The opinion, requested by Boone County Attorney Jordan Turner, addresses a county proposal to direct funding to the sheriff’s office to cover part of the cost of placing officers at private schools. The Boone County Fiscal Court considered the proposal earlier this year; the opinion does not establish whether the court has since adopted it.

Christopher Thacker, general counsel for the attorney general, wrote that the arrangement would be allowed under the Kentucky Constitution because it serves a public purpose and gives private schools only an indirect benefit. The funds would go to the sheriff’s office, rather than directly to schools, the opinion said.

“Promoting the greater presence of SROs in all schools within the county unquestionably advances that public purpose,” Thacker wrote.

Under the current arrangement, private schools must reimburse the Boone County Sheriff’s Office for the full cost of officers’ time on campus. Public schools, by comparison, have reimbursed an average of about 40% of those costs. The proposal would require public and private schools to reimburse some costs at the same rate.

Boone County has 36 school resource officers assigned to schools, according to Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Philip Ridgell. He said the county was anticipating questions about how to pay for officers as demand grows.

Ridgell said the county discussion has focused on school safety and staffing. Some public and private schools are located close to one another, he said, with some less than 100 yards apart.

The opinion arrives amid a broader dispute over public funding for non-public schools in Kentucky. The state Supreme Court earlier this year struck down a 2022 law authorizing charter schools, ruling it failed to meet the state constitution’s requirement for an efficient system of common schools. In 2024, voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed lawmakers to direct public funds to private schools.