Senate approves Missouri Rangers training option for school protection after amendment fight
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Summary
The Senate perfected SB 9‑05 to create a POST‑regulated Missouri Rangers training program for school protection officers; the chamber adopted continuing‑education rules and sustained a point of order that removed an amendment expanding criminal penalties before declaring the bill perfected and ordered printed.
Senate substitute for SB 9‑05, sponsored by the senator from the fifteenth, establishes a Missouri Rangers training program as an option for school districts that wish to hire highly trained, armed protection personnel who are not police officers but who would receive extensive firearms, close‑quarters and first‑aid training and limited arrest authority.
The sponsor described the program as an option that gives schools access to a “heightened security guard” who completes substantial training rather than allowing minimally trained private guards to fill sensitive roles: “This is not a police officer. It is basically a heightened security guard with only very limited arrest powers,” the senator from the fifteenth said while explaining the substitute.
The Senate adopted a floor amendment (number ending in 0.07s) asking the POST commission to promulgate continuing education rules so that volunteers and retired officers can maintain training standards over time. The senator from the second framed the amendment as a way to allow retired law‑enforcement and military personnel to serve in school roles while ensuring they meet ongoing training requirements.
A subsequent amendment that would have added a statutory offense for unlawful possession of a firearm by a minor drew a point of order on grounds that it expanded the bill beyond its original subject and title. The president pro tem sustained the point of order and the amendment was returned as not germane to the underlying training‑program substitute.
After amendments that were held germane were adopted and the point of order was resolved, the sponsor renewed the motion to declare the substitute perfected. The Senate declared SB 9‑05 perfected and ordered printed for further processing.
What changed: the substitute gives POST latitude to set detailed training hours and content, requires continuing education rules (as adopted by amendment), and retains limited arrest powers linked to specified school‑related offenses. What was removed: the non‑germane amendment expanding criminal code provisions (unlawful possession by a minor) was returned following the point of order.
Next steps: SB 9‑05, as perfected, moves to printing and the next procedural steps; implementing agencies will coordinate rulemaking with POST.