In order to serve as a school resource officer ("SRO"), present law requires that the person be a law enforcement officer who is in compliance with all laws, rules, and regulations of the POST commission, and who has been assigned to a school in accordance with a MOU between the chief of the appropriate law enforcement agency and the LEA.
This bill adds authorization for LEAs and public charter schools to employ persons who meet either of the following qualifications as an SRO to provide security on school premises:
(1) A retired law enforcement officer who is retired from a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency, and who has been assigned to a public school by the director of schools or by the director of the public charter school; or
(2) An honorably discharged veteran of the U.S. armed forces who has been assigned to a public school by the director of schools or by the director of the public charter school.
In order to be authorized to carry a firearm on school property, a person who is employed as an SRO under (1) or (2) must complete, at the person's own expense, the same amount of basic training in school policing as law enforcement officers who serve as SROs (40 hours).
This bill requires LEAs and public charter school governing bodies that intend to employ an SRO under (1) or (2) to adopt a policy that outlines the duties, responsibilities, and authority of an SRO, including any limitations on the SRO's authority. Each policy must ensure compliance with all relevant privacy laws.
This bill specifies that only SROs who are law enforcement officers operating under an MOU pursuant to present law will have the authority to receive certain confidential information concerning children who have been adjudicated delinquent, assist in the enforcement of court orders, and take a student into custody after witnessing the student violate a criminal statute.
ON AUGUST 28, 2023, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENTS # 1 AND 2, AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 7063, AS AMENDED.
AMENDMENT #1 makes the following changes to this bill:
(1) Adds a requirement that the Tennessee peace officer standards and training commission waive the requirement that a law enforcement officer be employed by a law enforcement agency in order to receive the basic training in school policing required for school resource officers (SROs) so that SROs who have been assigned to a public school by the director of schools or the director of the public charter school may receive the training;
(2) Clarifies that the requirements in the "Private Protective Services Licensing and Regulatory Act" do not apply to an SRO; and
(3) Clarifies that the authorization granted in this bill to LEAs and public charter schools to employ as an SRO to provide security on school premises persons who are law enforcement officers retired from a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency, and who have been assigned to a public school by the director of schools or by the director of the public charter school, only applies to those officers who are no more than seven years retired from service.
AMENDMENT #2 adds to present law that a person employed by an LEA as a faculty or staff member at a school within the LEA, or a person assigned to a school in accordance with a MOU between the chief of the appropriate law enforcement agency and the LEA, may possess and carry a firearms on school property if the person:
(1) Is an SRO;
(2) Has written authorization of the chief of the appropriate law enforcement agency to carry or possess a concealed handgun on school grounds;
(3) Is not prohibited from purchasing, possessing, or carrying a handgun, as determined by state and federal criminal history background checks; and
(4) Have been certified by a Tennessee licensed healthcare provider, who is qualified in the psychiatric or psychological field and who contracts with the authorizing law enforcement agency, as being free from any impairment, as set forth in the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association at the time of the examination, that would, in the professional judgment of the examiner, affect the person's ability to safely possess and carry a concealed handgun on the grounds of a school.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 49-6-4202, 49-6-815(b), 49-6-815, 37-1-131(a)(2)(F), 37-1-131, 37-1-131(c)(5), 49-6-3051(d), 49-6-3051, 49-10-1304(h), 49-10-1304