Smith County Board approves memorandum with sheriff’s office for school resource officers

On Oct. 21, 2025, the Smith County Board of Education voted to approve a memorandum of understanding with the Smith County Sheriff’s Department to provide school resource officers for the coming year.

Board members said the memorandums follow the district’s existing arrangements for how resource officers are hired and supervised but noted a change in who is funding the officers. The board did not specify dollar amounts or which specific funding source replaced the prior grant support.

The motion to approve the memorandum was made and seconded during the meeting; the board then conducted a roll-call vote. Board members recorded as voting in the affirmative were Mister Lewis, Mister Taylor, Mister Engage, Mister McCaleb, Mister Hesson, Shoulders, Doctor Mack and the presiding chair. The motion carried and the memorandum was approved.

Board discussion was limited. One member summarized that the memorandum is “basically the same wording” as prior contracts regarding hiring and dismissal procedures, with the primary difference noted being the funding mechanism. The board did not provide further details about the new funding source or related budget changes during the meeting.

The approval does not itself create a new funding authorization in the meeting record; it approves the memorandum that outlines the working relationship between the sheriff’s department and the district for resource officers. Any budgetary or grant documents tied to the officers were not presented during the meeting.