Florida Senate - 2025 SB 1422 By Senator Truenow 13-00672B-25 20251422__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to unmanned aircraft or unmanned 3 aircraft systems; amending s. 330.41, F.S.; increasing 4 the criminal penalty for certain prohibited actions 5 relating to drones; amending s. 330.411, F.S.; 6 prohibiting certain actions relating to unmanned 7 aircraft or unmanned aircraft systems; providing 8 criminal penalties; amending s. 934.50, F.S.; revising 9 and providing exceptions to certain prohibited actions 10 relating to drones; providing an effective date. 11 12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 13 14 Section 1.Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section 15 330.41, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (a) of that 16 subsection is republished, to read: 17 330.41Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act. 18 (4)PROTECTION OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES. 19 (a)A person may not knowingly or willfully: 20 1.Operate a drone over a critical infrastructure facility; 21 2.Allow a drone to make contact with a critical 22 infrastructure facility, including any person or object on the 23 premises of or within the facility; or 24 3.Allow a drone to come within a distance of a critical 25 infrastructure facility that is close enough to interfere with 26 the operations of or cause a disturbance to the facility. 27 (b)A person who violates paragraph (a) commits a felony of 28 the third degree misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as 29 provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. A person who commits a 30 second or subsequent violation commits a misdemeanor of the 31 first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 32 775.083. 33 Section 2.Section 330.411, Florida Statutes, is amended to 34 read: 35 330.411Prohibited possession, alteration, or operation of 36 unmanned aircraft. 37 (1)A person may not willfully possess or operate an 38 unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system as defined in s. 39 330.41(2) s. 330.41 with an attached weapon, firearm, explosive, 40 destructive device, or ammunition as defined in s. 790.001. 41 (2)A person may not willfully alter, manipulate, tamper 42 with, or otherwise change an unmanned aircraft or unmanned 43 aircraft systems hardware or software to counter or bypass any 44 tool, system, or technology intended to detect unmanned aircraft 45 or unmanned aircraft systems in violation of s. 330.41(4)(a). 46 (3)A person may not willfully possess or operate an 47 unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system that has been 48 altered, manipulated, tampered with, or otherwise changed to 49 counter or bypass any tool, system, or technology intended to 50 detect unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft systems in 51 violation of s. 330.41(4)(a). 52 (4)A person who violates subsection (1), subsection (2), 53 or subsection (3) commits a felony of the third degree, 54 punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. 55 (5)A person who, without lawful authority, possesses or 56 operates an unmanned aircraft system carrying a weapon of mass 57 destruction, a hoax weapon of mass destruction, a biological 58 agent, or a toxin, as those terms are defined in s. 790.166(1), 59 commits a felony of the first degree, punishable as provided in 60 s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. 61 Section 3.Paragraph (d) of subsection (4) of section 62 934.50, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (r) is added 63 to that subsection, to read: 64 934.50Searches and seizure using a drone. 65 (4)EXCEPTIONS.This section does not prohibit the use of a 66 drone: 67 (d)To provide a law enforcement agency with an aerial 68 perspective of a crowd of 50 people or more or to provide or 69 maintain the public safety of such crowd, provided that: 70 1.The law enforcement agency that uses the drone to 71 provide an aerial perspective of a crowd of 50 people or more 72 must have policies and procedures that include guidelines: 73 a.For the agencys use of a drone. 74 b.For the proper storage, retention, and release of any 75 images or video captured by the drone. 76 c.That address the personal safety and constitutional 77 protections of the people being observed. 78 2.The head of the law enforcement agency using the drone 79 for this purpose must provide written authorization for such use 80 and must maintain a copy on file at the agency. 81 (r)By a law enforcement agency in furtherance of providing 82 and maintaining the security of an elected official pursuant to 83 s. 943.68. 84 Section 4.This act shall take effect October 1, 2025.