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:
26 330.41 Unmanned 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:
95 330.411 Prohibited 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 system’s 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:
141 934.50 Searches 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 person’s 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 agency’s 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.