AB 629 — Police authority to disable drones threatening public safety (Summary)

Status: Enacted — Approved by Governor and chaptered (Chapter 62, Statutes of 2025).

Introduced: 2025 session. Sponsors: Representatives Wichgers, Behnke, Dittrich, Goeben, Knodl, Kurtz, Melotik, Murphy, Mursau; cosponsored by Senators Bradley, Jacque, Marklein, Nass.

Purpose
- Authorizes law enforcement to detect, track, intercept, disable, or destroy drones that are reasonably suspected of posing an imminent threat to public safety, and establishes related criminal penalties and limited immunity.

Key provisions
- Statutory changes: Renumbers and amends existing statute 114.045 and creates new subsections 114.045 (1m), (2m)(bm), and (3m).
- Definitions (114.045 (1m)):
- “Drone” uses the definition in s. 941.292(1).
- “Law enforcement officer” as defined in s. 165.85(2)(c).
- “Weaponized drone” means a drone equipped with a taser, firearm, flamethrower, chemical, or explosive device.
- Prohibited conduct and penalties (renumbered 114.045 (2m) and new (2m)(bm)):
- Continues prohibition on operating a drone over a correctional institution without authorization; the existing civil forfeiture (up to $5,000) remains.
- Creates a new criminal offense: operating over a correctional institution using a weaponized drone that poses a threat to public safety is a Class H felony.
- Requires law enforcement to seize and transfer visual recordings from an alleged violation to the corrections authority.
- Law enforcement authority and immunity (114.045 (3m)):
- A law enforcement officer may: (1) detect, track, and identify a drone; and (2) intercept, disable, or destroy a drone by any lawful method — including jamming, hacking, or physically capturing it — when the officer reasonably suspects the drone poses an imminent threat to public safety and reasonably believes inaction would create a greater risk.
- Neither the individual officer nor their employing agency is financially liable for damage to or loss of a drone that is intercepted, disabled, or destroyed under this authority.

Who is affected
- Law enforcement agencies and officers (expanded operational authority).
- Drone operators and owners (risk of interception/destruction and, for weaponized drones, potential felony exposure).
- Correctional institutions (enhanced protection; retention of recorded evidence).
- Drone manufacturers/operators may be indirectly affected by enforcement practices and liability provisions.

Procedural / timeline notes
- Bill progressed through the 2025 legislative session, passed both houses (recorded “ayes/noes” in floor documents), was enrolled, presented to the Governor, and signed into law on July 28, 2025 (chaptered that date).

Potential impacts / considerations
- Enhances tools for responding to public-safety drone threats, particularly near correctional facilities.
- Grants broad interception options (including jamming and hacking) and financial immunity to law enforcement, which may raise operational, technical, privacy, and civil liberties questions in implementation.
- Establishes a new felony for use of weaponized drones over correctional institutions, increasing criminal exposure for certain drone misuse.