Drone Protection Act.

2015
STATE OF WYOMING
15LSO-0037
ENGROSSED
3.1

HOUSE BILL

NO.
HB0018

Drone Protection Act.

Sponsored by:
Joint Judiciary Interim Committee

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to drones; specifying requirements for use of drones by law enforcement agencies; limiting use of information obtained with a drone by governmental entities; requiring reports; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1
.

W.S. 7
‑
3
‑
1001 through 7
‑
3
‑
1006
are
created to read:

ARTICLE 10
DRONES

7
‑
3
‑
1001
.

Short title.

This article shall be known

and may be cited as the "
Drone Protection
Act
".

7
‑
3
‑
1002
.

Definitions.

(a)

As used in this article:

(
i
)

"Law enforcement agency" means a lawfully established
s
tate or local
governmental
entity that is responsible for
:

(A)

T
he prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of criminal
or
traffic
laws
;
or

(B)

Enforcing regulatory laws relating to land, water or
public health and safety
.

(
i
i)

"
Drone
" means any powered aerial vehicle that does not carry a human operator, can fly autonomously or remotely and can be expendab
le or recoverable;

(iii)

"Governmental entit
y
"
means
as defined by W.S. 1
‑
39
‑
103
(a)
.

7
‑
3
‑
1003
.

Use
of drones by law enforcement agencies.

(a)

A
law enforcement agency shall not
use
a drone
or
acquire
or disclose
information
obtained or derived
through the use
of a
drone
unless the law enforcement agency:

(
i
)

Obtains a
warrant authorizing the use of a drone. Warrants authorizing the use of a drone shall specify the period
and geographical location
for which
use
of the drone is authorized. The authorization period shall not exceed thirty (30) days
, but may be extended for good cause
;

(ii)

Has

probable cause to believe a person
is
committing a
felony
or is about to commit
a
felony
and
determines that:

(A)

E
xigent circumstances make it unreasonable for the agency to obtain a warrant
authorizing use of the drone;
and

(B)

Use of a drone is likely to assist in the
prevention
of the felony
.

(
i
ii
)

D
etermines

there is an imminent threat to the life o
r
safety of a person
;

(iv)

U
ses a
drone for search and rescue operations;

(v)

U
ses a drone during a state of
emergency to preserve public safety, pr
otect property or assess damage;

(vi)

U
ses
a
drone for crime scene
or accident
reconstruction
or assessment
;

(vii)

U
ses a drone for training purposes
; or

(viii)

Uses a drone for data collection or monitoring that shall not be used for enforcement actions.

7
‑
3
‑
1004
.

Use of
information collected by
drones.

N
o
information acquired
or derived
through the
use
of a drone by
a
governmental
entit
y
shall be admissible in any
judicial or administrative proceeding
unless the
governmental entity collected
the
information
in a manner permitted
by
a
law enforcement agency
under
W.S. 7
‑
3
‑
1003
.

7
‑
3
‑
1005
.

Reports on use of drones
.

(a)

Unless subject to the reporting requirements of subsection (b) of this section, a
g
overnmental entit
y
that use
s
a drone shall
immediately document the factual basis for using the drone and shall
report to the attorney g
eneral no later than August 1 of each year:

(
i
)

The number of times the agency used a drone during the preceding year;

(ii
)

The factual basis showing the need for
each use
;

(iii
)

The cost of using the drone; and

(
iv
)

The type of data collected, including whether data was collected about individuals, residences, businesses
and property.

(b)

The use of drones by a governmental entity for bona fide research, and not in any manner for purposes of law enforcement or enforcement of regulatory laws, shall be subject to the following reporting provisions:

(
i
)

The governmental entity shall report to the attorney general no later than August 1 of each year. The report shall include:

(A)

A description of each research project in which drones were used, including sources of public funding for the project and the purpose of the research;

(B)

A description of how the drones were used, including whether data was collected about individuals or residences, businesses or private property. A project shall not be subject to the reporting requirements of this subsection if the project collected data only relating to residences, businesses or property
owned by the person funding the project in whole or in part.

(ii)

Reporting under this subsection shall not disclose data or other information which is a trade secret, privileged information or confidential data.

(c
)

No later th
an October 1 of each year, the attorney g
eneral shall report the information received under subsect
ion
s
(a)
and (b)
of this section to the joint j
udiciary
i
nterim
committee
.

(d)

This section is repealed effective July 1, 2021.

7
‑
3
‑
1006
.

Sunset.

This article is repealed effective July 1, 2021.

Section
2
.

This
act is effective June 30,

201
5
.

(END)

1
HB0018