House bill to expand who may serve as school resource officers fails after hours of debate over training, grants and public expectations

Representative Rudd, sponsor of House Bill 2 14, urged the committee to allow retired law enforcement officers and honorably discharged veterans to serve in schools where sheriffs cannot hire full‑time deputies. Rudd said the measure would expand who could fill SRO roles in rural districts with limited budgets and argued the state has unused grant money that could be used: "It's our money. It's law enforcement. Veterans shouldn't have access to it," Rudd said, describing comments he said he received from Department of Safety staff during negotiations.

The Department of Safety and Tennessee Highway Patrol testified that the bill would not, as drafted, make those proposed hires eligible for existing SRO grant funding and that it would blur the definition of a school resource officer. Elizabeth Stroker, legislative liaison with the Department of Safety, told the committee that "the grant eligibility is only for full time post certified commissioned school…