House Bill 194

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE "MISSISSIPPI SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS SCHOOL SAFETY (MS ROSS) ACT" FOR THE PURPOSE OF AUTHORIZING THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO ASSIST LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES AND SCHOOL GOVERNING BODIES WITH THE COST OF EMPLOYING A SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER (SRO) AT EACH SCHOOL CAMPUS WITHIN THE JURISDICTIONS OF THEIR LAW ENFORCEMENT AND GOVERNING AUTHORITIES; TO DEFINE TERMINOLOGY; TO PROVIDE THAT THE ASSISTANCE OF EMPLOYING SROS SHALL BE MADE AVAILABLE TO PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS; TO PROVIDE THAT THE DEPARTMENT SHALL ALLOCATE 75% OF THE COST FOR THE EMPLOYMENT OF ONE SRO FOR EACH SCHOOL CAMPUS; TO REQUIRE THE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AND/OR THE SCHOOL GOVERNING BOARD TO PROVIDE THE REMAINING 25% OF THE COST FOR THE EMPLOYMENT OF ONE SRO FOR EACH SCHOOL CAMPUS WITHIN THEIR JURISDICTION OF CONTROL; TO REQUIRE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES AND SCHOOL GOVERNING BODIES TO MAKE JOINT APPLICATION TO THE DEPARTMENT FOR THE APPROVAL OF ALLOCATION OF FUNDS; TO SPECIFY THE INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN THE APPLICATION; TO PRESCRIBE THE DETAILS OF THE PROGRAM INCLUDING THE REQUIREMENT OF A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING OR INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN A LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AND A SCHOOL GOVERNING BODY; TO AMEND SECTION 37-7-321, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY TO THE PRECEDING PROVISIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Mississippi School Resource Officers School Safety (MS ROSS) Act."

SECTION 2. As used in this act, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed herein unless context of use requires otherwise:

(a) "Act" means the "Mississippi School Resource Officers School Safety (MS ROSS) Act."

(b) "Department" means the Mississippi Department of Public Safety.

(c) "Local law enforcement agency" means the local police department or county sheriff's office that has primary law enforcement authority over the schools within its jurisdiction.

(d) "Independent school" means a nonpublic school operating within the State of Mississippi that:

(i) Is a member of the Midsouth Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) and located in the State of Mississippi;

(ii) Is accredited by a state, regional or national accrediting organization, including the State Board of Education; and

(iii) Is not subject to the purview of authority of the State Board of Education, unless such school is accredited by the board.

(d) "Program" means the Mississippi School Resource Officers School Safety (MS ROSS) program, established in and administered by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety.

(e) "School governing body" means:

(i) The local school board of a public school district;

(ii) The charter school governing board of a charter school; and

(iii) The board or other governing body of an accredited independent school, as such governing body is prescribed in the charter, bylaws or other governing documents of the independent school.

(f) "School resource officer" or "SRO" means a sworn law enforcement officer employed by a local law enforcement agency and assigned to public or private elementary or secondary school campuses to provide community policing efforts to combat school violence and improve student and school safety in or on the property of the school campus to which he or she is assigned.

SECTION 3. (1) There is hereby established the Mississippi School Resource Officers School Safety (MS ROSS) program in the Mississippi Department of Public Safety to provide funding, pursuant to specific appropriation by the Legislature therefor, to assist local law enforcement agencies in providing school resource officers (SROs) to all public and private elementary and secondary school campuses within the jurisdictions over which such agencies have primary law enforcement authority for the purpose of providing enhanced security and community policing in and around all elementary and secondary schools therein.

(2) The MS ROSS program shall meet the following requirements and standards:

(a) The program shall provide an incentive for law enforcement agencies to build collaborative partnerships with the school community and to use community policing efforts to combat school violence and implement educational programs to improve student and school safety;

(b) (i) The department shall commit the funds appropriated by the Legislature under the authority of this act for the administration of the program to provide seventy-five percent (75%) of the cost associated with the employment of one (1) school resource officer (SRO) by a local law enforcement agency for each school campus within the jurisdiction over which the agency has primary law enforcement authority, to be applied towards the SRO's salary and benefits, training, equipment and other costs deemed necessary by the local law enforcement agency and school governing body to enable the SRO to perform his or her duties in and around elementary and secondary schools up to a total salary cost of Fifty-five Thousand Dollars ($55,000.00). However, if the total cost associated with the employment of a SRO employed under the provisions of this act exceeds Fifty-five Thousand Dollars ($55,000.00) then the department shall only pay seventy-five (75%) of the Fifty-five Thousand Dollars ($55,000.00), and any amount in excess of the required percentage shall be borne by the local law enforcement agency or school district, or combination of both; and

(ii) The department shall require the parties making joint application for funds under paragraph (c) to commit to paying the remaining twenty-five percent (25%) of the cost associated with the employment of one (1) school resource officer (SRO) by a local law enforcement agency for each school campus under the authority and control of the school governing board that falls within the jurisdiction of the local law enforcement agency, to be applied towards the SRO's salary and benefits, training, equipment and other costs deemed necessary by the local law enforcement agency and school governing body to enable the SRO to perform his or her duties in and around elementary and secondary schools;

(c) Local law enforcement agencies and school governing bodies shall make joint application to the department for funds appropriated by the Legislature under the authority of subsection (1) of this section for the purpose of funding the employment of SROs in amount prescribed in paragraph (b) of this subsection. The joint application submitted by the local law enforcement agency and school governing body shall, at a minimum:

(i) Identify the local law enforcement agency to provide the school resource officers, and the name of chief law enforcement officer of the agency;

(ii) Identify the school governing body to be served by the local law enforcement agency, and the names of the president of such governing body and the superintendent or head of schools under the governing body's authority and control;

(iii) The total number of schools, the total number of school campuses and the names of all schools under the schools governing body's authority and control;

(iv) The names of the principals of each school under the schools governing body's authority and control;

(v) The name, address and phone number of each school campus to be served a school resource officer (SRO)

(vi) The proposed salary of each school resource officer (SRO), with the acknowledged understanding that the department will only pay the required percentage under paragraph (b) of this subsection of salaries that do not exceed Fifty-five Thousand Dollars ($55,000.00); and

(vii) The approximate number of school resource officers (SROs) necessary for employment to accomplish the goal of assigning one (1) SRO to each school campus as required by this act;

(d) The local law enforcement agency and the appropriate school governing body shall enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or an interlocal agreement, signed by the chief law enforcement officer and the appropriate school officials, which provides:

(i) Documentation of the roles and responsibilities to be undertaken by the law enforcement agency and the educational school partners through this collaborative effort;

(ii) That school resource officers (SROs) will be official employees of the local law enforcement agency that has primary law enforcement authority over the schools within its jurisdiction;

(iii) Which party to the MOU or interlocal agreement, the local law enforcement agency or school governing body, will be financially responsible for funding the twenty-five percent (25%) match of the cost associated with the employment of each school resource officer (SRO) by a local law enforcement agency, if only one (1) such party will bear the financial responsibility;

(iv) If both parties to the MOU or interlocal agreement will share the financial responsibility of funding the required twenty-five percent (25%) match of the cost associated with the employment of each school resource officer (SRO) by a local law enforcement agency, then the MOU or interlocal agreement shall stipulate the portion of the percentage of the matching funds each party shall be obligated to commit for each SRO employed and assigned to school campuses under the authority and control of the school governing body; and

(v) A Narrative Addendum to document that school resource officers (SROs) will be assigned to work in and around public and private elementary or secondary school campuses and provide supporting documentation in the following areas:

1. Problem identification and justification;

2. Community policing strategies to be used by the SROs;

3. Quality and level of commitment to the effort; and

4. The link to community policing.

(3) School resource officers (SROs) may serve in a variety of roles, including, but not limited to, that of a law enforcement officer, safety specialist, law-related educator, problem-solver and community liaison. These officers may teach programs such as crime prevention, substance abuse prevention and gang resistance, as well as monitor and assist troubled students through mentoring programs. The SROs may also identify physical changes in the environment that may reduce crime in and around school campuses, as well as assist in developing school policies which address criminal activity and school safety.

(4) All agencies receiving funds through the Mississippi School Resource Officers School Safety (MS ROSS) program are required to send the individuals employed as school resource officers (SROs) to the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers' Training Academy or a law enforcement training academy approved by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, where they shall be required to participate in training through the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Program at such academy.

(5) The Mississippi Department of Public Safety shall promulgate rules and regulations prescribing procedures for the application, expenditure requirements and the administration of the Mississippi Community Oriented Policing Services in Schools (MS ROSS) program established in this section, and shall make a report on the implementation of the MS ROSS program with any recommendations to the 2025 Regular Session of the Legislature.

SECTION 4. There is created a special fund in the State Treasury, to be known as the "Mississippi School Resource Officers School Safety (MS ROSS) Fund," to be administered by the Commissioner of Public Safety, upon appropriation by the Legislature, and from which the allocation of funds authorized by this act shall be disbursed by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, to assist local law enforcement agencies and school governing bodies with providing a percentage of the costs associated with employing one (1) school attendance officer at each public and private elementary and secondary school campus. All monies shall be disbursed from the fund in compliance with the guidelines, guidance, rules, regulations promulgated by the department. Unexpended amounts remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse into the State General Fund, and any interest earned on amounts in the fund shall be deposited to the credit of the fund.

SECTION 5. Section 37-7-321, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-7-321. (1) (a) The school board of any school district within the State of Mississippi, in its discretion, may employ one or more persons as security personnel and may designate such persons as peace officers in or on any property operated for school purposes by such board upon their taking such oath and making such bond as required of a constable of the county in which the school district is situated.

(b) Local law enforcement agencies having primary law enforcement authority over schools within their jurisdiction, in conjunction with the school boards of every school district within the State of Mississippi, through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or interlocal agreement, signed by the law enforcement executive and the appropriate school official(s), shall employ individuals to serve as school resource officers (SROs), provided that the MOU or interlocal agreement shall require a minimum of one (1) school resource officer to be assigned each school campus operating under the authority and control of the local school board.

(2) Any person employed by a school board as a security guard or school resource officer (SRO) or in any other position that has the powers of a peace officer, who is not a sworn law enforcement officer, must receive a minimum level of basic law enforcement training, as jointly determined and prescribed by the Board on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training and the State Board of Education, within two (2) years of the person's initial employment in such position. * * *~~Upon~~ The failure of any person employed in such position to receive the required training within the designated time * * *~~, the~~ will result in the withdrawal of that person's * * *~~may not~~ authority to exercise the powers of a peace officer in or on the property of the school district.

(3) The school board is authorized and empowered, in its discretion, and subject to the approval of the Federal Communications Commission, to install and operate a noncommercial radio broadcasting and transmission station for educational and vocational educational purposes.

(4) If a law enforcement officer is duly appointed to be a peace officer by a school district under this section, the local school board may enter into an interlocal agreement with other law enforcement entities for the provision of equipment or traffic control duties, however, the duty to enforce traffic regulations and to enforce the laws of the state or municipality off of school property lies with the local police or sheriff's department which cannot withhold its services solely because of the lack of such an agreement.

SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.