Bill > HF1396

This bill expands the permitted uses of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, for law enforcement in Minnesota. The bill amends existing law to add several new authorized uses for UAVs, including documenting evidence at risk of imminent destruction, assisting in the pursuit of suspects with probable cause for serious crimes, facilitating active searches for missing persons at risk of death or bodily harm, and allowing use over private areas with written consent from the occupant. The existing authorized uses remain largely intact, such as responding to emergency situations, monitoring public events with safety risks, countering terrorist threats, preventing loss of life during disasters, conducting threat assessments, collecting information from public areas with reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, reconstructing crash scenes, and using drones for officer training or public relations. The bill provides law enforcement agencies with more flexibility in using UAV technology while maintaining a framework of specific, defined circumstances under which drones can be deployed, ensuring some constraints on their use to protect privacy and prevent unnecessary surveillance.

Justice

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?b=House&f=HF1396&ssn=0&y=2025