The pattern this year
Two ideas spread across states in 2026. The first is a no-fly buffer around ticketed events, now law in Arizona, Alabama, California, Tennessee. The distances and the pilots they cover differ a lot, from 400 feet for everyone to a mile for commercial flights only. The second is a hard line over prisons and jails, enacted in Maine, Georgia, Idaho, South Dakota, Alabama.
Hunting rules kept moving toward narrow recovery permissions rather than bans or free use, and South Carolina passed a full statewide framework that takes effect January 1, 2027. Federal rules still apply everywhere; these laws sit on top of them.
Taking effect soon (3)
Enacted, not yet in force. Plan for these now.
January 1, 2027
Statute · All pilots
South Carolina: Act 150 (H. 4679)
Statewide framework and preemption
The South Carolina Drone Regulation and Public Safety Act. Flying over or within 1,500 feet of a correctional, detention, or military facility without written authorization becomes a misdemeanor, and contraband delivery, facility surveillance, and weaponized drones become felonies. Repeals §§ 24-1-300 and 24-5-175 and bars conflicting local ordinances, while letting localities set reasonable limits on public property.
Signed May 15, 2026. South Carolina Legislature: H. 4679
January 1, 2027
Statute · All pilots
California: AB 2113 (Chapter 383, Statutes of 2026)
Ticketed events and amusement parks
No drone flight within 400 feet of an outdoor ticketed entertainment event not already under an FAA restriction, or of an amusement park at any time. $500 infraction. A Part 107 certificate alone does not exempt a pilot.
Signed September 20, 2026. California AB 2113, chaptered text
January 1, 2027
Statute · Commercial pilots
Washington: ESHB 2711 (2026 c 255 § 406)
Commercial registration and tax
Adds a $120 annual excise tax on commercial unpiloted aircraft under RCW 82.48.030. With the $30 registration fee that applies from the same date, the annual cost per commercial drone is $150.
In effect (22)
Took effect in 2026, most recent first.
November 1, 2026
Statute · All pilots
Oklahoma: SB 1441 (Laws 2026 chapter 149)
Critical infrastructure
Amends 3 O.S. § 322, which bars flying below 400 feet over, touching, or interfering with a fenced or posted critical infrastructure facility. From November 1, 2026, violators also face criminal penalties under 21 O.S. § 1792, not just civil damages. FAA-authorized commercial operators and anyone with written consent are exempt.
Signed April 30, 2026. 3 O.S. § 322 on OSCN
October 6, 2026
Statute · Public agencies
Ohio: HB 251 (136th General Assembly)
Public agency drone use
Sets rules for how law enforcement and other public entities use and buy drones, including a warrant requirement for surveillance where a warrant would otherwise be needed. It does not regulate private operators.
Signed July 7, 2026. Ohio HB 251, as enrolled
October 1, 2026
Statute · Public agencies
Connecticut: Public Act 25-1, § 5(c)
Covered foreign drone purchases
State agencies, municipalities, their contractors, and state or federal funds may no longer buy small drones assembled or manufactured by a covered foreign entity, including Chinese and Russian companies. Operating them is barred from October 1, 2028, with limited emergency, counter-drone, and investigation waivers through 2034.
Signed March 3, 2025. Public Act 25-1
October 1, 2026
Statute · All pilots
Alabama: HB 429 (Act 2026-306)
Ticketed events
Unlawful to fly within 400 feet of or above a gated, ticketed music, sports, or performing arts event. A first violation is a fine of up to $500; a repeat is a class A misdemeanor. Operators authorized by federal regulations and flying lawfully are exempt. Enacted March 31, 2026.
September 12, 2026
Statute · Recreational pilots
Arizona: Laws 2026 chapter 236 (SB 1627)
Schools
Class 3 misdemeanor for a recreational pilot to photograph or loiter 200 feet or less above posted, non-residential K-12 school property while school is in session, after being asked to leave. Anyone with authority over the property, or that person's consent, is exempt.
Signed June 22, 2026. Arizona Laws 2026, chapter 236
September 12, 2026
Statute · Commercial pilots
Arizona: Laws 2026 chapter 215 (SB 1160)
Ticketed events
Class 1 misdemeanor to fly a civil drone, meaning one flown for anything other than strictly hobby purposes, within 5,280 feet of or above a gated, ticketed music, sports, or performing arts event. Flights that comply with an FAA authorization or FAA rules are exempt, an exemption no court has yet measured.
Signed June 22, 2026. Arizona Laws 2026, chapter 215
August 25, 2026
Statute · All pilots
New York: Chapter 55 of 2026 (S9005-C, Part D)
Prohibited spaces and misuse
Adds Penal Law Article 280: unlawful use of a drone, a class A misdemeanor, for flying in a nefarious manner or over prohibited space within 500 feet of places such as airports, schools, and police and fire stations without approval. Lawful work flights and hobby drones of 0.55 lb or less are exempt. Drone provisions took effect 90 days after signing.
Signed May 27, 2026. New York Penal Law Article 280
August 17, 2026
Agency rule · Hunters
Maryland: COMAR 08.03.10.17 (2026-2027 season)
Hunting and wounded-game recovery
Bars using a drone to hunt or take wildlife, to disturb it in a way that injures it or disrupts breeding, feeding, resting, or sheltering, or to interfere with another person's hunt. Scouting is allowed, but not hunting the scouted area within 24 hours. A drone may locate lawfully wounded or killed game, with notice to the DNR Communication Center before and after.
August 8, 2026
Agency rule · Recreational pilots
Oregon: Oregon State Parks drone operation areas
State parks
Recreational drone operation is allowed at a published list of about twenty state park properties. Every other state park property stays closed to drones.
August 1, 2026
Statute · All pilots
Louisiana: Act 289 (HB 155)
State capitol grounds
Expands the Capitol grounds no-fly area under RS 14:337 to the Capitol Annex, Capitol Gardens, Pentagon Barracks, Capitol Lake and its shoreline, A.Z. Young Park, the Claiborne Building, and the state parking garage. Flights need written consent.
August 1, 2026
Agency rule · Hunters
Tennessee: TWRA drone recovery framework (under Public Chapter 478)
Wounded-game recovery
Drones may be used only to recover a deer reasonably believed to be mortally wounded, over private land with the landowner's permission, from 30 minutes after sunset to 3 a.m., by an FAA-certificated pilot with a thermal-equipped drone. Hunting with drones stays banned.
July 29, 2026
Statute · All pilots
Maine: LD 2157, Public Law 2025 chapter 689 (enacted 2026)
Correctional facilities
Creates 17-A M.R.S. § 761. Flying over a correctional facility or jail at or below 400 feet, or landing on or launching from its premises, without authorization is a civil violation with a fine of at least $500, and a Class D crime on a repeat. An FAA certificate is not a defense.
Signed April 13, 2026. 17-A M.R.S. § 761 (PL 2025, c. 689)
July 1, 2026
Statute · All pilots
Tennessee: Public Chapter 918 (HB 2368)
Ticketed events
Class A misdemeanor to fly within 400 feet of or above a gated, ticketed music, sports, or performing arts event. Exempt: event consent, FAA-authorized pilots flying lawfully, venue, utility, police, military, and emergency workers, and landowners over their own property.
Signed May 18, 2026. Tennessee Public Chapter 918
July 1, 2026
Statute · All pilots
Indiana: HEA 1249 (P.L. 158-2026)
Remote aerial harassment
Rewrites IC 35-45-10-6. Operating a drone to harass a person, or over another's property without consent intending to harass or disturb, is a class A misdemeanor, and a level 6 felony with a prior conviction. Mechanical failure, avoiding a greater harm, and unintentional overspray are defenses.
July 1, 2026
Statute · All pilots
Idaho: 2026 chapter 233 (Idaho Code § 20-251)
Correctional facilities
Misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, up to six months in jail, or both, plus possible forfeiture, for flying in the airspace from the surface to 400 feet above ground within a state correctional facility's perimeter.
July 1, 2026
Statute · All pilots
Georgia: HB 1230
Correctional facilities
Amends O.C.G.A. § 42-5-18: operating a drone above a place of incarceration or for criminal-purpose imaging is a felony of 5 to 10 years, and contraband delivery 1 to 10 years. Police may seize the drone and use detection and interception measures on reasonable suspicion. Operators in compliance with federal regulations and utility workers are exempt.
June 12, 2026
Statute · All pilots
Missouri: SB 1421 and HB 2637
Entertainment venues and critical infrastructure
In force since June 12, 2026 through HB 2637's emergency clause; SB 1421, signed July 9, enacted the same text. Purposely flying below 400 feet inside an open-air venue holding 500 or more, or within a critical infrastructure facility's boundary, is an infraction. Delivering a weapon by drone is a class B felony and drugs a class D felony. FAA-authorized commercial operators flying lawfully and those with written consent are exempt.
Signed June 12, 2026. Missouri SB 1421, truly agreed and finally passed (same text as HB 2637)
June 8, 2026
Statute · Public agencies
Louisiana: Act 854 (HB 940)
Law enforcement counter-drone standards
The LETS GO! Act, RS 14:337.2: training standards and a joint task force for law enforcement drone mitigation. It governs how officers may intercept drones, not what private pilots must do.
June 1, 2026
Statute · Public agencies
Alabama: HB 274 (Act 2026-187)
Correctional facility countermeasures
Lets the Department of Corrections jam, to the extent federal law allows, hack, or physically capture a drone operating in violation of the corrections drone article.
May 19, 2026
Statute · All pilots
New Hampshire: SB 49 (2026 chapter 6)
Federal-rule violations
Narrows RSA 644:23's federal-rule offense to violations of 14 C.F.R. part 107 as it stood on July 24, 2025. It replaced wording that covered FAA rules generally, so a recreational-rule breach is no longer named.
Signed March 20, 2026. RSA 644:23 (source line shows 2026 chapter 6)
March 17, 2026
Statute · All pilots
Alabama: SB 231 (Act 2026-270)
Capitol areas
Class C felony to use a drone to surveil a Capitol area for a crime or to disrupt one. From January 1, 2027, any drone use within 500 horizontal feet and 250 vertical feet of a Capitol area, including downtown Montgomery and the Governor's Mansion, needs written ALEA permission; violations are a Class C misdemeanor, Class B on a repeat.
January 1, 2026
Statute · All pilots
New Hampshire: RSA 644:23 (2025 chapter 278)
Federal-rule violations and misuse
Makes flying in violation of Part 107 a violation, and a misdemeanor on a repeat. Interfering with emergency response is a misdemeanor. Endangering a crewed aircraft is a class A misdemeanor, rising to felonies for damage or a crash. Flying in FAA-restricted airspace over a correctional facility is a misdemeanor, and contraband delivery and weaponized drones are class B felonies.
Enacted in 2026, effective date not stated in the source reviewed (3)
Signed or adopted this year. Check the state page for the current text.
Date not stated
Statute · All pilots
South Dakota: HB 1280 (2026 Session Laws chapter 192)
Correctional and military facilities
Raises unauthorized drone flight over a prison, correctional facility, jail, juvenile detention facility, or military facility from a class 1 misdemeanor to a class 6 felony, and lets law enforcement use countermeasures under rules the Department of Public Safety may adopt.
Signed March 11, 2026. SDCL chapter 50-15
Date not stated
Statute · All pilots
California: AB 1749 (Chapter 762, Statutes of 2026)
Wildfire and emergency response
Adds Civil Code § 1714.57: knowingly or recklessly interfering with wildfire suppression, or with an emergency response under an FAA temporary flight restriction, can bring a civil penalty of up to $75,000 per violation.
Signed September 29, 2026. California AB 1749, chaptered text
Date not stated
Statute · Hunters
Georgia: HB 946
Feral hogs
Adds O.C.G.A. § 27-3-13(a.1): drones may be used to locate feral hogs, subject to all other laws. Locating is the whole permission; it does not allow taking or driving hogs with a drone.
Proposed (1)
Noticed but not confirmed as adopted.
Noticed January 7, 2026
Proposed rule · All pilots
Wyoming: State Parks Chapter 1 rule amendments (notice of intent)
State parks
Proposes allowing drone use in state parks with the park superintendent's prior written permission. Proposed, not confirmed as adopted.
Did not pass
New Mexico SB 136: Postponed indefinitely January 29, 2026; died with the session
Would have created stand-off and surveillance offenses. None of it is law. New Mexico Legislature: SB 136 status
Colorado SB26-024: Postponed indefinitely
Would have limited local drone regulation. Colorado still has no statewide preemption, so city and county rules apply. Colorado General Assembly: SB26-024
Common questions
What new drone laws take effect in 2026?
This tracker lists 29 state laws and agency rules from 21 states that were enacted in 2026 or take effect in 2026 or on January 1, 2027. The biggest trends are buffers around ticketed events (Arizona, Alabama, California, Tennessee) and new limits on flights over prisons and jails (Maine, Georgia, Idaho, South Dakota, Alabama).
Which states ban drones near concerts and stadium events?
Among 2026 enactments: Alabama (400 feet, from October 1, 2026), Arizona (one mile, commercial flights only, since September 12, 2026), Missouri (below 400 feet inside large open-air venues, since July 9, 2026), and California (400 feet, plus amusement parks at all times, from January 1, 2027). Georgia already had a 400-foot event rule. Large stadium events also sit under a standing FAA flight restriction.
Do these state laws apply to Part 107 pilots?
Usually yes. Most apply to anyone flying a drone, and some exempt commercial operators only under narrow conditions. California's exemption requires FAA authorization to fly beyond visual line of sight, and Arizona's event ring applies only to non-hobby flights. Read each state's page before working near a covered site.
Use this data
The tracker is available as a free CSV and JSON download under CC BY 4.0 from the Drone Authority datasets page.
Related
- State drone laws: all 50 states and DC
- Part 108: where the federal BVLOS rule stands
- Drone news and rule watch
Educational, not legal advice. Summaries are short on purpose; the linked text controls. Local ordinances and federal rules also apply.