(1) Police officers appointed by the local board of education pursuant to KRS § 158.471 shall be peace officers and conservators of the peace. They shall have general police powers including the power to arrest, without process, all persons who within their view commit any crime or misdemeanor. They shall possess all of the common law and statutory powers, privileges, and immunities of sheriffs, except that they shall be empowered to serve civil process to the extent authorized by the local board of education authorizing and employing them. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, such police officers are hereby specifically authorized and empowered, and it shall be their duty:
(a) To preserve the peace, maintain order, and prevent unlawful use of force or violence or other unlawful conduct on all property owned by or being used by the school district for appropriate educational services and extracurricular activities, and to protect all persons and property located thereon from injury, harm, and damage;
(b) If permitted by and in accordance with local board of education policy, to enforce, and to assist the school district in the enforcement of, the lawful rules, regulations, and code of conduct of the school district; and
(c) To assist and cooperate with other law enforcement agencies and officers. Provided, however, that such police officers shall exercise the powers herein
granted upon any real property owned or occupied by the local board of education,
including any streets passing through and adjacent thereto. Said powers may be exercised where the local board of education owns, uses, or occupies 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.
(2) Police officers may exercise their powers away from the locations described in subsection (1) of this section only when:
(a) In immediate pursuit of an actual or suspected violator of the law;
(b) Authorized to do so pursuant to the agreement authorized by subsection (1) of this section;
(c) Requested to act by the chief of police of the city or county in which the school district’s property is located;
(d) Requested to act by the sheriff of the county in which the school district’s property is located;
(e) Requested to act by the commissioner of the Department of Kentucky State
Police;
(f) Requested to act by the authorized delegates of those persons or agencies listed in paragraph (c), (d), or (e) of this subsection;
(g) Requested to assist a state, county, or municipal police officer, sheriff, or other peace officer in the performance of his or her lawful duties; or
(h) Operating under an interlocal cooperation agreement pursuant to KRS Chapter
65.
(3) Police officers appointed pursuant to KRS § 158.471 shall have, in addition to the other powers enumerated herein, the power to conduct investigations anywhere in this Commonwealth, provided the investigation relates to criminal offenses which occurred on property owned, leased, or controlled by the employing school district. At the discretion of the local school board’s police officials, the school board’s police department may coordinate said investigations with any law enforcement agency of this Commonwealth or with agencies of the federal government.
(4) Police departments created and operated by the local board of education shall for all purposes, be deemed public police departments, and its sworn police officers are deemed public police officers.
(5) Nothing in KRS § 158.471 to KRS § 158.483 shall be construed as a diminution or modification of the authority or responsibility of any city or county police department, the Department of Kentucky State Police, sheriff, constable, or other peace officer, either on the property of a local school district or otherwise.
Effective: July 14, 2022
History: Created 2022 Ky. Acts ch. 189, sec. 3, effective July 14, 2022.