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The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
Legislation has been reintroduced this session that would allow school systems to hire retired law enforcement officers and veterans to serve as school resource officers.
House Bill 0214 (HB0214) was filed last week by State Representative Tim Rudd (R-Murfreesboro-District 34).
As written, the bill would authorize LEAs and public charter schools “to employ retired law enforcement officers who are retired from a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency and honorably discharged veterans of the United States armed forces to serve as school resource officers on school premises.”
Last year, Rudd proposed similar legislation, but it failed to make significant progress in the Senate despite being referred to the Senate Education Committee last January. The bill did make it through the House committee process last year with a passing vote of 69-21 in the House Finance, Ways, and Means Committee.
No Senate sponsor is currently listed for the new legislation.
If the bill is passed in this session, it would go into effect in July, providing a possible solution to this school year’s shortage of school resource officers.
