SB 5141, sponsored by Sen. Lisa Wellman (D–Mercer Island), codifies the position of school resource officer. The stated intent of the bill is to create statewide consistency for the minimum training requirements for school resource officers (SRO), and to ensure clear agreement between school districts and local law enforcement.
SB 5141 would do the following:
- Defines an SRO as a commissioned law enforcement officer that is assigned by the employing police department to work in schools;
- Requires a school-and-youth-focused training curriculum for SROs;
- Requires SROs who are assigned to work in a school on or before July 28, 2019 (the effective date of the bill), to satisfy training requirements by July 28, 2023. SROs who are assigned to work in a school after July 28, 2019, must satisfy the training requirement before working in a school;
- Requires school districts who choose to have an SRO program to adopt an annual agreement with local law enforcement. The bill requires the agreement to contain specific items, at minimum; and
- Subject to appropriation, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction must establish and implement a grant program to fund SRO training and provide a report to the Legislature and Governor each year the program is funded. The training may be:
- Developed by schools in partnership with local law enforcement and organizations that have expertise in the training curricula topics; and
- Provided by the Criminal Justice Training Commission.
SB 5141 passed the Senate unanimously. The bill passed out the House Education Committee ahead of the cutoff deadline of April 3.