School resource officers; authorize to search a student's person and possession upon reasonable suspicion of unlawful activity.

HB 968 authorizes Mississippi school resource officers (SROs) to detain and search a student’s person and belongings when they have reasonable suspicion the student is engaged in unlawful activity on school property. The bill applies directly to students in Mississippi public schools where SROs are employed, allowing searches that are reasonable in scope and not excessively intrusive based on the student's age, sex, and the suspected activity. SROs must comply with Fourth Amendment constitutional protections during these searches, and the authority applies only when acting within their official law enforcement capacity. This change modifies existing law to explicitly permit such searches under the specified reasonable suspicion standard.