ST. PAUL – The Minnesota House on Monday approved a bill which Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, said addresses a change in law last year which caused school resource officers to be removed from schools throughout the state.
The issue traces back to an omnibus education bill (HF 2497) Democrats enacted into law in 2023, imposing new prohibitions on the use of force in schools, banning certain physical holds by “an employee or agent of a district, including a school resource officer, security personnel, or police officer contracted with a district."
Language in the new measure provides updates which exclude SROs as employees or agents of a school district, exclude SROs from the prohibitions on prone restraints and physical holds; revise the “reasonable force standard” and mandate school districts and charter schools use only trained SROs and establishes new training and model policy requirements for law enforcement.
“This issue really surfaced last summer and I was among those who wanted to see it resolved as soon as possible, even during a special session before the current school year began,” Anderson said. “While that did not happen, it is nice to see the House took action now to get this fixed so SROs can return to the schools they had staffed and continue doing the good work they do to provide safety and build relationships with students, teachers and staff.”
The House approved the bill (H.F. 3489) 124-8 and it now awaits action in the Senate.
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