Employ and distribute 300 new School Resource Officers across the state of Minnesota

 

The Minnesota School Resource Officer Program Expansion Act exists to employ 300 new school resource officers across the

state of Minnesota, provide funding for training and salaries for the new officers, and establish a system which

provides qualified school resource officers for any school that needs one across Minnesota. This would include public

schools and charter schools. This bill will also launch a program which would allow for private schools to have school

resource officers, as long as they provide the salaries that would be provided by a school district. The schools

districts and police departments of Minnesota will internally make the decisions on the distribution of officers based

on the needs and population of areas.

 

This bill exists to provide underequipped schools with qualified officers who can discourage harmful and criminal

behavior among students, staff, and outside personnel. The officers will be present to properly respond to everyday

school issues, boost feelings of safety and comfort among school students and staff, increase response time and power in

emergency situations, and provide pathways to resources students may need, such as mental health and financial services.

According to a White House report from July 15, 2025, there were 426 shootings in K-12 schools since 1999, and this

number has only risen since then. Increased police presence would provide faster response times and an increase in power

against attackers. Private schools are also in need of security, and this bill would give them the opportunity to get

this security.

 

1. “School Resource Officer” shall be defined as any licensed peace officer who has undergone an official school

resource officer training program, and who is assigned to work in a school during an instructional day as a standard

duty.

2. “Public School” shall be defined as any educational institution which receives federal funding as payment. This will

include charter schools.

 

This bill would extract a total of $26,000,000 per year from state taxes and public safety services. $12,500,000 would

go to police departments across Minnesota, and $12,500,000 would go to the school districts of Minnesota. $1,000,000

would fund training for the 300 new officers, and any remaining funds from this portion would be added to the funds sent

to the MN school districts. A state oversight committee will ensure funds are properly supplied.

 

Should the state oversight committee determine that funds designated for paying school resource officers are being spent

on other things by either police departments or school districts, the offending party will be forced to repay 110% of

the misused funds to the state of Minnesota.

 

June 1st, 2026