HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 983        FILED ON: 1/14/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 332

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

James M. Cantwell

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act creating a school resource officer grant program and fund.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 983        FILED ON: 1/14/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 332

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

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An Act creating a school resource officer grant program and fund.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Chapter 69 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting the following section: -

Section 37. School Resource Officer Grant Program

(a) From the funds appropriated for such purpose and from the gifts, donations, grants, bequests, and other funds received on its behalf, there is established (1) the School Resource Officer Grant Program, to be administered by the board, in consultation with the Board of Education, and (2) a special nonreverting fund within the state treasury known as the School Resource Officer Incentive Grant Program, hereinafter known as the fund. Any monies remaining in the fund at the end of the legislative session shall not revert to the General Fund, but shall remain in the fund. Interest earned on such funds shall remain in the fund and be credited to it. 

Subject to the authority of the board to provide for its disbursement, the fund shall be disbursed to award matching grants to local law enforcement agencies and local school boards that have established a collaborative agreement to employ uniformed school resource officers, as defined in subsection (b) of this section 37, in middle and high schools within the relevant school division. The board may disburse annually up to five percent of the fund for training of the school resource officers. School resource officers shall be certified law enforcement officers and shall be employed to help ensure safety, to prevent truancy and violence in schools, and to enforce school board rules and codes of student conduct.

(b) A “school resource officer” is defined as a certified law enforcement officer hired by the local law enforcement agency to provide law enforcement and security services to the Massachusetts elementary and secondary public schools.

(c) The board, in consultation with the commissioner and the Department on Public Safety, shall establish criteria for making grants from the fund, including procedures for determining the amount of a grant and the required local match. Any grant or general funds shall be matched by the locality on the basis of the locality’s ability to pay. The board may adopt guidelines governing the program and the employment and duties of the school resource officers as it deems necessary and appropriate.