HF 1396 Minnesota House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Permitted uses of unmanned aerial vehicles by law enforcement expanded.

HF 1396 expands Minnesota law enforcement's permitted uses of drones (unmanned aerial vehicles). It adds 10 specific scenarios where police may deploy drones, including conducting threat assessments before events, gathering evidence after serious traffic collisions, searching for missing persons, and collecting information with reasonable suspicion of crime. The bill modifies Minnesota Statutes section 626.19, subdivision 3, to authorize these uses while requiring written consent for private property use and written requests from other government entities. This directly affects all Minnesota law enforcement agencies operating drones under current statutes. The changes focus on operational safety, evidence preservation, and public safety during specific high-risk situations.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 24, 2025 Last action Apr 10, 2025

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What changed between versions

1st Engrossment → 2nd Engrossment · 5 edits · Apr 10, 2025

MODERATE

This bill updates the rules for when law enforcement can use drones, adding stricter requirements to prevent abuse while expanding capabilities for safety and evidence collection. The changes matter because they balance the need for modern policing tools with protections against privacy violations and unauthorized surveillance.

Scope change

The bill expands permitted uses to include documenting evidence at risk of destruction and searching for missing persons in high-risk situations, while removing the ability to use drones to locate escaped prisoners. It also tightens the rules for pursuing suspects by requiring probable cause of a serious crime before a drone can be used for the pursuit.

ELIGIBILITY

Added a requirement that law enforcement must have probable cause to believe a suspect committed a crime against a person or a felony before using a drone to pursue them.

SCOPE

Added the ability to use drones to document evidence that is at imminent risk of being destroyed.

Added the ability to use drones to actively search for missing persons when there is a risk of death or bodily harm.

Removed the permission to use drones to locate an incarcerated person who has escaped from a correctional facility.

REQUIREMENT

Added a new requirement that non-law enforcement government requests for drone use must specify the reason for the request and the proposed period of use in writing.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 10, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report, to adopt as amended

lower

Mar 27, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report, to adopt as amended and re-refer to Judiciary Finance and Civil Law

lower

Feb 24, 2025

Introduced

Introduction and first reading, referred to Public Safety Finance and Policy

lower

1 primary · 7 co-sponsors