The Florida Senate
BILL ANALYSIS AND FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
(This document is based on the provisions contained in the legislation as of the latest date listed below.)
Prepared By: The Professional Staff of the Committee on Criminal Justice
BILL: SB 1422
INTRODUCER: Senator Truenow
SUBJECT: Unmanned Aircraft or Unmanned Aircraft Systems
DATE: March 17, 2025
ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR REFERENCE ACTION
1. Cellon Stokes CJ Pre-meeting
2. TR
3. RC
I. Summary:
SB 1422 amends three sections of law relating to drones. The bill amends 330.41, F.S., to
increase the criminal penalties from a second degree misdemeanor to a third degree felony if a
person knowingly or willfully
• Operates a drone over a critical infrastructure facility;
• Allows a drone to make contact with a critical infrastructure facility; or
• Allows a drone to come within a distance of a critical infrastructure facility that is close
enough to interfere with the operations of or cause a disturbance to the facility.
The bill amends s. 330.411, F.S., to specify it is a third degree felony for a person to willfully
possess or operate a weaponized drone. The bill creates two new third degree felonies for a
person to willfully tamper with or alter a drone to bypass drone detection; or possess or operate
such a drone. Also, the bill provides that a person who possesses or operates a drone that carries
a weapon of mass destruction, a hoax weapon of mass destruction, a biological agent, or a toxin
commits a first degree felony.
1
Finally, the bill amends s. 934.50(4), FS., providing that law enforcement is not prohibited from
using a drone to provide or maintain the public safety of a crowd of 50 people or more, and that
a law enforcement agency may use a drone in furtherance of providing and maintaining the
security of an elected official.
The bill may have an effect on the number of prison beds however an official estimate has not
yet been made. See Section V, Fiscal Impact.
The bill takes effect on October 1, 2025.
1
A first degree felony is punishable by up to 30 years to life imprisonment and a $15,000 fine. ss. 775.02 and 775.083, F.S
REVISED: BILL: SB 1422 Page 2
II. Present Situation:
A drone, also called Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), is
defined in s. 934.50, F.S., as a powered, aerial vehicle that:
• Does not carry a human operator;
• Uses aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle lift;
• Can fly autonomously or be piloted remotely;
• Can be expendable or recoverable; and
• Can carry a lethal or nonlethal payload.
2
Small drones are regulated by the Federal Aviation Authority and federal regulations such as in
14 CFR 107.51(b)(2) which contain the following operating limitations:
• The minimum flight visibility, as observed from the location of the control station must be no
less than 3 statute miles.
• The minimum distance of the small unmanned aircraft from clouds must be no less than 500
feet below the cloud and 2,000 feet horizontally from the cloud.
• The groundspeed of the small unmanned aircraft may not exceed 87 knots (100 miles per
hour).
• The altitude of the small unmanned aircraft cannot be higher than 400 feet above ground
level, unless the small unmanned aircraft:
o Is flown within a 400-foot radius of a structure; and
o Does not fly higher than 400 feet above the structure's immediate uppermost limit.
3
Drones and Surveillance
The Freedom from Unwanted Surveillance Act is found in s. 934.50, F.S. The Act provides
citizens’ privacy from non-law enforcement and law enforcement drone information-seeking
surveillance over private property.
4
Section 934.50, F.S., prohibits a state agency, political subdivision,
5
or non-law enforcement
person from using a drone equipped with an imaging device to record an image of the tenant of
privately owned real property, with the intent to conduct surveillance of the individual or
property in violation of such person's reasonable expectation of privacy without his or her
written consent.
6
For purposes of this section, surveillance means:
• With respect to an owner, tenant, occupant, invitee, or licensee of privately owned real
property, the observation of such persons with sufficient visual clarity to be able to obtain
information about their identity, habits, conduct, movements, or whereabouts; or
2
Section 934.50(2), F.S.
3
14 CFR Part 107, (last visited March 11, 2025).
4
Section 934.50(3)(a), F.S.
5
“Political subdivision” means a separate agency or unit of local government created or established by law and includes, but
is not limited to, the following and the officers thereof: authority, board, branch, bureau, city, commission, consolidated
government, county, department, district, institution, metropolitan government, municipality, office, officer, public
corporation, town, or village. s.11.45, (1)(k) F.S.
6
Section 934.50(3)(b), F.S. BILL: SB 1422 Page 3
• With respect to privately owned real property, the observation of such property's physical
improvements with sufficient visual clarity to be able to determine unique identifying
features or its occupancy by one or more persons.
7
Section 934.50(4)(a)-(q), F.S., provides exceptions for law enforcement, government agency,
and commercial uses for drones.
8
A few of these other authorized uses for drones in s. 934.50,
F.S. include:
• To counter a high risk of a terrorist attack;
9
• To provide a law enforcement agency with an aerial perspective of a crowd of 50 people or
more under certain circumstances;
10
• For the assessment of damage due to a flood, wildfire, or any other natural disaster that is the
subject of a state of emergency declared by the state or by a political subdivision, before the
expiration of the emergency declaration;
11
• To capture images by or for an electric, water, or natural gas utility under certain
circumstances;
12
and
• By an employee of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission or of the Florida Forest
Service for the purposes of managing and eradicating invasive exotic plants or animals on
public lands and suppressing and mitigating wildfire threats.
13
There are no criminal penalties associated with this section, however civil remedies are
specifically provided in s. 934.50(5), F.S. Also, evidence obtained or collected in violation of
this act is not admissible as evidence in a criminal prosecution in any court of law in this state.
14
Protecting Critical Infrastructure and Schools from Unwelcome Drone Encroachment
The Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act defines an “unmanned aircraft system” as a drone and its
associated elements, including communication links and the components used to control the
drone which are required for the pilot in command to operate the drone safely and efficiently.
15
The focus of the act is the safety of critical infrastructure,
16
protection of schools,
17
drone
delivery services,
18
and drone ports.
19
“Critical infrastructure facility” is defined in s. 330.41(2)(a)1.-20, F.S., to include, in part:
• A power generation or transmission facility, substation, switching station, or electrical
control center;
• Any portion of an aboveground oil or gas pipeline;
7
Section 934.50(2)(e), F.S.
8
Section 934.50(4)(a), F.S.
9
Section 934.50(4)(a), F.S.
10
Section 934.50(4)(d), F.S.
11
Section 934.50(4)(g)1., F.S.
12
Section 934.50(4)(k), F.S.
13
Section 934.50(4)(p), F.S.
14
Section 934.50(6), F.S.
15
Section 330.41(2)(e), F.S.
16
Section 330.41(2)(a)1.-20., F.S.
17
Section 330.41(5), F.S.
18
Section 330.41(2)(c), F.S.
19
Section 330.41(2)(d), F.S. BILL: SB 1422 Page 4
• A state correctional institution as defined in s. 944.02, F.S., or a contractor-operated
correctional facility authorized under ch. 957, F.S.; and
• A county detention facility as defined in s. 951.23, F.S.
20
It is a second degree misdemeanor
21
for a first offense and a first degree misdemeanor
22
for a
second offense if a person knowingly or willfully:
• Operates a drone over a critical infrastructure facility;
• Allows a drone to make contact with a critical infrastructure facility, including any person or
object on the premises of or within the facility; or
• Allows a drone to come within a distance of a critical infrastructure facility that is close
enough to interfere with the operations of or cause a disturbance to the facility.
23
Additionally, a person may not knowingly or willfully:
• Operate a drone over a public or private school serving students in any grade from voluntary
prekindergarten through grade 12; or
• Allow a drone to make contact with a school, including any person or object on the premises
of or within the school facility.
24
A person who commits either of the offenses listed above commits a misdemeanor of the second
degree. A second or subsequent violation is a first degree misdemeanor offense. However, if a
person commits either of the two offenses above and records video of the school, including any
person or object on the premises of or within the school facility, it is a misdemeanor of the first
degree, and a second or subsequent offense is a felony of the third degree.
25
Armed Drones
Section 330.411, F.S. prohibits a person from possessing or operating an unmanned aircraft or
unmanned aircraft system as defined in s. 330.41, F.S.,
26
with an attached weapon, firearm,
explosive, destructive device, or ammunition as defined in s. 790.001, F.S. The terms mean:
• “Ammunition” means an object consisting of a fixed metallic or nonmetallic hull or casing
containing a primer; one or more projectiles, one or more bullets, or shot; and gunpowder.
27
• “Destructive device” means any bomb, grenade, mine, rocket, missile, pipebomb, or similar
device containing an explosive, incendiary, or poison gas and includes any frangible
container filled with an explosive, incendiary, explosive gas, or expanding gas, which is
designed or so constructed as to explode by such filler and is capable of causing bodily harm
or property damage; any combination of parts either designed or intended for use in
20
Section 330.41(4)(a), F.S.
21
A second degree misdemeanor is punishable by up to 60 days in the county jail and $500 fine. ss. 775.082 and 775.083,
F.S.
22
A first degree misdemeanor is punishable by up to one year in the county jail and a $1,000 fine. ss. 775.082 and 775.083,
F.S.
23
Section 330.41(a), F.S.
24
Section 330.41(5), F.S.
25
A third degree felony is punishable by up to five years imprisonment and a $5,000 fine. ss. 775.082 and 775.083, F.S.
26
Section 330.411, F.S.
27
Sections 790.001 (1), (6), (8), (9), and (20), F.S. BILL: SB 1422 Page 5
converting any device into a destructive device and from which a destructive device may be
readily assembled; any device declared a destructive device by the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, and Firearms; any type of weapon which will, is designed to, or may readily be
converted to expel a projectile by the action of any explosive and which has a barrel with a
bore of one-half inch or more in diameter; and ammunition for such destructive devices, but
not including shotgun shells or any other ammunition designed for use in a firearm other than
a destructive device. “Destructive device” does not include: a device which is not designed,
redesigned, used, or intended for use as a weapon; any device, although originally designed
as a weapon, which is redesigned so that it may be used solely as a signaling, line-throwing,
safety, or similar device; any shotgun other than a short-barreled shotgun; or any
nonautomatic rifle (other than a short-barreled rifle) generally recognized or particularly
suitable for use for the hunting of big game.
28
• “Explosive” means any chemical compound or mixture that has the property of yielding
readily to combustion or oxidation upon application of heat, flame, or shock, including but
not limited to dynamite, nitroglycerin, trinitrotoluene, or ammonium nitrate when combined
with other ingredients to form an explosive mixture, blasting caps, and detonators; but not
including: shotgun shells, cartridges, or ammunition for firearms; fireworks as defined in s.
791.01, F.S.; smokeless propellant powder or small arms ammunition primers, if possessed,
purchased, sold, transported, or used in compliance with s. 552.241, F.S.; black powder in
quantities not to exceed that authorized by ch. 552, F.S., or by any rules adopted by the
Department of Financial Services, when used for, or intended to be used for, the manufacture
of target and sporting ammunition or for use in muzzle-loading flint or percussion weapons.
29
• “Firearm” means any weapon (including a starter gun) which will, is designed to, or may
readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive; the frame or receiver
of any such weapon; any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; any destructive device; or any
machine gun. The term “firearm” does not include an antique firearm unless the antique
firearm is used in the commission of a crime.
30
• “Weapon” means any dirk, knife, metallic knuckles, slungshot, billie, tear gas gun, chemical
weapon or device, or other deadly weapon except a firearm or a common pocketknife, plastic
knife, or blunt-bladed table knife.
31
Section 330.411, F.S., contains no criminal penalties attached to a person’s prohibited possession
of an armed drone.
III. Effect of Proposed Changes:
The bill amends the criminal penalties in s. 330.41(4), F.S., by increasing the misdemeanor
penalty to a third degree felony for a person to knowing and willfully:
• Operate a drone over a critical infrastructure facility;
• Allow a drone to make contact with a critical infrastructure facility, including any person or
object on the premises of or within the facility; or
28
Section 790.001(6), F.S.
29
Section 790.001(8), F.S.
30
Section 790.001(9), F.S.
31
Section 790.001(20), F.S. BILL: SB 1422 Page 6
• Allow a drone to come within a distance of a critical infrastructure facility that is close
enough to interfere with the operations of or cause a disturbance to the facility.
32
The bill amends s. 330.411, F.S., to specify it is a third degree felony as defined in s. 790.001,
F.S., when a person willfully possesses or operates a drone with an attached firearm, explosive,
destructive device, or ammunition.
The bill creates two new third degree felony offenses related to protecting critical infrastructure
facilities. A person is prohibited from willfully altering, manipulating, tampering with, or
otherwise changing an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system’s hardware or software to
counter or bypass any tool, system, or technology intended to detect unmanned aircraft or
unmanned aircraft systems.
A person is prohibited from willfully possessing or operating such an altered, manipulated,
tampered with, or otherwise changed aircraft or system in violation of s. 330.411(4), F.S. Both of
these new crimes are third degree felonies.
Additionally, the bill provides that a person who, without lawful authority, possesses or operates
an unmanned aircraft system carrying a weapon of mass destruction, a hoax weapon of mass
destruction, a biological agent, or a toxin, as those terms are defined in s. 790.166(1), F.S.,
commits a first degree felony.
The bill amends s. 934.50(4)(d), FS., providing that law enforcement is not prohibited from
using a drone to provide or maintain the public safety of a crowd of 50 people or more.
Finally, s. 934.50(4), F.S., is amended to use a drone in furtherance of providing and maintaining
the security of an elected official.
33
The bill takes effect on October 1, 2025.
IV. Constitutional Issues:
A. Municipality/County Mandates Restrictions:
The bill does not appear to require cities and counties to expend funds or limit their
authority to raise revenue or receive state-shared revenues as specified by Article VII, s.
18, of the State Constitution.
B. Public Records/Open Meetings Issues:
None.
32
Section 330.41(4)(a)1.-3, F.S.
33
See Section 943.68, F.S., for a description of security or transportation provided by the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement to the Governor and others. BILL: SB 1422 Page 7
C. Trust Funds Restrictions:
None.
D. State Tax or Fee Increases:
None.
E. Other Constitutional Issues:
None.
V. Fiscal Impact Statement:
A. Tax/Fee Issues:
None.
B. Private Sector Impact:
None.
C. Government Sector Impact:
The bill may have a positive indeterminate impact effect on prison beds due to the
increase in penalties and new crimes.
VI. Technical Deficiencies:
None.
VII. Related Issues:
None.
VIII. Statutes Affected:
This bill substantially amends the following sections of the Florida Statutes: 330.41, 330.411,
934.50
IX. Additional Information:
A. Committee Substitute – Statement of Changes:
(Summarizing differences between the Committee Substitute and the prior version of the bill.)
None.
B. Amendments:
None. BILL: SB 1422 Page 8
This Senate Bill Analysis does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill’s introducer or the Florida Senate.