Madison County board creates 19 SRO positions as new district police department is formed

Ben Wilcox, the district's newly hired police chief, told the board he has begun building a Madison County Schools Police Department and has support from multiple neighboring agencies to equip and staff the new unit.

"We're gonna be the police," Wilcox said, describing the new agency as a district police force that will investigate incidents and work with schools to provide safety and relationship-building. He referenced state law that enabled school districts to form their own police agencies and said the department will recruit, train and place officers in schools as school resource officers (SROs).

Wilcox said the district will create and ratify 19 SRO positions for the 2026-27 school year, approve the job description and adopt a salary schedule. He described partners donating surplus equipment and said training plans are underway for the summer.

After discussion the board approved a motion to create and ratify the 19 positions and to approve the job description and salary schedule; the motion passed by voice vote.

Board members thanked Wilcox and noted plans to continue training and communication with teachers and staff about the new program. Wilcox emphasized that the department will operate alongside local law enforcement and described the arrangement as a "force multiplier" to increase officers assigned to schools.