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Florida Senate - 2025 CS for CS for SB 1422 By the Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice; the Committee on Criminal Justice; and Senator Truenow 604-03480-25 20251422c2 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.; defining the terms unmanned aircraft 10 and unmanned aircraft system; prohibiting certain 11 actions relating to unmanned aircraft and unmanned 12 aircraft systems; providing an exception; providing 13 criminal penalties; amending s. 934.50, F.S.; 14 authorizing certain persons to use reasonable force to 15 prohibit a drone from conducting surveillance under 16 certain circumstances; revising and providing 17 exceptions to certain prohibited actions relating to 18 drones; providing criminal penalties; providing 19 applicability; providing an effective date. 20 21 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 22 23 Section 1.Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) and paragraphs 24 (a) and (b) of subsection (4) of section 330.41, Florida 25 Statutes, are amended to read: 26 330.41Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act. 27 (2)DEFINITIONS.As used in this act, the term: 28 (a)Critical infrastructure facility means any of the 29 following, if completely enclosed by a fence or other physical 30 barrier that is obviously designed to exclude intruders, or if 31 clearly marked with a sign or signs which indicate that entry is 32 forbidden and which are posted on the property in a manner 33 reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders: 34 1.A power generation or transmission facility, substation, 35 switching station, or electrical control center. 36 2.A chemical or rubber manufacturing or storage facility. 37 3.A water intake structure, water treatment facility, 38 wastewater treatment plant, or pump station. 39 4.A mining facility. 40 5.A natural gas or compressed gas compressor station, 41 storage facility, or natural gas or compressed gas pipeline. 42 6.A liquid natural gas or propane gas terminal or storage 43 facility. 44 7.Any portion of an aboveground oil or gas pipeline. 45 8.A refinery. 46 9.A gas processing plant, including a plant used in the 47 processing, treatment, or fractionation of natural gas. 48 10.A wireless or wired communications facility, including 49 the tower, antennas antennae, support structures, and all 50 associated ground-based equipment. 51 11.A seaport as listed in s. 311.09(1), which need not be 52 completely enclosed by a fence or other physical barrier and 53 need not be marked with a sign or signs indicating that entry is 54 forbidden. 55 12.An inland port or other facility or group of facilities 56 serving as a point of intermodal transfer of freight in a 57 specific area physically separated from a seaport. 58 13.An airport as defined in s. 330.27. 59 14.A spaceport territory as defined in s. 331.303(19). 60 15.A military installation as defined in 10 U.S.C. s. 61 2801(c)(4) and an armory as defined in s. 250.01. 62 16.A dam as defined in s. 373.403(1) or other structures, 63 such as locks, floodgates, or dikes, which are designed to 64 maintain or control the level of navigable waterways. 65 17.A state correctional institution as defined in s. 66 944.02 or a contractor-operated correctional facility authorized 67 under chapter 957. 68 18.A secure detention center or facility as defined in s. 69 985.03, or a moderate-risk residential facility, a high-risk 70 residential facility, or a maximum-risk residential facility as 71 those terms are described in s. 985.03(44). 72 19.A county detention facility as defined in s. 951.23. 73 20.A critical infrastructure facility as defined in s. 74 692.201. 75 (4)PROTECTION OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES. 76 (a)A person may not knowingly or willfully: 77 1.Operate a drone over a critical infrastructure facility, 78 unless the operation is for a commercial purpose and is 79 authorized by and in compliance with the Federal Aviation 80 Administration regulations; 81 2.Allow a drone to make contact with a critical 82 infrastructure facility, including any person or object on the 83 premises of or within the facility; or 84 3.Allow a drone to come within a distance of a critical 85 infrastructure facility that is close enough to interfere with 86 the operations of or cause a disturbance to the facility. 87 (b)A person who violates paragraph (a) commits a felony of 88 the third misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as 89 provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. A person who commits a 90 second or subsequent violation commits a misdemeanor of the 91 first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 92 775.083. 93 Section 2.Section 330.411, Florida Statutes, is amended to 94 read: 95 330.411Prohibited possession, alteration, or operation of 96 unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system. 97 (1)As used in this section, the term: 98 (a)Unmanned aircraft has the same meaning as the term 99 drone in s. 934.50(2). 100 (b)Unmanned aircraft system has the same meaning as in 101 s. 330.41(2). 102 (2)A person may not knowingly or willfully possess or 103 operate an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system as 104 defined in s. 330.41 with an attached weapon, firearm, 105 explosive, destructive device, or ammunition as those terms are 106 defined in s. 790.001. 107 (3)(a)For the purposes of s. 330.41(4)(a), a person may 108 not knowingly or willfully: 109 1.Alter, manipulate, tamper with, or otherwise change an 110 unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft systems hardware or 111 software to purposefully frustrate any tool, system, or 112 technology intended to satisfy the remote identification 113 requirements established by the Federal Aviation Administration 114 as they relate to an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft 115 system; or 116 2.Possess or operate an unmanned aircraft or unmanned 117 aircraft system that has been altered, manipulated, tampered 118 with, or otherwise changed to purposefully frustrate any tool, 119 system, or technology intended to satisfy the remote 120 identification requirements established by the Federal Aviation 121 Administration as they relate to any unmanned aircraft or 122 unmanned aircraft system. 123 (b)This subsection does not apply if a person is 124 authorized by the administrator of the Federal Aviation 125 Administration or the Secretary of Defense, or their respective 126 designees, to alter, possess, or operate such an altered 127 unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system. 128 (4)A person who violates subsection (2) or subsection (3) 129 commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in 130 s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. 131 (5)A person who, without lawful authority, possesses or 132 operates an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system 133 carrying a weapon of mass destruction or a hoax weapon of 134 mass destruction, as those terms are defined in s. 790.166(1), 135 commits a felony of the first degree, punishable as provided in 136 s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. 137 Section 3.Paragraph (b) of subsection (3) and paragraph 138 (d) of subsection (4) of section 934.50, Florida Statutes, are 139 amended, paragraph (r) is added to subsection (4) of that 140 section, and subsection (8) is added to that section, to read: 141 934.50Searches and seizure using a drone. 142 (3)PROHIBITED USE OF DRONES. 143 (b)1.A person, a state agency, or a political subdivision 144 as defined in s. 11.45 may not use a drone equipped with an 145 imaging device to record an image of privately owned real 146 property or of the owner, tenant, occupant, invitee, or licensee 147 of such property with the intent to conduct surveillance on the 148 individual or property captured in the image in violation of 149 such persons reasonable expectation of privacy without his or 150 her written consent. For purposes of this section, a person is 151 presumed to have a reasonable expectation of privacy on his or 152 her privately owned real property if he or she is not observable 153 by persons located at ground level in a place where they have a 154 legal right to be, regardless of whether he or she is observable 155 from the air with the use of a drone. 156 2.A person who has a reasonable expectation of privacy on 157 his or her privately owned real property may use reasonable 158 force to prohibit a drone from conducting surveillance in 159 violation of this paragraph, if such drone is operating under 160 500 feet over such property. 161 (4)EXCEPTIONS.This section does not prohibit the use of a 162 drone: 163 (d)To provide a law enforcement agency with an aerial 164 perspective of a crowd of 50 people or more or to provide or 165 maintain the public safety of such crowd, provided that: 166 1.The law enforcement agency that uses the drone to 167 provide an aerial perspective of a crowd of 50 people or more 168 must have policies and procedures that include guidelines: 169 a.For the agencys use of a drone. 170 b.For the proper storage, retention, and release of any 171 images or video captured by the drone. 172 c.That address the personal safety and constitutional 173 protections of the people being observed. 174 2.The head of the law enforcement agency using the drone 175 for this purpose must provide written authorization for such use 176 and must maintain a copy on file at the agency. 177 (r)By a law enforcement agency in furtherance of providing 178 and maintaining the security of an elected official pursuant to 179 s. 943.68. 180 (8)CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 181 (a) An individual who knowingly or willfully violates 182 paragraph (3)(b) commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, 183 punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. 184 (b)An individual who knowingly or willfully violates 185 paragraph (3)(b) and intentionally distributes surveillance 186 obtained in violation of that paragraph commits a felony of the 187 third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, 188 or s. 775.084. 189 190 This subsection does not apply to a state agency, a political 191 subdivision, a law enforcement agency, or its officers, 192 employees, or agents. 193 Section 4.This act shall take effect October 1, 2025.
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