Reporting to law enforcement certain crimes and other incidents that occur in or on public school buildings and grounds, requiring certain schools to employ armed school resource officers, and allocating federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 funding to reimburse schools for costs of employing armed school resource officers. (FE)

What it would have done

Summary by the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.

This bill requires each public school, including a charter school, to report any incident that occurs in a school building or on school grounds to local law enforcement. The bill provides that, if 100 or more incidents occur in and on public school buildings and grounds during a school semester, and at least 25 of those incidents result in an arrest, the school must, no later than the first day of the next school year, employ or contract for the employment of a law enforcement officer as an armed school resource officer (SRO) to work at the school. Under the bill, “incident” is a defined term that includes violations of state and municipal disorderly conduct laws and certain crimes, including homicide, sexual assault, burglary, battery, and arson. However, the bill provides that, for purposes of counting the number of incidents that resulted in arrest, “incident” does not include incidents related to use or possession of alcohol, cigarettes, nicotine, tobacco products, or vaping devices.

The bill also requires the Department of Public Instruction to reimburse a school board or the operator of an independent charter school that begins employing or enters into a new contract for the employment of a law enforcement officer as an armed SRO all of the following amounts: 1) 75 percent of the costs associated with the SRO for the 2023-24 school year; 2) 50 percent of the costs associated with the SRO for the 2024-25 school year; and 3) 25 percent of the costs associated with the SRO for the 2025-26 school year. Under the bill, the governor must allocate money received by the state under the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to reimburse DPI for these payments to school boards and independent charter school operators.

Who's behind it

9 representatives are its authors⁠. All 9 are Republicans.

2 more lawmakers signed on in support⁠.

What it would cost

State agencies filed a cost estimate. Each opens as a PDF from the Legislature.

• Fiscal Estimate From DOA
• Fiscal Estimate From DPI

Versions and amendments

Every text the Legislature printed for this bill, including proposed changes. Each opens on the Legislature's site.

• Amendment Histories
• LC Amendment Memo