I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2541 

To prioritize the hiring and training of veterans and retired law enforcement 

officers as school resource officers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2023 

Mr. VAN DREW (for himself, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. BARR, Mr. BACON, Mrs. 

MILLER-MEEKS, and Mr. DIAZ-BALART) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition 

to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs, and Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To prioritize the hiring and training of veterans and retired 

law enforcement officers as school resource officers, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring Safer 

5 Schools Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. USES OF COPS GRANTS TO HIRE VETERANS AND 

2 RETIRED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AS 

3 SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS. 

4 Section 1701(b)(12) of the Omnibus Crime Control 

5 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381(b)(12)) 

6 is amended by inserting ‘‘, and the hiring and training 

7 of veterans and retired law enforcement officers to serve 

8 as school resource officers’’ after ‘‘offenses’’. 

9 SEC. 3. PREFERENTIAL CONSIDERATION OF APPLICATIONS 

10 FOR CERTAIN GRANTS. 

11 Section 1701(c) of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

12 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381(c)) is amend13 ed— 

14 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

15 end; 

16 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at 

17 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

18 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(4) for hiring and training veterans and re21 tired law enforcement officers as school resource of22 ficers.’’. 

23 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 

24 Section 1701(d) of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

25 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381(d)(3)) is 

26 amended by inserting after paragraph (3): 


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1 ‘‘(4) MENTAL HEALTH SCREENING AND TRAIN2 ING.—The Attorney General may provide technical 

3 assistance to States, units of local government, In4 dian tribal governments, and to other public and pri5 vate entities using funds under this section for pur6 poses described in subsection (b)(12) to provide 

7 school resource officers with an annual mental 

8 health screening and an annual training on tactics 

9 and response.’’. 

10 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

11 Section 1709(4) of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

12 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10389(4)) is amend13 ed— 

14 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

15 by inserting ‘‘, veteran, or retired law enforcement 

16 officer’’ after ‘‘career law enforcement officer’’; 

17 (2) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

18 the end; 

19 (3) in subparagraph (G), by striking the period 

20 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

21 (4) by inserting after subparagraph (G) the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(H) to meet at least annually with stu24 dents in order to increase familiarity between 


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1 students and the officer and to foster commu2 nity engagement.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. COORDINATION WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF VET4 ERANS AFFAIRS. 

5 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall coordinate 

6 with recipients of grants under part Q of title I of the 

7 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 

8 U.S.C. 10381 et seq.) to connect veterans seeking to serve 

9 as school resource officers (as such term is defined in sec10 tion 1709 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

11 Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 1038)) with local law enforcement 

12 agencies participating in school-based partnerships de13 scribed in section 1701(b)(12) of the Omnibus Crime Con14 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 

15 10381(b)(12)). 

Æ 


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