position that has 131
the powers of a peace officer must receive a minimum level of 132
basic law enforcement training, as jointly determined and 133
prescribed by the Board on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and 134
Training and the State Board of Education, within two (2) years of 135
the person's initial employment in such position. Upon the 136
failure of any person employed in such position to receive the 137
required training within the designated time, the person may not 138
exercise the powers of a peace officer in or on the property of 139
the school district. Additionally, such persons employed in the 140
capacity as a school resource officer shall be provided Mental 141
Health First Aid training by the employing school district or 142
local law enforcement agency, which is evidence-based and approved 143
by the Department of Mental Health, as a component of their 144
initial minimum level of law enforcement training requirements and 145
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ST: School resource officers; require to
undergo Mental Health First Aid training.
any required continuing education or certification training during 146
the time of continued employment by the school district or with 147
the local law enforcement agency. 148
(3) The school board is authorized and empowered, in its 149
discretion, and subject to the approval of the Federal 150
Communications Commission, to install and operate a noncommercial 151
radio broadcasting and transmission station for educational and 152
vocational educational purposes. 153
(4) If a law enforcement officer is duly appointed to be a 154
peace officer by a school district under this section, the local 155
school board may enter into an interlocal agreement with other law 156
enforcement entities for the provision of equipment or traffic 157
control duties, however, the duty to enforce traffic regulations 158
and to enforce the laws of the state or municipality off of school 159
property lies with the local police or sheriff's department which 160
cannot withhold its services solely because of the lack of such an 161
agreement. 162
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from 163
and after July 1, 2026. 164