{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-158.4414","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 158.4414","heading":"Cooperation of school personnel with local and state law enforcement","body":"agencies in efforts to assign certified school resource officers to each campus as\nfunds and personnel become available -- Employment of guardians --\nMemorandum of understandin g between local boards of education and law\nenforcement agencies or the Kentucky State Police -- Policies and procedures\nstating the purpose of the school resource officer program and defining roles\nand expectations -- School resource officer to be armed w ith firearm --\nPromulgation of administrative regulations establishing levels of training for\ncertification of school resource officers -- Course curriculum, specifications for\ntraining requirements, and consequences for deficiencies in required training -\n- Officers to regain certification status upon completion of training deficiency -\n- Local school district superintendents to report annually to the Center for\nSchool Safety upon the number and placement of school resource officers in\nthe district, source of funding, and methods of employment for each position.\n(1) Local boards of education, school district superintendents, administrators of state -\ncontrolled facilities, and local and state law enforcement agencies shall cooperate to\nassign one (1 ) or more certified school resource officers to serve each campus\nwhere one (1) or more school buildings are used to deliver instruction to students on\na continuous basis.\n(2) Local boards of education shall ensure, for each campus in the district, that at  least\none (1) certified school resource officer is assigned to and working on -site full-time\nin the school building or buildings on the campus. If sufficient funds and qualified\npersonnel are not available for this purpose for every campus, the local boar d of\neducation shall fulfill the requirements of this subsection on a per campus basis, as\napproved in writing by the state school security marshal, until a certified school\nresource officer is assigned to and working on -site full-time on each campus in th e\ndistrict.\n(3) Beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, a local board of education that is unable\nto meet the requirement of subsection (2) of this section may, after consultation\nwith and approval by the state school security marshal, employ one (1) or more\nguardians pursuant to KRS 158.4431 to provide safety and security measures for\nschools within the district. The use of guardians under this subsection shall not be\nused to replace the certified school resource officer required under subsection (2) of\nthis section, but only to provide safety and security resources until a certified school\nresource officer is available.\n(4) Beginning with the 2026 -2027 school year, a local board of education that has met\nthe requirement of subsection (2) of this section may employ one (1) or more\nguardians pursuant to KRS 158.4431 to provide additional school safety and\nsecurity measures within the district.\n(5) Local boards of education utilizing a school resource officer employed by a law\nenforcement agency or the Depar tment of Kentucky State Police shall enter into a\nmemorandum of understanding with the law enforcement agency or the Department\nof Kentucky State Police that specifically states the purpose of the school resource\nofficer program and clearly defines the rol es and expectations of each party\ninvolved in the program. The memorandum shall provide that the school resource\nofficer shall not be responsible for school discipline matters that are the\nresponsibility of school administrators or school employees.\n(6) Local boards of education utilizing a school resource officer employed directly by\nthe local board of education shall adopt policies and procedures that specifically\nstate the purpose of the school resource officer program and clearly define the roles\nand expectations of school resource officers and other school employees.\n(7) In accordance with KRS 61.926, 527.020, and 527.070, as applicable, each school\nresource officer shall be armed with a firearm, notwithstanding any provision of\nlocal board policy, local school council policy, or memorandum of agreement.\n(8) The Kentucky Law Enforcement Council, in collaboration with the Center for\nSchool Safety, shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS\nChapter 13A to establish, update, and main tain three (3) levels of training for\ncertification of school resource officers as follows: School Resource Officer\nTraining I (SRO I), School Resource Officer Training II (SRO II), and School\nResource Officer Training III (SRO III). Each level shall consi st of forty (40) hours\nof training, with SRO I to be completed within one (1) year of the date of the\nofficer's employment and SRO II and SRO III within the subsequent two (2) years.\n(9) Course curriculum for school resource officers shall include but not be limited to:\n(a) Foundations of school-based law enforcement;\n(b) Threat assessment and response;\n(c) Youth drug use and abuse;\n(d) Social media and cyber security;\n(e) School resource officers as teachers and mentors;\n(f) Youth mental health awareness;\n(g) Diversity and bias awareness training;\n(h) Trauma-informed action;\n(i) Understanding students with special needs; and\n(j) De-escalation strategies.\n(10) All school res ource officers with active school resource officer certification status\nshall successfully complete forty (40) hours of annual in -service training that has\nbeen certified or recognized by the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council for school\nresource officers.\n(11) In the event of extenuating circumstances beyond the control of an officer that\nprevent the officer from completing the in -service training within one (1) year, the\ncommissioner of the Department of Criminal Justice Training or a designee may\ngrant the officer an extension of time, not to exceed one hundred eighty (180) days,\nin which to complete the training.\n(12) Any school resource officer who fails to successfully complete training\nrequirements within the specified time periods, including any approv ed time\nextensions, shall lose his or her school resource officer certification and shall no\nlonger serve in the capacity of a school resource officer in a school.\n(13) When a school resource officer is deficient in required training, the commissioner\nof the Department of Criminal Justice Training or his or her designee shall notify\nthe council, which shall notify the officer and the officer's employing agency.\n(14) A school resource officer who has lost school resource officer certification due\nsolely to t he officer's failure to meet the training requirements of this section may\nregain certification status as a school resource officer and may resume service in the\ncapacity of a school resource officer in a school setting upon successful completion\nof the training deficiency.\n(15) No later than November 1 of each year, the local school district superintendent shall\nreport to the Center for School Safety the number and placement of school resource\nofficers in the district. The report shall include the source o f funding and method of\nemployment for each position.\n(16) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted or construed to require a local\ngovernment or any of its agencies or offices to fund the school resource officer\npositions required of local boards of e ducation under this section. For purposes of\nthis subsection, \"local government\" has the same meaning as in KRS 65.8840.\n(17) Nothing in this section shall prevent a private or parochial school from entering into\na memorandum of understanding with a local law enforcement agency or the\nDepartment of Kentucky State Police to provide school resource officers employed\nby the local law enforcement agency or the Department of Kentucky State Police.","path":["KRS Chapter 158"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56273","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:05Z","sha256":"63b3a43d5640e61aff3d4ac0d2efb639c946fe1d80a7d5cbb5f00dc3ed1d7b9b","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-158.4412","next":"us-ky/krs-158.4415"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}