FRANKFORT, Ky. — A House committee approved a bill requiring school districts to have an armed officer in every building.

What You Need To Know

  • A bill requiring schools to hire armed officers in every building passed out of a House committee Tuesday

  • The bill closes a loophole from a 2019 law where districts could essentially opt-out of hiring a school resource officer if they didn’t have the money

  • Jefferson County Public Schools, for instance, has no armed officers in the entire district, although the school board approved a plan to hire 30 of them last month

School districts are already required to have school resource officers under Senate Bill 1 from 2019, but a loophole allowed districts to essentially opt-out if they didn’t have the funds or resources to hire officers. House Bill 63, sponsored by Rep. Kevin Bratcher (R-Louisville), closes that loophole and creates a system where if a district can’t afford officers, the state’s school safety marshall steps in to help those districts develop a plan to follow the law.

“The question today is not, should there be an SRO; the question is how do we get an SRO in every campus?” he said.

Several school districts don’t have enough officers to comply with the intent of the 2019 law, Bratcher said. Jefferson County Public Schools, for instance, doesn’t have any, and even though Bratcher is from Louisville, he said the bill isn’t targeting them.

“JCPS was probably the trigger of it, but upon investigation, we found that there’s many schools that can’t afford an SRO,” he said.

Three Democrats voted against the bill in committee Tuesday, including Rep. Tina Bojanowski (D-Louisville), who criticized Republican lawmakers for taking away local control when it comes to guns in schools.

“If local control is essential during a global pandemic, then local control can know best how to keep our students safe,” she said.

Critics also said the measure only leads to higher arrest rates, and that the money needed to hire officers would be better spent on mental health professionals and social workers.

The bill does not include any additional funding to help schools hire more officers, although Bratcher said if the state’s school safety marshall hears that problem from several districts, lawmakers may address the issue in the future.

Legislators passed the 2019 law requiring armed school resource officers after a deadly shooting at Marshall County High School the previous year. The district had armed officers at the time.

Supporters of the bill say it’s about safety, and about respecting law enforcement.  

“We have so many social problems now,” Rep. James Tipton (R-Taylorsville) said. “Our youth are dealing with so many issues. They need positive role models, and they need to learn that they can trust a police officer; a law enforcement official, and that seems to be lacking in our society.”

It’s not clear yet when House Bill 63 will get a vote on the House floor. 

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