Cooperation of school personnel with local and state law enforcement agencies in efforts to assign certified school resource officers to each campus as funds and personnel become available -- Employment of guardians -- Memorandum of understanding between local boards of education and law enforcement agencies or the Kentucky State Police -- Policies and procedures
KRS 158.4414
in effect158.4414. Cooperation of school personnel with local and state law enforcement agencies in efforts to assign certified school resource officers to each campus as funds and personnel become available -- Employment of guardians -- Memorandum of understanding between local boards of education and law enforcement agencies or the Kentucky State Police -- Policies and procedures
stating the purpose of the school resource officer program and defining roles and expectations -- School resource officer to be armed with firearm -- Promulgation of administrative regulations establishing levels of training for certification of school resource officers -- Course curriculum, specifications for training requirements, and consequences for deficiencies in required training - - Officers to regain certification status upon completion of training deficiency - - Local school district superintendents to report annually to the Center for School Safety upon the number and placement of school resource officers in the district, source of funding, and methods of employment for each position.
(1) Local boards of education, school district superintendents, administrators of state - controlled facilities, and local and state law enforcement agencies shall cooperate to assign one (1) or more certified school resource officers to serve each campus where one (1) or more school buildings are used to deliver instruction to students on a continuous basis.
(2) Local boards of education shall ensure, for each campus in the district, that at least one (1) certified school resource officer is assigned to and working on -site full-time in the school building or buildings on the campus. If sufficient funds and qualified personnel are not available for this purpose for every campus, the local boar d of education shall fulfill the requirements of this subsection on a per campus basis, as approved in writing by the state school security marshal, until a certified school resource officer is assigned to and working on -site full-time on each campus in the district.
(3) Beginning with the 2026 -2027 school year, a local board of education that is unable to meet the requirement of subsection (2) of this section may, after consultation with and approval by the state school security marshal, employ one (1) or more guardians pursuant to KRS 158.4431 to provide safety and security measures for schools within the district. The use of guardians under this subsection shall not be used to replace the certified school resource officer required under subsection (2) of this section, but only to provide safety and security resources until a certified school resource officer is available.
(4) Beginning with the 2026 -2027 school year, a local board of education that has met the requirement of subsection (2) of this section may employ one (1) or more guardians pursuant to KRS 158.4431 to provide additional school safety and security measures within the district.
(5) Local boards of education utilizing a school resource officer employed by a law enforcement agency or the Depar tment of Kentucky State Police shall enter into a memorandum of understanding with the law enforcement agency or the Department of Kentucky State Police that specifically states the purpose of the school resource officer program and clearly defines the rol es and expectations of each party involved in the program. The memorandum shall provide that the school resource officer shall not be responsible for school discipline matters that are the responsibility of school administrators or school employees.
(6) Local boards of education utilizing a school resource officer employed directly by the local board of education shall adopt policies and procedures that specifically state the purpose of the school resource officer program and clearly define the roles and expectations of school resource officers and other school employees.
(7) In accordance with KRS 61.926, 527.020, and 527.070, as applicable, each school resource officer shall be armed with a firearm, notwithstanding any provision of local board policy, local school council policy, or memorandum of agreement.
(8) The Kentucky Law Enforcement Council, in collaboration with the Center for School Safety, shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A to establish, update, and maintain three (3) levels of training for certification of school resource officers as follows: School Resource Officer Training I (SRO I), School Resource Officer Training II (SRO II), and School Resource Officer Training III (SRO III). Each level shall consi st of forty (40) hours of training, with SRO I to be completed within one (1) year of the date of the officer's employment and SRO II and SRO III within the subsequent two (2) years.
(9) Course curriculum for school resource officers shall include but not be limited to:
(a) Foundations of school-based law enforcement;
(b) Threat assessment and response;
(c) Youth drug use and abuse;
(d) Social media and cyber security;
(e) School resource officers as teachers and mentors;
(f) Youth mental health awareness;
(g) Diversity and bias awareness training;
(h) Trauma-informed action;
(i) Understanding students with special needs; and
(j) De-escalation strategies.
(10) All school resource officers with active school resource officer certification status shall successfully complete forty (40) hours of annual in -service training that has been certified or recognized by the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council for school resource officers.
(11) In the event of extenuating circumstances beyond the control of an officer that prevent the officer from completing the in-service training within one (1) year, the commissioner of the Department of Criminal Justice Training or a designee may grant the officer an extension of time, not to exceed one hundred eighty (180) days, in which to complete the training.
(12) Any school resource officer who fails to successfully complete training requirements within the specified time periods, including any approv ed time extensions, shall lose his or her school resource officer certification and shall no longer serve in the capacity of a school resource officer in a school.
(13) When a school resource officer is deficient in required training, the commissioner of the Department of Criminal Justice Training or his or her designee shall notify the council, which shall notify the officer and the officer's employing agency.
(14) A school resource officer who has lost school resource officer certification due solely to the officer's failure to meet the training requirements of this section may regain certification status as a school resource officer and may resume service in the capacity of a school resource officer in a school setting upon successful completion of the training deficiency.
(15) No later than November 1 of each year, the local school district superintendent shall report to the Center for School Safety the number and placement of school resource officers in the district. The report shall include the source of funding and method of employment for each position.
(16) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted or construed to require a local government or any of its agencies or offices to fund the school resource officer positions required of local boards of education under this section. For purposes of this subsection, "local government" has the same meaning as in KRS 65.8840.
(17) Nothing in this section shall prevent a private or parochial school from entering into a memorandum of understanding with a local law enforcement agency or the Department of Kentucky State Police to provide school resource officers employed by the local law enforcement agency or the Department of Kentucky State Police.
Effective: June 27, 2025
History: Amended 2025 Ky. Acts ch. 86, sec. 7, effective June 27, 2025. -- Amended 2024 Ky. Acts ch. 165, sec. 4, effective July 15, 2024. -- Amended 2023 Ky. Acts ch. 104, sec. 1, effective June 29, 2023. -- Amended 2022 Ky. Acts ch. 189, sec. 1, effective July 14, 2022. -- Amended 2020 Ky. Acts ch. 5, sec. 3, effective February 21, 2020. -- Created 2019 Ky. Acts ch. 5, sec. 6, effective March 11, 2019.
Source: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission (legislature.ky.gov)URL: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56273Fetched: 10/20/2026