Florida Senate - 2025 CS for SB 1422 By the Committee on Criminal Justice; and Senator Truenow 591-02559-25 20251422c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to unmanned aircraft or unmanned 3 aircraft systems; amending s. 330.41, F.S.; revising 4 the definition of the term critical infrastructure 5 facility; providing an exception to the prohibition 6 on operating a drone over a critical infrastructure 7 facility; increasing the criminal penalty for certain 8 prohibited actions relating to drones; amending s. 9 330.411, F.S.; prohibiting certain actions relating to 10 unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft systems; 11 providing exceptions; providing criminal penalties; 12 amending s. 934.50, F.S.; authorizing certain persons 13 to use reasonable force to prohibit a drone from 14 conducting surveillance under certain circumstances; 15 revising and providing exceptions to certain 16 prohibited actions relating to drones; providing 17 criminal penalties; providing applicability; providing 18 an effective date. 19 20 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 21 22 Section 1.Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) and paragraphs 23 (a) and (b) of subsection (4) of section 330.41, Florida 24 Statutes, are amended to read: 25 330.41Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act. 26 (2)DEFINITIONS.As used in this act, the term: 27 (a)Critical infrastructure facility means any of the 28 following, if completely enclosed by a fence or other physical 29 barrier that is obviously designed to exclude intruders, or if 30 clearly marked with a sign or signs which indicate that entry is 31 forbidden and which are posted on the property in a manner 32 reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders: 33 1.A power generation or transmission facility, substation, 34 switching station, or electrical control center. 35 2.A chemical or rubber manufacturing or storage facility. 36 3.A water intake structure, water treatment facility, 37 wastewater treatment plant, or pump station. 38 4.A mining facility. 39 5.A natural gas or compressed gas compressor station, 40 storage facility, or natural gas or compressed gas pipeline. 41 6.A liquid natural gas or propane gas terminal or storage 42 facility. 43 7.Any portion of an aboveground oil or gas pipeline. 44 8.A refinery. 45 9.A gas processing plant, including a plant used in the 46 processing, treatment, or fractionation of natural gas. 47 10.A wireless or wired communications facility, including 48 the tower, antennas antennae, support structures, and all 49 associated ground-based equipment. 50 11.A seaport as listed in s. 311.09(1), which need not be 51 completely enclosed by a fence or other physical barrier and 52 need not be marked with a sign or signs indicating that entry is 53 forbidden. 54 12.An inland port or other facility or group of facilities 55 serving as a point of intermodal transfer of freight in a 56 specific area physically separated from a seaport. 57 13.An airport as defined in s. 330.27. 58 14.A spaceport territory as defined in s. 331.303(19). 59 15.A military installation as defined in 10 U.S.C. s. 60 2801(c)(4) and an armory as defined in s. 250.01. 61 16.A dam as defined in s. 373.403(1) or other structures, 62 such as locks, floodgates, or dikes, which are designed to 63 maintain or control the level of navigable waterways. 64 17.A state correctional institution as defined in s. 65 944.02 or a contractor-operated correctional facility authorized 66 under chapter 957. 67 18.A secure detention center or facility as defined in s. 68 985.03, or a moderate-risk residential facility, a high-risk 69 residential facility, or a maximum-risk residential facility as 70 those terms are described in s. 985.03(44). 71 19.A county detention facility as defined in s. 951.23. 72 20.A critical infrastructure facility as defined in s. 73 692.201. 74 (4)PROTECTION OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES. 75 (a)A person may not knowingly or willfully: 76 1.Operate a drone over a critical infrastructure facility, 77 unless the operation is for a commercial purpose and is 78 authorized by and in compliance with the Federal Aviation 79 Administration regulations; 80 2.Allow a drone to make contact with a critical 81 infrastructure facility, including any person or object on the 82 premises of or within the facility; or 83 3.Allow a drone to come within a distance of a critical 84 infrastructure facility that is close enough to interfere with 85 the operations of or cause a disturbance to the facility. 86 (b)A person who violates paragraph (a) commits a felony of 87 the third misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as 88 provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. A person who commits a 89 second or subsequent violation commits a misdemeanor of the 90 first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 91 775.083. 92 Section 2.Section 330.411, Florida Statutes, is amended to 93 read: 94 330.411Prohibited possession, alteration, or operation of 95 unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system. 96 (1)A person may not knowingly or willfully possess or 97 operate an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system as 98 defined in s. 330.41(2) s. 330.41 with an attached weapon, 99 firearm, explosive, destructive device, or ammunition as defined 100 in s. 790.001. 101 (2)A person may not knowingly or willfully alter, 102 manipulate, tamper with, or otherwise change an unmanned 103 aircraft or unmanned aircraft systems hardware or software to 104 purposefully frustrate any tool, system, or technology intended 105 to satisfy the remote identification requirements established by 106 the Federal Aviation Administration as they relate to any 107 unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft systems in violation of 108 s. 330.41(4)(a), unless authorized by the administrator of the 109 Federal Aviation Administration or the Secretary of Defense, or 110 their respective designees. 111 (3)A person may not knowingly or willfully possess or 112 operate an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system that 113 has been altered, manipulated, tampered with, or otherwise 114 changed to purposefully frustrate any tool, system, or 115 technology intended to satisfy the remote identification 116 requirements established by the Federal Aviation Administration 117 as they relate to any unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft 118 systems in violation of s. 330.41(4)(a), unless authorized by 119 the administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration or the 120 Secretary of Defense, or their respective designees. 121 (4)A person who violates subsection (1), subsection (2), 122 or subsection (3) commits a felony of the third degree, 123 punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. 124 (5)A person who, without lawful authority, possesses or 125 operates an unmanned aircraft system carrying a weapon of mass 126 destruction, a hoax weapon of mass destruction, a biological 127 agent, or a toxin, as those terms are defined in s. 790.166(1), 128 commits a felony of the first degree, punishable as provided in 129 s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. 130 Section 3.Paragraph (b) of subsection (3) and paragraph 131 (d) of subsection (4) of section 934.50, Florida Statutes, are 132 amended, and paragraph (r) of subsection (4) and subsection (8) 133 are added to that section, to read: 134 934.50Searches and seizure using a drone. 135 (3)PROHIBITED USE OF DRONES. 136 (b)1.A person, a state agency, or a political subdivision 137 as defined in s. 11.45 may not use a drone equipped with an 138 imaging device to record an image of privately owned real 139 property or of the owner, tenant, occupant, invitee, or licensee 140 of such property with the intent to conduct surveillance on the 141 individual or property captured in the image in violation of 142 such persons reasonable expectation of privacy without his or 143 her written consent. For purposes of this section, a person is 144 presumed to have a reasonable expectation of privacy on his or 145 her privately owned real property if he or she is not observable 146 by persons located at ground level in a place where they have a 147 legal right to be, regardless of whether he or she is observable 148 from the air with the use of a drone. 149 2.A person who has a reasonable expectation of privacy on 150 his or her privately owned real property may use reasonable 151 force to prohibit a drone from conducting surveillance in 152 violation of this paragraph, if such drone is operating under 153 500 feet over such property. 154 (4)EXCEPTIONS.This section does not prohibit the use of a 155 drone: 156 (d)To provide a law enforcement agency with an aerial 157 perspective of a crowd of 50 people or more or to provide or 158 maintain the public safety of such crowd, provided that: 159 1.The law enforcement agency that uses the drone to 160 provide an aerial perspective of a crowd of 50 people or more 161 must have policies and procedures that include guidelines: 162 a.For the agencys use of a drone. 163 b.For the proper storage, retention, and release of any 164 images or video captured by the drone. 165 c.That address the personal safety and constitutional 166 protections of the people being observed. 167 2.The head of the law enforcement agency using the drone 168 for this purpose must provide written authorization for such use 169 and must maintain a copy on file at the agency. 170 (r)By a law enforcement agency in furtherance of providing 171 and maintaining the security of an elected official pursuant to 172 s. 943.68. 173 (8)CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 174 (a) An individual who knowingly or willfully violates 175 paragraph (3)(b) commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, 176 punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. 177 (b)An individual who knowingly or willfully violates 178 paragraph (3)(b) and intentionally distributes surveillance 179 obtained in violation of that paragraph commits a felony of the 180 third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, 181 or s. 775.084. 182 183 This subsection does not apply to a state agency, a political 184 subdivision, a law enforcement agency, or its officers, 185 employees, or agents. 186 Section 4.This act shall take effect October 1, 2025.