Ben Wilcox recently retired from his position as Kentucky’s first-ever State School Security Marshal after five years at the helm. The School Security Marshal’s Office was created in 2019 with the passage of the School Safety and Resiliency Act(SSRA), one of the most comprehensive pieces of school safety legislation passed in Kentucky and nationally.

The Office of the State School Security Marshal (OSSSM) is responsible for ensuring compliance with all mandates set forth by the SSRA. Ben was given the responsibility of building the office, hiring region compliance officers, and building relationships with school districts to protect students and staff. OSSSM Compliance officers conduct risk assessments on all locally controlled schools in the State and work with schools to improve safety and security.

Ben has a background that is well-suited for this position. He started his career as the first school resource officer at the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office (KY). He was assigned to the county high school and soon also worked in the middle school and three elementary schools. Ben then started working for the Department of Criminal Justice training as a police instructor. His assignments as an instructor included driving, firearms, and tactics, and he was the supervisor of the Instructional Design section. 

Ben has a wealth of knowledge about building relationships between law enforcement and school districts to protect children.