Permits school districts to employ safe schools resource officers or Class Three special law enforcement officers for security purposes, and requires school districts to have agreement with local law enforcement governing placement of school security personnel.

A246

ASSEMBLY, No. 246

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman JOHN V. AZZARITI JR., M.D.

District 39 (Bergen)

SYNOPSIS

���� Permits school districts to employ safe schools
resource officers or Class Three special law enforcement officers for security
purposes, and requires school districts to have agreement with local law
enforcement governing placement of school security personnel.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act
concerning security personnel at public schools and
supplementing chapter 41 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� a.�� A school district may elect to employ
a safe schools resource officer or a Class Three special law enforcement
officer to provide security services at a school building during the hours when
the school is in session.

���� b.��� The State shall provide the funds
necessary for a school district that elects to employ safe schools resource
officers or Class Three special law enforcement officers, who are hired after
the effective date of this act, pursuant to subsection a. of this section.

���� 2.���
A
school district that employs school security personnel shall enter into a
written agreement with the local law enforcement agency to stipulate the terms
and conditions governing the placement of the security personnel in school
buildings.� In the case of a school district located in a municipality in which
there is no municipal police department, the district shall enter into a
written agreement with an entity designated by the Superintendent of the State
Police.

���� The agreement shall include,
but not be limited to: the chain of command; roles and responsibilities of
school security personnel while on school property; work hours and conditions;
required qualifications and experience; channels of communication; required
training and continuing professional development; and authority to carry
firearms.

���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect immediately and be operative on the first day of the fourth month next
following the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

���� This bill permits public
schools to have a safe schools resource officer or a Class Three special law
enforcement officer present at the school building to provide security services
during the hours that school is in session.� Under the bill, the State is to
fund the costs for a school district that elects to employ safe schools
resource officers or Class Three special law enforcement officers who are hired
after the bill�s effective date.

���� In addition, the bill provides
that a school district that employs school security personnel is required to
enter into a written agreement with the local law enforcement agency or an
entity designated by the Superintendent of the State Police, as appropriate, to
stipulate the terms and conditions governing the placement of the security
personnel in school buildings.� The agreement is to include: the chain of
command; roles and responsibilities of school security personnel while on
school property; work hours and conditions; required qualifications and
experience; channels of communication; required training and continuing
professional development; and authority to carry firearms.