On Thursday, March 14, Senator Torrey Westrom (R-Alexandria) voted in favor of a bipartisan fix to last session’s school resource officer (SRO) 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. 

“Because of a Democrat law from last session, many of our schools operated without SROs for a good portion of the year,” Senator Torrey Westrom (R-Alexandria) said. “Republicans urged our colleagues across the aisle to join us in finding an immediate solution to this issue, but they refused to call for a special session. I am glad that we finally reached a bipartisan solution that will get our SROs back in schools. However, we should never have taken so long to act on this issue.”

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 hospital after breaking up a fight.