CKE(LEGAL) - SAFETY PROGRAM/RISK MANAGEMENT: SECURITY PERSONNEL

School District Peace Officers, School Resource Officers, and Security Personnel

The board may employ security personnel, enter into a memorandum of understanding with a local law enforcement agency for the provision of school resource officers, and commission peace officers to carry out Education Code Chapter 37, Subchapter C (Law and Order).

Jurisdiction

The jurisdiction of a peace officer, a school resource officer, or security personnel shall be determined by the board and may include all territory in the boundaries of the district and all property outside the boundaries of the district that is owned, leased, or rented by or otherwise under the control of the district and the board that employ the peace officer or security personnel or that enter into a memorandum of understanding for the provision of a school resource officer.

Education Code 37.081(a)

Duties

The board shall determine the law enforcement duties of peace officers, school resource officers, and security personnel. The duties must be included in:

  1. The district improvement plan under Education Code 11.252 [see BQ];
  2. The student code of conduct adopted under Education Code 37.001 [see FO];
  3. Any memorandum of understanding providing for a school resource officer; and
  4. Any other campus or district document describing the role of peace officers, school resource officers, or security personnel in the district.

A district peace officer, a school resource officer, and security personnel shall perform law enforcement duties for the school district that must include protecting the safety and welfare of any person in the jurisdiction of the peace officer, resource officer, or security personnel; and the property of the school district.

In determining the law enforcement duties, the board shall coordinate with district campus behavior coordinators and other district employees to ensure that district peace officers, school resource officers, and security personnel are tasked only with duties related to law enforcement intervention and not tasked with behavioral or administrative duties better addressed by other district employees.

Education Code 37.081(d), (d-1), (d-4)

Prohibited Duties

A district may not assign or require as duties of a district peace officer, a school resource officer, or security personnel:

  1. Routine student discipline or school administrative tasks; or
  2. Contact with students unrelated to the law enforcement duties of the peace officer, resource officer, or security personnel.

This provision does not prohibit a district peace officer, a school resource officer, or security personnel from informal contact with a student unrelated to:

  1. The assigned duties of the officer or security personnel; or
  2. An incident involving student behavior or law enforcement.

Education Code 37.081(d-2), (d-3)

Refusal or Removal from District Property

A school resource officer or district peace officer may refuse to allow a person to enter on or may eject a person from property under the district's control in accordance with Education Code 37.105. Education Code 37.105(a); 19 TAC 103.1207 [See GKA]

Weapons

If a board authorizes a person employed as security personnel to carry a weapon, the person must be a commissioned peace officer. Education Code 37.081(a) [See CKEA]

Training

A district peace officer or school resource officer shall complete an active shooter response training program approved by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE).

A district that commissions a school district peace officer or at which a school resource officer provides law enforcement shall adopt a policy requiring the officer to complete the education and training program required by Occupations Code 1701.263.

Education Code 37.0812

School district peace officers or school resource officers providing law enforcement services at a district must obtain a school-based law enforcement proficiency certificate within 180 days of the officer's commission or placement in the district or campus of the district. 37 TAC 218.3(d)(5); Occupations Code 1701.263(b)

Immunity from Liability

"Retired peace officer" has the meaning assigned by Occupations Code 1701.3161.

"Security personnel" includes:

  1. A school district peace officer;
  2. A school marshal;
  3. A school resource officer; and
  4. A retired peace officer who has been hired by a district to provide security services or volunteers to provide security services to the district.

A district is immune from liability for any damages resulting from any reasonable action taken by security personnel to maintain the safety of the campus, including action relating to possession or use of a firearm.

A district is immune from liability as provided above for any damages resulting from any reasonable action taken by a district employee who has written permission from the board to carry a firearm on campus.

Any security personnel employed by a district is immune from liability for any damages resulting from any reasonable action taken by the security personnel to maintain the safety of the campus, including action relating to possession or use of a firearm.

The statutory immunity provided by these provisions is in addition to and does not preempt the common law doctrine of official and governmental immunity. To the extent that another statute provides greater immunity to a district than these provisions, that statute prevails.

Education Code 37.087

Notice of Exposure to Communicable Disease

A district that employs emergency medical service employees, paramedics, firefighters, law enforcement officers or correctional officers must post the required notice regarding work-related exposure to communicable disease in its workplace to inform employees about Health and Safety Code requirements which may affect qualifying for workers' compensation benefits following a work-related exposure to a reportable communicable disease. 28 TAC 110.108

Authorized Handguns

Under Education Code 11.151(b), a board may promulgate written regulations and authorization as provided by Penal Code 46.03(a)(1) (exception to places where weapons are prohibited). Att'y Gen. Op. GA-1051 (2014)

Leary ISD

CKE(LEGAL)-P

UPDATE 118

DATE ISSUED: 11/1/2021