Indiana School Discipline Laws & Regulations: Authorizations, Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), and/or Funding

Indiana School Discipline Laws & Regulations: Authorizations, Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), and/or Funding

Category: Partnerships between Schools and Law Enforcement
Subcategory: Authorizations, Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), and/or Funding
State: Indiana

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Indiana

LAWS

IC 10-21-1-2. Indiana secured school fund; matching grant.

(a) The Indiana secured school fund is established to provide

(1) matching grants to school corporations, charter schools, and accredited nonpublic schools, where the matching grants may be used to:

(A) employ a school resource officer, employ a law enforcement officer, or enter into a contract or a memorandum of understanding with a:

(i) local law enforcement agency;

(ii) private entity; or

(iii) nonprofit corporation;

(B) to employ a school resource officer or a law enforcement officer;

(i) a site vulnerability assessment of the buildings within a school corporation or the buildings that are operated by a charter school or accredited nonpublic school; or

(ii) critical incident digital mapping of the buildings within a school corporation or the buildings that are operated by a charter school or accredited nonpublic school;

(i) restrict access to school property and classrooms;

(ii) assist with visitor management on school property;

(iii) expedite notification of first responders;

(iv) expedite access to school property for first responders;

(v) provide school staff with information about the open or closed status of interior and exterior doors;

(vi) detect fire, chemical, visual, or audible threats;

(vii) enhance emergency communications inside the building; or

(viii) assist with emergency medical response on school property;

(D) implement a student and parent support services plan as described in IC 20-34-9;

(E) purchase or provide training for a canine trained to detect drugs and illegal substances, explosives, or firearms, or to otherwise provide protection for students and school employees and the canine shall:

(i) be primarily assigned to a school corporation, charter school, or accredited nonpublic school;

(ii) be primarily assigned to a school resource officer or law enforcement officer described in clause (A) who has received appropriate training for handling a canine trained to detect drugs and illegal substances, explosives, or firearms, or to otherwise provide protection for students and school employees, including training regarding handling a canine in a school setting; and

(iii) receive continuous training as appropriate;

(F) provide funding for school employees to receive training, including expenses for per diem, travel, and lodging, related to:

(i) site vulnerability assessments;

(ii) mental health or behavioral health threat assessments;

(iii) multi-disciplinary threat assessment teams; or

(iv) emergency preparedness or response activities;

(G) provide funding for school resource officers or law enforcement officers described in clause (A) to receive training, including expenses for per diem, travel, and lodging, related to handling a canine trained to detect drugs and illegal substances, explosives, or firearms, or to otherwise provide protection for students and school employees;

(H) purchase student safety management technology;

(I) design and construct additions or renovations on school property if the primary purpose of the construction project is to enhance the physical security of the school building; or

(J) implement a bullying prevention program; and (2) one (1) time grants to enable school corporations, charter schools, and accredited nonpublic schools with the sheriff for the county in which the school corporation, charter school, or accredited nonpublic school is located, to provide the initial set up costs for an active event warning system.

(b) A school corporation or charter school may use money received under a matching grant for a purpose listed in subsection (a) to provide a response to a threat in a manner that the school corporation or charter school sees fit, including firearms training or other self-defense training.

(d) The fund consists of:

(1) appropriations from the general assembly;

(2) federal grants

(3) amounts deposited from any other public or private source.

(4) amounts deposited under IC 33-37-9-4.

(e) The expenses of administering the fund shall be paid from money in the fund.

(f) The treasurer of state shall invest the money in the fund not currently needed to meet the obligations of the fund in the same manner as other public money may be invested. Interest that accrues from these investments shall be deposited in the fund.

(g) Money in the fund at the end of a state fiscal year does not revert to the state general fund.

IC 10-21-1-4. Award of matching grants; amount and use of grants; match requirements; county school safety commission requirement.

(a) The board may award a matching grant to enable a school corporation, charter school, or accredited nonpublic school (or a coalition of schools applying jointly) to

(1) employ a school resource officer, employ a law enforcement officer, or enter into a contract or memorandum of understanding with a:

(A) local law enforcement agency;

(B) private entity; or

(2) conduct a site vulnerability assessment of the buildings within a school corporation or the buildings that are operated by a charter school or accredited nonpublic school;

(3) conduct critical incident digital mapping of the buildings within a school corporation or the buildings that are operated by a charter school or accredited nonpublic school;

(4) purchase equipment, hardware, materials, and technology to:

(A) restrict access to school property and classrooms;

(B) assist with visitor management on school property;

(D) expedite access to school property for first responders;

(E) provide staff with information about open or closed status of interior and exterior doors;

(F) detect fire, chemical, visual, or audible threats;

(G) enhance emergency communications inside the school building; or

(H) assist with emergency medical response on school property;

(5) implement a student and parent support services plan in the manner set forth in IC 20-34-9;

(6) purchase or provide training for a canine trained to detect drugs and illegal substances, explosives, or firearms, or to otherwise provide protection for students and school employees and the canine shall:

(A) be primarily assigned to a school corporation, charter school, or accredited nonpublic school;

(B) be primarily assigned to a school resource officer or law enforcement officer described in subdivision (1)(A) who has received appropriate training for handling a canine trained to detect drugs and illegal substances, explosives, or firearms, or to otherwise provide protection for students and school employees, including training regarding handling a canine in a school setting; and

(7) provide funding for:

(A) school employees to receive training, including expenses for per diem, travel, and lodging, related to:

(i) site vulnerability assessments;

(ii) mental health or behavioral health threat assessments;

(iii) multi-disciplinary threat assessment teams; or

(iv) emergency preparedness or response activities; or

(B) school resource officers or law enforcement officers described in subdivision (1)(A) to receive training, including expenses for per diem, travel, and lodging, related to handling a canine trained to detect drugs and illegal substances, explosives, or firearms, or to otherwise provide protection for students and school employees;

(8) design and construct additions or renovations on school property if the primary purpose of the construction project is to enhance the physical security of the school building;

(9) provide one (1) time grants to enable school corporations, charter schools, and accredited nonpublic schools with the sheriff for the county in which the school corporation, charter school, or accredited nonpublic school is located to provide the initial set up costs for an active event warning system;

(10) implement a bullying prevention program; or

(11) purchase student safety management technology;

in accordance with section 2(a) [IC 10-21-1-2(a)] of this chapter.

IC 20-26-16-1. Application.

This chapter applies to a school corporation, including a school city (as defined in IC 20-25-2-12) and a charter school.

IC 20-26-16-2. Authority to establish police department.

The governing body of a school corporation or charter school may establish a school corporation or charter school police department under this chapter.

IC 20-26-16-3. Authority to appoint officers; uniforms; vehicles.

The governing body of a school corporation or the equivalent for a charter school may do the following for the school corporation or charter school police department:

(1) Appoint school corporation or charter school police officers.

(2) Prescribe the duties and direct the conduct of school corporation or charter school police officers.

(3) Prescribe distinctive uniforms.

(4) Provide emergency vehicles.

IC 20-26-16-4. Minimum training requirements.

An individual appointed as a school corporation or charter school police officer must successfully complete at least:

(1) the pre-basic training course established under IC 5-2-1-9(f); and

(2) the minimum basic training and educational requirements adopted by the law enforcement training board under IC 5-2-1-9 as necessary for employment as a law enforcement officer.

IC 20-26-16-5. Training for certain officers.

(a) Notwithstanding section 4 [IC 20-26-16-4] of this chapter and IC 5-2-1-9, an individual appointed as a school corporation police officer before July 1, 2007, must complete, not later than July 1, 2010, at least:

(1) the pre-basic training course established under IC 5-2-1-9(f); and

(2) the minimum basic training and educational requirements adopted by the law enforcement training board under IC 5-2-1-9 as necessary for employment as a law enforcement officer.

(b) As set forth in IC 5-2-1-9, an individual appointed as a school corporation or charter school police officer may not:

(1) make an arrest;

(2) conduct a search or a seizure of a person or property; or

(3) carry a firearm;

unless the school corporation or charter school police officer successfully completes a pre-basic training course under IC 5-2-1-9(f).

IC 20-26-16-6. School corporation police officers; oath; powers and duties; jurisdiction.

(a) A school corporation or charter school police officer appointed under this chapter:

(1) is a law enforcement officer (as defined in IC 5-2-1-2(1));

(2) must take an appropriate oath of office in a form and manner prescribed by the governing body or the equivalent for a charter school;

(3) serves at the governing body's (or the equivalent for a charter school) pleasure; and

(4) performs the duties that the governing body or the equivalent for a charter school assigns.

(b) School corporation or charter school police officers appointed under this chapter have general police powers, including the power to arrest, without process, all persons who within their view commit any offense. They have the same common law and statutory powers, privileges, and immunities as sheriffs and constables, except that they are empowered to serve civil process only to the extent authorized by the employing governing body or the equivalent for a charter school; however, any powers may be expressly forbidden them by the governing body (or the equivalent for a charter school) employing them. In addition to any other powers or duties, such police officers shall enforce and assist the educators and administrators of their school corporation or charter school in the enforcement of the rules and regulations of the school corporation or charter school and assist and cooperate with other law enforcement agencies and officers.

(c) Such police officers may exercise the powers granted under this section only upon any property owned, leased, or occupied by the school corporation or charter school, including the streets passing through and adjacent to the property. Additional jurisdiction may be established by agreement with the chief of police of the municipality or sheriff of the county or the appropriate law enforcement agency where the property is located, dependent upon the jurisdiction involved.

IC 20-26-16-7. Existing school corporation police departments.

A school corporation police department established before July 1, 2007, shall be considered, after June 30, 2007, a school corporation police department established under this chapter.

IC 20-26-18.2-1. "School resource officer"; training requirements.

(a) As used in this chapter, "school resource officer" means an individual who:

(1) has completed the training described in subsection (b);

(2) is assigned to one (1) or more school corporations or charter schools to:

(A) assist the school safety specialist with the development and implementation of the school safety plan as provided in section 2 [IC 20-26-18.2-2] of this chapter; and

(B) carry out any additional responsibilities assigned to the school resource officer under the employment engagement, contract, or memorandum of understanding and 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

(b) Before being appointed as a school resource officer, an individual must have:

(1) successfully completed the minimum training requirements established for law enforcement officers under IC 5-2-1-9; and

(2) received at least forty (40) hours of school resource officer training through:

(A) the Indiana law enforcement training board established by IC 5-2-1-3;

(B) the National Association of School Resource Officers; or

(c) Training described in subsection (b)(2) 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.

IC 20-26-18.2-2. Employment of school resource officer; memorandum of understanding; duties.

(a) A school resource officer may be employed:

(1) by one (1) or more school corporations or charter schools through a contract between a local law enforcement agency and the school corporation or school corporations or the charter school or charter schools;

(2) by one (1) or more school corporations or charter schools;

(3) by a local law enforcement agency that assigns the school resource officer to one (1) or more school corporations or charter schools through a memorandum of understanding between the local law enforcement agency and the school corporation or school corporations or the charter school or charter schools; or

(4) through a contract between an Indiana business that employs persons who meet the qualifications of a school resource officer and the school corporation or school corporations or the charter school or charter schools.

(b) A contract or memorandum of understanding entered into under subsection (a) must state the nature and scope of a school resource officer's duties and responsibilities. A school resource officer's duties and responsibilities include the duty to assist the school corporation's school safety specialist with the development and implementation of a school safety plan that does the following:

(1) Protects against outside threats to the physical safety of students.

(2) Prevents unauthorized access to school property.

(3) Secures schools against violence and natural disasters.

(4) On or before July 1, 2020, identifies the location of bleeding control kits (as defined in IC 20-34-3-24(a)).

(c) A school resource officer shall consult with local law enforcement officials and first responders when assisting the school corporation's school safety specialist in the development of the school safety plan.

(d) A school resource officer shall participate in the development of programs designed to identify, assess, and provide assistance to troubled youth.

(e) A school resource officer may not be reassigned to other duties by the school corporation.

IC 20-26-18.2-3. School resource officer's police powers.

(a) A school resource officer may:

(1) make an arrest;

(2) conduct a search or a seizure of a person or property using the reasonable suspicion standard;

(3) carry a firearm on or off school property; and

(4) exercise other police powers with respect to the enforcement of Indiana laws.

(b) A school resource officer has jurisdiction in every county where the school corporation or charter school engaging the officer operates a school or where the school corporation or charter school's students reside. This subsection does not restrict the jurisdiction that a school resource officer may possess due to the officer's employment by a law enforcement agency.

IC 20-40-20-6. Uses of money in the fund; distributions to a charter school.

(a) Subject to subsections (c) and (d), money in the fund may be used only for the following purposes:

(1) To employ or compensate a school resource officer or school resource officers.

(2) To establish or fund a school safety office.

(3) To conduct a threat assessment of a school building.

(4) To create or update a school safety plan.

(5) To develop or update school emergency response systems.

(6) To purchase equipment to improve the safety of a school building, school grounds, or school buses.

(7) To pay capital expenses to improve the safety of a school building.

(8) To establish and administer programs to address youth specific mental illness, addiction, anger management, bullying, and school violence.

(9) To develop and administer professional development programs for teachers, administrators, and other school employees designed to improve school safety and reduce violence.

(b) Except as provided in IC 20-46-9-22, a school corporation may distribute, with the approval of the majority of members of the governing body, a portion of the proceeds of a tax levy collected under IC 20-46-9 that is deposited in the fund to a charter school, excluding a virtual charter school, that is located within the attendance area of the school corporation, to be used by the charter school for the purposes described in subsection (a).

(d) Local law enforcement shall participate in:

(1) development of a school safety plan;

(2) development or updates to school emergency response systems; and

(3) determination of capital expenses that would improve the safety of a school building.

(e) Money in the fund may be transferred to the school corporation's education fund (IC 20-40-2), operations fund (IC 20-40-18), or school safety referendum debt service fund (IC 20-40-21), as applicable, to pay for expenditures listed in subsection (a).

REGULATIONS

No relevant regulations found.