BILL NUMBER:  S2125

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the correction law, in relation to
civilian drone use near a correctional facility

 PURPOSE :

To prohibit civilian drone use within one thousand feet of a
correctional facility.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 amends the correction law by adding a new section 625
prohibiting drone use within 1000 feet of a correctional facility or a
local correctional facility in this state. This section also defines
the term drone pursuant to this provision and provides penalties for
violating this law.

This prohibition shall not apply to the operation of a drone by any
person or entity that the federal aviation administration has
authorized to operate a drone from commercial purpose, where the drone
is operated in a manner that complies with that authorization.

Section 2 provides the effective date.

 EXISTING LAW :
              

Article 22 of the Correction Law contains miscellaneous provisions.
There is no existing law related to the regulation of civilian drone
use in the Correction Law.

 JUSTIFICATION :

The use of unmanned aerial systems, or drones, including recreational
civilian drone use, has increased exponentially in recent years.
Drones have a variety of uses, including law enforcement, land
surveillance, wildlife tracking, search and rescue operations,
disaster response, border patrol and photography. While drone use has
revolutionized these enterprises and lead to many successful
innovations, not all drone use is innocuous.

In August of this year a drone dropped a package containing tobacco,
marijuana, and heroin into the Mansfield Correctional Institution in
Mansfield, Ohio. Inmates discovered the package and it was only after
a fight broke out relating to the package that authorities discovered
that a drone was responsible for the illegal delivery. Similarly, that
same month authorities in Maryland arrested two men for an alleged
scheme to use a drone to deliver drugs, pornography, and a firearm
into a prison. Police were responding to a report of a suspicious car
near the Western Correctional Institution, in Cumberland, Maryland
when they discovered the men inside the vehicle were in possession of
an aerial drone, a handgun, drugs, and pornographic DVDs.

Contraband in prisons contributes to violence endangering the safety
and wellbeing of both inmates and correctional staff. It is paramount
that this state restricts the introduction of contraband into
correctional institutions at every entry point. Today, this must
include aerial access points through the use of drones.

To that end, this legislation prohibits civilian drone use within one
thousand feet of a correctional facility. Violating this provision
shall result in a civil penalty of $1000.00 for the first offense and
is punishable as a misdemeanor for each subsequent offence. By
restricting drone use in the immediate vicinity of a correctional
institution this bill promotes a safer and more harmonious prison

environment by keeping all members of the correctional community safe.
For foregoing reasons it is imperative that this bill is enacted.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2015-2016: S.6222-C Passed the Senate/ A.8625-C

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect immediately.