NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that there is a public interest in protecting students at all levels of their education. The legislature also finds that there is an increasing atmosphere of societal unrest, especially on college campuses. The legislature also finds that the state universities, the regional universities, and The Evergreen State College are explicitly authorized to maintain a commissioned police force. The legislature also finds that the community and technical colleges have not been given the authority to maintain the same level of security as the universities. The legislature intends the community and technical colleges to also have broad options to protect their students and campuses in accordance with the recommendations issued by the mass shootings work group in 2018. Nothing in this section is intended to mandate how each college district chooses to protect its students, but instead is designed to clearly provide explicit authorization for the community and technical colleges to act as is appropriate for each college district to provide protection for students and faculty.

(1) The board of trustees for each college district, acting independently, and each on behalf of its own college district, have the authority to protect each college campus in a manner and with personnel appropriate for that campus's culture and environment. Each board of trustees is authorized to:

(a) Employ one or more school resource officers who are commissioned law enforcement officers of the state with sworn authority to make arrests, deployed in community-oriented policing, and assigned by a employing police department or sheriff's office to work with the appropriate personnel at the community and technical colleges to ensure the safety of the college campus;

(b) Approve safety officers to carry weapons including, but not limited to, firearms after the officers have received appropriate training as determined by a council convened by the college board that provides systemwide support to colleges for issues related to campus safety, security, and emergency management;

(d) At such a time as funds are available and the college district believes it is appropriate, establish a safety force comprised of officers that may be commissioned law enforcement officers and may carry weapons including, but not limited to, firearms.

(2) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the state board for community and technical colleges and the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs shall develop a template contract and accompanying information to assist community and technical colleges in contracting for the provision of security under subsection (1)(a) and (c) of this section.