Back to Wisconsin

SB626 • 2025

police authority to disable drones threatening public safety and providing a penalty

police authority to disable drones threatening public safety and providing a penalty

Did Not Pass

The latest official action shows that this bill did not move forward in that session.

Sponsor
Senators Bradley, Jacque, Marklein and Nass, cosponsored by Representatives Wichgers, Behnke, Dittrich, Goeben, Knodl, Kurtz, Melotik, Murphy and Mursau
Last action
2026-03-23
Official status
S - Hold (Available for Scheduling)
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

police authority to disable drones threatening public safety and providing a penalty

police authority to disable drones threatening public safety and providing a penalty Status: S - Hold (Available for Scheduling)

What This Bill Does

  • police authority to disable drones threatening public safety and providing a penalty Status: S - Hold (Available for Scheduling)

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-23 Sen.

    Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1

  2. 2026-03-04 Sen.

    Executive action taken

  3. 2026-03-04 Sen.

    Report adoption of Senate Amendment 1 recommended by Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety , Ayes 5, Noes 3

  4. 2026-03-04 Sen.

    Report passage as amended recommended by Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety , Ayes 5, Noes 3

  5. 2026-03-04 Sen.

    Available for scheduling

  6. 2026-02-27 Sen.

    Senate Amendment 1 offered by Senator Bradley

  7. 2026-01-09 Sen.

    Senator James added as a coauthor

  8. 2026-01-07 Sen.

    Public hearing held

  9. 2025-11-14 Sen.

    Introduced by Senators Bradley , Jacque , Marklein and Nass ; cosponsored by Representatives Wichgers , Behnke , Dittrich , Goeben , Knodl , Kurtz , Melotik , Murphy and Mursau

  10. 2025-11-14 Sen.

    Read first time and referred to Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety

Official Summary Text

police authority to disable drones threatening public safety and providing a penalty
Status: S - Hold (Available for Scheduling)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
Wisconsin Legislature: SB626: Bill Text

Skip navigation

Home

Documents

Senate

Assembly

Committees

Service Agencies

Docs

Options

Help

2025 Biennium

Statutes

Admin. Rules

Indices

Miscellaneous

Archives

Home

Bill, Rule, and Appointment Histories

Senators

Representatives

Committees

Text of Introduced Proposals

Amendment Text

Acts

Veto Messages

Enrolled Bills

Votes

Assembly and Senate Floor Calendars

Schedule of Committee Activities

Assembly and Senate Journals

Committee Records (ROCPs)

Legislative Rules

All Session-Related Documents

Subject Index to Acts

Subject Index to Legislation

Subject Index to Journals

Author Index to Legislation

Subject Index to Clearinghouse Rules

Miscellaneous Budget Documents

Executive Orders

Rulings of the Chair

Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules

Opinions of the Attorney General

Town Law Forms

Law

Districts

Session

Drafting Files

Feeds

Preferences

Show tree

Hide tree

Feedback

Help

Home

Senate Home

Senators

Committees

Session

Chief Clerk

Sergeant at Arms

Civics Education

Human Resources
Assembly Home

Representatives

Committees

Session

Chief Clerk

Sergeant at Arms

Human Resources
Schedule

Joint

Senate

Assembly

Study
Legislative Audit Bureau

Legislative Council

Legislative Fiscal Bureau

Legislative Human Resources Office

Legislative Reference Bureau

Legislative Technology Services Bureau

Menu
»
2025
»
Related Documents
»
Proposal Text
»
SB626: Bill Text

Up

Up

2025 - 2026 LEGISLATURE
LRB-5198/1
ZDW:klm
2025 SENATE BILL 626
November 14, 2025 - Introduced by Senators
Bradley
,
Jacque
,
Marklein
and
Nass
, cosponsored by Representatives
Wichgers
,
Behnke
,
Dittrich
,
Goeben
,
Knodl
,
Kurtz
,
Melotik
,
Murphy
and
Mursau
. Referred to Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety.
SB626,1,3
1
An Act

to renumber and amend
114.045;
to create
114.045 (1m), 114.045
2
(2m) (bm) and 114.045 (3m) of the statutes;
relating to:
police authority to
3
disable drones threatening public safety and providing a penalty.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill provides that a law enforcement officer may do any of the following to mitigate the threat posed by a drone that the officer reasonably suspects poses an imminent threat to public safety: 1) detect, track, and identify the drone; and 2) intercept, disable, or destroy the drone through any lawful method, including jamming, hacking, or physically capturing the drone. The bill provides that neither the law enforcement officer nor the agency that employs them is financially liable for damage to or loss of a drone that is intercepted, disabled, or destroyed.
Under current law, no person may operate a drone over a correctional institution without the express permission of the secretary of corrections. A person who violates this prohibition is subject to a forfeiture of $5,000. This bill provides that a person who violates this prohibition by use of a weaponized drone, the use of which poses a threat to public safety, is guilty of a Class H felony. “Weaponized drone” is defined to mean a drone equipped with a taser, firearm, flamethrower, chemical, or explosive device.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
SB626,1
1
Section

1
.
114.045 of the statutes is renumbered 114.045 (2m) and amended
2
to read:
SB626,2,8
3
114.045
(2m)
(a) No person may operate a drone
, as defined in s. 941.292 (1),

4
over a correctional institution, as defined in s. 801.02 (7) (a) 1., including any
5
grounds of the institution, except that a person may operate a drone over an
6
institution that is a state facility with the express authorization of the secretary of
7
corrections or his or her designee or over an institution that is a county facility with
8
the express authorization of the sheriff of the county or his or her designee.
SB626,2,10
9
(b)

Any person who violates
sub. (1)

par. (a)
may be required to forfeit not more
10
than $5,000.
SB626,2,15
11
(c) A law enforcement officer investigating an alleged violation of
sub. (1)

par.
12
(a)
shall seize and transfer to the department of corrections or authority in charge
13
of the correctional institution any photograph, motion picture, other visual
14
representation, or data that represents a visual image that was created or recorded
15
by a drone during an alleged violation of
sub. (1)

par. (a)
.
SB626,2
16
Section

2
.
114.045 (1m) of the statutes is created to read:
SB626,2,17
17
114.045
(1m)
In this section:
SB626,2,18
18
(a) “Drone” has the meaning given in s. 941.292 (1).
SB626,2,19
19
(b) “Law enforcement officer” has the meaning given in s. 165.85 (2) (c).
SB626,2,21
20
(c) “Weaponized drone” means a drone that is equipped with a taser, firearm,
21
flamethrower, chemical, or explosive device.
SB626,3
22
Section

3
.
114.045 (2m) (bm) of the statutes is created to read:
SB626,3,2
1
114.045
(2m)
(bm) Any person who violates par. (a) by use of a weaponized
2
drone, the use of which poses a threat to public safety, is guilty of a Class H felony.
SB626,4
3
Section

4
.
114.045 (3m) of the statutes is created to read:
SB626,3,6
4
114.045
(3m)
(a) A law enforcement officer may do any of the following to
5
mitigate the threat posed by a drone that the law enforcement officer reasonably
6
suspects poses an imminent threat to public safety:
SB626,3,7
7
1. Detect, track, and identify the drone.
SB626,3,11
8
2. Intercept, disable, or destroy the drone through any lawful method,
9
including jamming, hacking, or physically capturing the drone, if the law
10
enforcement officer reasonably believes that failure to do so would result in a
11
greater threat to public safety than intercepting, disabling, or destroying the drone.
SB626,3,14
12
(b) Neither the law enforcement officer nor the agency that employs them
13
shall be financially liable for damage to or loss of a drone that is intercepted,
14
disabled, or destroyed under par. (a) 2.
SB626,3,15
15
(end)

Down

Down

/2025/related/proposals/sb626

true

proposaltext

/2025/related/proposals/sb626

proposaltext/2025/REG/SB626

proposaltext/2025/REG/SB626

section

true

Menu
»
2025
»
Related Documents
»
Proposal Text
»
SB626: Bill Text

×

Details for

PDF view

Link
(Permanent link)

Bookmark this location

View toggle

Go to top of document

Search in this chapter

Search in this section

Search in this agency

Search in this chapter group

Search in this chapter

Search in this section

Cross references for section

Acts affecting this section

References to this

1970 Statutes Annotations

Appellate Court Citations

Administrative Code Index

Reference lines

Clear highlighting