Sec. 1. (a) As used in this chapter, "school resource officer" means a law enforcement officer who:
(1) has completed the training described in subsection (b);
(2) is assigned to one (1) or more school corporations or charter schools during school hours to:
(A) assist school safety specialists and the safe school committees with the development and implementation of the school safety plan; and
(B) carry out any additional responsibilities assigned to the school resource officer under the employment engagement, contract, or memorandum of understanding and to provide law enforcement services to:
(i) protect against outside threats to the physical safety of students;
(ii) prevent unauthorized access to school property; and
(iii) secure schools against violence and natural disasters; and
(3) is:
(A) employed by a law enforcement agency;
(B) appointed as a police reserve officer (as described in IC 36-8-3-20) or as a special deputy (as described in IC 36-8-10-10.6) if the police reserve officer or special deputy:
(i) is subject to the direction of the sheriff or appointing law enforcement agency;
(ii) is required to obey the rules and orders of the sheriff's department or appointing law enforcement agency;
(iii) is required to complete all training required of regular full-time law enforcement officers employed by the sheriff's department or appointing law enforcement agency; and
(iv) may be removed by the sheriff or appointing law enforcement agency at any time, with or without cause; or
(C) a school corporation police officer appointed under IC 20-26-16-3.
The term does not include a law enforcement officer who is assigned to a school to provide security outside a school building for protection from outside threats, traffic duty, or other duties not consistent with the duties of a school resource officer.
(b) Before being appointed as a school resource officer, an individual must have successfully completed the minimum training requirements established for law enforcement officers under IC 5-2-1-9.
(c) The law enforcement officer appointed as a school resource officer must receive at least forty (40) hours of school resource officer training through:
(1) the Indiana law enforcement training board established by IC 5-2-1-3;
(2) the National Association of School Resource Officers; or
(3) another school resource officer training program approved by the Indiana law enforcement training board;
within one hundred eighty (180) days from the date the individual is initially assigned the duties of a school resource officer. However, if the current ADM of a school corporation is less than one thousand (1,000) students, the individual shall complete the school resource officer training within three hundred sixty-five (365) days of the date the individual is initially assigned the duties of a school resource officer.
(d) Training described in subsection (c) must include instruction regarding skills, tactics, and strategies necessary to address the special nature of:
(1) school campuses; and
(2) school building security needs and characteristics.
As added by P.L.172-2013, SEC.7. Amended by P.L.30-2014, SEC.2; P.L.139-2022, SEC.10; P.L.150-2023, SEC.21.
