— In Colorado, the Colorado Court of Appeals affirmed the adjudication of a student for possessing a handgun as a second-time juvenile offender and possessing a weapon on school grounds. The court rejected the argument of the student that the search of his backpack violated his rights under the Fourth Amendment. The court agreed with the student that the test of New Jersey v. T.L.O., (469 U.S. 325, 341 (1985)), requires that a search be “justified at its inception” with reasonable suspicion. However, the court ruled that, “(a) search may be justified at its inception without reasonable suspicion where the record shows that the student had a substantially diminished expectation of privacy in his or her person or property.” The School Threat Appraisal Team’s “Action and Intervention Plan,” which allowed the student to return to school after his first offense, “unequivocally contained a search requirement.” In the Interest of J.G.
— In Tennessee, the Metro Nashville School Board is considering expanding its school resource officer program to include elementary schools. Concerned was expressed that there were 40 SROs in the middle and high schools but none in elementary schools. The Nashville Mayor stated that it should be “safety first, security first, (because) you can’t educate in anything less than a secure environment.”
— In Mississippi, the DeSoto County school board voted to approve $2 million in funding for school resource officers. DeSoto County Schools’ superintendent said the additional funding will allow them to have an officer at all 39 campuses. The superintendent said the tragic Texas school shooting in May 2022 served to “reaffirm (my) belief about the importance of having law enforcement at schools.”
— In Kentucky, the Christian County School Board approved contracts with the local sheriff and police departments to provide school resource officers for the 2022-2023 school year. The goal is to have an officer on each of its 13 campuses.