Committee weighs flexible models for SRO funding after court said students are entitled to SRO benefits

Consultants from Pikas Odyn & Associates and district and law‑enforcement witnesses urged the Select Committee to adopt a flexible, locally tailored approach to school resource officer (SRO) funding after the Wyoming litigation found students are entitled to the benefits of SROs.

Consultants described the court’s holding as requiring that "all Wyoming public school students are entitled to the benefits of an SRO," but said that does not mean an armed officer must be physically posted at every campus at all times. Instead, the consultants recommended a mixed model: full‑time SRO coverage at secondary schools, and shared or part‑time coverage for elementary campuses where one SRO could regularly visit multiple buildings.

"SROs provide law enforcement presence, education, and informal counseling," consultant Mike Griffith summarized. The consultants stressed three design principles: 1) flexibility to reflect geography and local law‑enforcement capacity, 2) minimum staffing guarantees to ensure coverage at large secondary campuses, and 3) acknowledgement that SRO costs include training, equipment and sometimes vehicle support beyond salaries.

Local testimony reinforced those themes. Lander Police Chief Kelly Walsh described two full‑time SROs integrated into Fremont County School District No. 1 who run driver‑education programs, cyber‑safety and vaping prevention classes, and after‑school event coverage; Walsh said SROs provide crucial relationships and prevention. "They're counselors, they're life coaches, they're mentors," he said. Officer Jake Conologue, an SRO and treasurer of the Wyoming School Resource Officers Association, urged the state to support professional SRO staffing and specialized training.

Consultants reviewed models used elsewhere: Texas adopted a top‑down mandate requiring an armed guard at every campus and provides roughly $100 per student plus campus supplements; Utah and several other states use grant programs or state matching grants. The consultants noted no single national template fits Wyoming’s mix of remote and clustered schools and recommended the Legislature consider base state funding for SROs (or a per‑campus allotment) with flexibility for districts to contract with local law enforcement or to share SROs across nearby campuses.

Committee concerns and options: lawmakers discussed whether funds should flow to districts or to law‑enforcement agencies (some states give grants to sheriffs/police). Consultants warned that routing funds only to law enforcement can create oversight gaps for school districts; MOUs and local contracts are commonly used when law enforcement provides SROs. WDE and consultants also recommended clarifying whether the court’s concept of SRO benefits could be satisfied by trained counselors for some functions, but they emphasized counselors and SROs are not interchangeable for response and armed‑officer roles.

Next steps: consultants will return with costed options. The committee asked staff to develop models that account for school geography, the difference between secondary and elementary needs, training costs, vehicle and equipment costs, and options for shared or district‑based contracts. "High schools require consistent SRO presence," the consultants said; middle and elementary needs can often be met by shared models and non‑police safety investments where appropriate.