Virginia HB 1290: Tethered unmanned aircraft systems; use by law-enforcement agency.

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2018 SESSION

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18100932D

HOUSE BILL NO. 1290 

Offered January 10, 2018 

Prefiled January 10, 2018 

A BILL to amend and reenact � 19.2-60.1 of the Code of 
 Virginia, relating to tethered unmanned aircraft systems. 
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Patrons-- Guzman and Webert 

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Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice 

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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That � 19.2-60.1 of the Code of Virginia is amended and 
 reenacted as follows:

� 19.2-60.1. Use of unmanned aircraft systems by public 
 bodies; search warrant required.

A. As used in this section, unless the context requires a 
 different meaning:

"Tethered 
 unmanned aircraft system" means an unmanned aircraft system that is fixed 
 to a general location by means of a tether.

"Unmanned aircraft" means an aircraft that is 
 operated without the possibility of human intervention from within or on the 
 aircraft.

"Unmanned aircraft system" means an unmanned 
 aircraft and associated elements, including communication links, sensing 
 devices, and the components that control the unmanned aircraft.

B. No state or local government department, agency, or 
 instrumentality having jurisdiction over criminal law enforcement or regulatory 
 violations, including but not limited to the Department of State Police, and no 
 department of law enforcement as defined in � 15.2-836 of any county, city, or 
 town shall utilize an unmanned aircraft system except during the execution of a 
 search warrant issued pursuant to this chapter or an administrative or 
 inspection warrant issued pursuant to law.

C. Notwithstanding the prohibition in this section, an 
 unmanned aircraft system may be deployed without a warrant (i) when an Amber 
 Alert is activated pursuant to � 52-34.3,; (ii) when a Senior Alert is 
 activated pursuant to � 52-34.6,; (iii) when a Blue Alert is 
 activated pursuant to � 52-34.9,; (iv) where use of an unmanned 
 aircraft system is determined to be necessary to alleviate an immediate danger 
 to any person,; 
 (v) for training exercises related to such uses, or; (vi) in 
 the case of a tethered unmanned aircraft system, if the person with legal 
 authority over the property upon which the tethered unmanned aircraft system is 
 fixed consents to the deployment of the tethered unmanned aircraft system and 
 such property is posted with clearly visible signs stating that such property 
 is under surveillance by a tethered unmanned aircraft system; or 
 (vii) if a person with legal authority consents to the 
 warrantless search.

D. The warrant requirements of this section shall not apply 
 when such systems are utilized to support the Commonwealth for purposes other 
 than law enforcement, including damage assessment, traffic assessment, flood 
 stage assessment, and wild