On Thursday, March 14, Senator Andrew Mathews (R-Princeton) voted in favor of a bipartisan fix to last session’s unvetted school resource officer (SRO) law, which caused many law enforcement agencies to remove or alter SROs until the legislature fixed the law. This legislation has the support of Minnesota law enforcement and eliminates the overly restrictive language that hinders their ability to act in dangerous situations. 

“The unvetted change passed by Democrats last session caused significant uncertainty for law enforcement agencies across Minnesota, including officers in our district,” Sen. Mathews said. “By bringing Republicans and law enforcement to the table, we were able to reach a bipartisan solution to get our SROs back in schools. Though I am pleased we reached a consensus, Democrats should never have passed this legislation in the first place. We had to fight hard to get this fixed for our SROs.”

With the start of the 2023 school year, school districts across the state found the language change meant SRO contracts would need significant changes to meet the new law. Many law enforcement agencies removed SROs or repositioned them to be stationed outside school buildings. The short-term impact was almost immediately felt as reports of violence at schools were shared widely. Just last week, an SRO was sent to the hospitalafter breaking up a fight.