Anti-drone legislation moves from House committee

Published 12:51 pm Thursday, April 7, 2016

By American Press Staff

BATON ROUGE — Legislation that would prevent drones from being flown at state or local jails, prisons and school grounds made its way out of a House committee Wednesday.

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Members of the House Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice reported House Bill 19, by Rep. Stephen Dwight, favorably, with amendments. It heads to the House floor for consideration.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The measure would expand the definition of “targeted facility” to include jails, prisons or correctional facilities that incarcerate juveniles, along with school property.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Dwight, R-Moss Bluff, said he filed the bill at the request of law enforcement and school officials from “a safety standpoint.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“With the schools, I think just the parents would be concerned if they knew a drone was flying over the school and not knowing who it is,” Dwight said. “A lot of states are flying drones to do surveillance of the jail and prisons to get an aerial picture of the layout. This is going to prohibit that.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">One amendment would exclude surveillance to locate power lines or other public utilities. Another would increase the penalty for flying over a jail or prison from $500 to $2,000 and six months in prison.</span>

Email newsletter signup

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Dwight said the bill would not prevent law enforcement agencies from flying drones. Another exception exists for a property owner to grant permission for someone to fly drones.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">He said high school coaches have used drones for football practice and can still do so with permission from a school principal or school board administrator.</span>

<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">—</span>

<p class="p1">Follow John Guidroz on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnAmPress" id="twitter.com/JohnAmPress">https://twitter.com/JohnAmPress</a><a href="https://twitter.com/JohnAmPress" id="twitter.com/JohnAmPress"> </a>

<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">

<p style="text-align: center;"></span>

You Might Like