What's happening
This bill prohibits private drone use within 1,000 feet of correctional facilities, with exceptions for authorized commercial operators.
Why it matters
Addresses growing concerns about contraband and security risks. by targeting the use of private drones, which have increasingly been used to deliver prohibited items, conduct surveillance, or facilitate escapes at correctional facilities.
Establishes clear legal consequences. for violations, making the first offense a civil infraction with a $1,000 fine and subsequent violations misdemeanors, signaling the seriousness of unauthorized drone activity near prisons.
Defines “drone” broadly. to include a wide range of unmanned aerial devices, capturing not just typical quadcopters but also balloons and any device capable of surveillance, communication interception, or payload delivery—closing potential loopholes.
Creates a carve-out for federally authorized commercial drone operations. , ensuring that legitimate, regulated business activities—such as infrastructure inspection or media coverage—are not unintentionally criminalized, as long as they comply with FAA authorization.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Ban Drones Near Prisons
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
3 Co-sponsors
History
- Referred to crime victims, crime and correction
- Referred to crime victims, crime and correction
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Ban Drones Near Prisons
In Assembly Committee · Correction · Sponsor Thomas Abinanti
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1380
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 14, 2019
Introduced by Sens. RITCHIE, AKSHAR, HELMING, O'MARA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction
AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to civilian drone use near a correctional facility
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The correction law is amended by adding a new section 626 to read as follows:
§ 626. Drone use around correctional facilities. 1. No person, in a private capacity, shall operate a drone within one thousand feet of a correctional facility or local correctional facility in this state.
2. As used in this section:
"Drone" means a powered or unpowered aerial vehicle or a balloon float or other device that:
(a) does not carry a human operator;
(b) uses aerodynamic forces or gases to provide lift;
(c) can fly autonomously or be piloted remotely;
(d) can be expendable or recoverable;
(e) captures images of objects or people on the ground and in the air;
(f) intercepts communications on the ground and in the air; and/or
(g) can carry a lethal or non-lethal payload.
3. A violation of this section shall result in a civil penalty of one thousand dollars for the first offense and a misdemeanor for each subsequent offense.
4. This section shall not apply to the operation of a drone by any person or entity that the federal aviation administration has authorized to operate a drone for a commercial purpose, where the drone is operated in a manner that complies with that authorization.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03925-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the correction law, in relation to civilian drone use near a correctional facility
Purpose
To prohibit civilian drone use within one thousand feet of a correction- al facility.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends the correction law by adding a new section 625 prohib- iting drone use within 1000 feet of a correctional facility or a local correctional facility in this state. This section also defines the term drone pursuant to this provision and provides penalties for violating this law.
This prohibition shall not apply to the operation of a drone by any person or entity that the federal aviation administration has authorized to operate a drone from commercial purpose, where the drone is operated in a manner that complies with that authorization.
Section 2 provides the effective date.
Existing law
Article 22 of the Correction Law contains miscellaneous provisions. There is no existing law related to the regulation of civilian drone use in the Correction Law.
Justification
The use of unmanned aerial systems, or drones, including recreational civilian drone use, has increased exponentially in recent years. Drones have a variety of uses, including law enforcement, land surveillance, wildlife tracking, search and rescue operations, disaster response, border patrol and photography. While drone use has revolutionized these enterprises and lead to many successful innovations, not all drone use is innocuous.
In August of this year a drone dropped a package containing tobacco, marijuana, and heroin into the Mansfield Correctional Institution in Mansfield, Ohio. Inmates discovered the package and it was only after a fight broke out relating to the package that authorities discovered that a drone was responsible for the illegal delivery. Similarly, that same month authorities in Maryland arrested two men for an alleged scheme to use a drone to deliver drugs, pornography, and a firearm into a prison. Police were responding to a report of a suspicious car near the Western Correctional Institution, in Cumberland, Maryland when they discovered the men inside the vehicle were in possession of an aerial drone, a handgun, drugs, and pornographic DVDs.
Contraband in prisons contributes to violence endangering the safety and wellbeing of both inmates and correctional staff. It is paramount that this state restricts the introduction of contraband into correctional institutions at every entry point. Today, this must include aerial access points through the use of drones.
To that end, this legislation prohibits civilian drone use within one thousand feet of a correctional facility. Violating this provision shall result in a civil penalty of $1000.00 for the first offense and is punishable as a misdemeanor for each subsequent offence. By restricting drone use in the immediate vicinity of a correctional institution this bill promotes a safer and more harmonious prison environment by keeping all members of the correctional community safe. For foregoing reasons it is imperative that this bill is enacted.
Legislative history
2017-2018: S.2125 Passed the Senate/ A.6931 - Referred to Corrections
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.