Minnesota House will vote on bill reversing ban on prone restraints by school resource officers

A House bill that would ease many of the restrictions placed on school resource officers last year will get its first floor vote on Monday after weeks of talks between legislators and law enforcement officials.

The sweeping education bill Gov. Tim Walz signed into law last spring restricted how and when police officers stationed in public schools may restrain students, leading several agencies to suspend their programs. The new legislation would exempt police from the rules educators must follow to restrain students and establish a set of standards and trainings for police officers and sheriff’s deputies stationed in schools.

About 40 agencies suspended their school resource officer programs in response to concerns over potential legal liabilities for their employees. A handful of police departments and sheriff’s offices reinstated their on-campus presence after a pair of memos from the attorney general’s office. Many never removed their officers.

The executive directors for three organizations that represent Minnesota law enforcement officials told lawmakers they support the legislation in a joint letter. Executive directors for the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association and Minnesota Sheriffs Association said they “feel a sense of urgency to resolve this issue” and allow dozens of agencies to restore their school resource officer programs.

But they also criticized legislators for not inviting law enforcement officials to testify or otherwise seeking their input when the bill passed last year.

“We respectfully request that if there is future legislation that impacts the roles and duties of police officers in any meaningful way that we have an opportunity to provide feedback prior to enacting new laws,” the law enforcement officials wrote. “We feel strongly that the suspension of SROs programs across the state could have been avoided if we would have had the opportunity to engage with this issue in the same manner that has occurred over the past few weeks.”

A coalition of educators and advocates that support the bill’s training provisions also took issue with the legislation for explicitly allowing officers to place students in the prone position, even in narrow circumstances.

“We do not think it is reasonable to allow children to be put in these holds in any case, other than in the case of imminent bodily harm,” Erin Sandsmark, program manager for Solutions Not Suspensions, said in February. “We feel that it does not hold up the humanity of our children.”

Lawmakers made only minor changes to the bill after it was introduced. Amendments pushed back training deadlines and relaxed language that would have required a dress code for police officers and sheriff deputies.

This story will be updated.