AR HB1510

School district boards must enter into a memorandum of understanding with local law enforcement agencies governing school resource officers, addressing financial responsibilities, chain of command, selection and evaluation processes, training requirements, and roles including involvement in student discipline, use of physical restraints or chemical sprays, use of firearms, and arrest authority.

The memorandum of understanding shall be based on a model created by the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Arkansas Center for School Safety, with the Division promulgating rules to verify adoption.

Sworn, nonsupervisory law enforcement personnel assigned to public school campuses must complete within 18 months a 40-hour basic school resource officer training program including roles and responsibilities, school-specific laws, and adolescent behavior; obtain Youth Mental Health First Aid certification (renewed every 4 years); complete a 16-hour refresher training every 5 years; and complete 12 hours of annual public school-specific continuing education.

School district superintendents and principals must complete a one-hour school resource officer roles and responsibilities training within 9 months of accepting a school resource officer; personnel directly supervising school resource officers must complete the same training within one year and every two years thereafter.

The Arkansas Center for School Safety shall monitor compliance; school resource officers who fail to complete required training cannot serve in that role until training is completed; and school resource officers cannot be assigned where superintendents or principals have not completed required training.