Bill Text: MS SB2282 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced

Mississippi Senate Bill 2282 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Unmanned aircraft systems; regulate.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2020-03-03 - Died In Committee [SB2282 Detail]

Download: Mississippi-2020-SB2282-Introduced.html

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2020 Regular Session

To: Judiciary, Division B; Highways and Transportation

By: Senator(s) Wiggins

Senate Bill 2282

AN ACT TO REGULATE UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS; TO PROVIDE DEFINITIONS; TO PROVIDE CAUSES OF ACTION IN TORT FOR UNLAWFUL USE OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS; TO PROVIDE FOR CRIMINAL USE OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS; TO PROHIBIT CREATION OF PRESCRIPTIVE RIGHTS; TO PREEMPT LOCAL GOVERNMENTS FROM REGULATING THE OPERATION OF NONRECREATIONAL UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS; TO PROVIDE EXCEPTIONS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT AND PUBLIC AGENCY OPERATIONS; TO PROVIDE FOR EMERGENCY IMMUNITY FOR DAMAGES; TO PROHIBIT SABOTAGE OR DESTRUCTION OF PUBLIC SERVICE UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS; TO AMEND SECTION 97-3-107, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCLUDE UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS; TO PROVIDE STANDARDS FOR THE OPERATION OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS BY PUBLIC AGENCIES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. This act shall be known and referred to as the "Mississippi Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act of 2020."

SECTION 2. For the purposes of this act, unless otherwise specified, the following words shall have the meaning ascribed herein unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) "Commission" means the Mississippi Transportation Commission.

(b) "Department" means the Mississippi Department of Transportation.

(c) An "unmanned aircraft" means an aircraft that is constructed or operated without the possibility of direct human intervention from within or on the aircraft, including every object that is on board or otherwise attached to the aircraft, or carried or operated during flight, regardless of weight. For the purposes of this act, this term is synonymous with the term "drone."

(d) An "unmanned aircraft system" means an unmanned aircraft and all associated elements, including, but not limited to, communication links, sensing devices and components that control the unmanned aircraft.

SECTION 3. Torts and crimes generally. (1) This act applies to the operations of all unmanned aircraft systems and the acts of those who own, control or operate such systems, or are affected by such operations.

(2) An unmanned aircraft system is an instrumentality by which a tort can be committed under the laws of this state.

(3) An unmanned aircraft system is an instrumentality by which a crime can be committed under the laws of this state.

(4) The criminal statutes of this state shall apply to any person who owns, controls or operates unmanned aircraft within this state, or to any other person liable under the criminal laws of this state.

SECTION 4. Prescriptive right. Repeated or continual operation of an unmanned aircraft over a landowner's or lessee's real property does not create a prescriptive right in the airspace.

SECTION 5. County and municipal preemption. Except as expressly authorized by statute, a political subdivision shall not enact or enforce an ordinance, resolution, regulation or policy that regulates the ownership or operation of nonrecreational unmanned aircraft or otherwise engage in the regulation of the ownership or operation of nonrecreational unmanned aircraft systems. Any ordinance, resolution, regulation or policy of any county or municipality of this state regulating the ownership or operation of nonrecreational unmanned aircraft shall be deemed preempted and shall be null, void and of no force or effect.

SECTION 6. Law enforcement and public agency operation. Nothing in this act shall be deemed to prohibit the operation of an unmanned aircraft system by a law enforcement agency for any lawful purposes in this state. A public agency may operate an unmanned aircraft system only if the public agency operates the unmanned aircraft system in accordance with the rules and regulations adopted by the Federal Aviation Administration.

SECTION 7. Emergency responder immunity. (1) An emergency responder and his or her employer or employing agency shall be immune from civil liability for any damage caused by an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system if:

(a) Such damage was caused while the emergency responder was engaged in providing emergency services; and

(b) The emergency responder reasonably believed that the unmanned aircraft was interfering with the provision of such emergency services.

(2) For the purposes of this section:

(a) Emergency responder includes, but is not limited to, a law enforcement officer, a firefighter, an ambulance driver and emergency medical personnel. Emergency responder includes any full-time or part-time paid, volunteer or auxiliary employee of this state or another state, of any division of this state or another state, of the federal government, or of any agency or organization performing emergency management services in this state subject to the order or control of, or pursuant to a request of, a state, a division or the federal government; and

(b) Emergency services includes, but is not limited to, firefighting services, police services, medical and health services, search and rescue services, emergency hazardous materials response, emergency evacuation of persons, emergency welfare services, emergency transportation services, restoration of public utility services, and other functions related to the protection of the public.

SECTION 8. Sabotage or destruction. (1) It shall be unlawful for a person to purposefully or knowingly sabotage, damage or intend to sabotage or damage an unmanned aircraft system operated by a law enforcement, emergency service or fire department, or any other public agency, including an unmanned aircraft system operated on behalf of the agency.

(2) Any person who violates subsection (1) of this section is guilty of a felony and shall be punished by confinement in the custody of the Department of Corrections for not less than three (3) years nor more than fifteen (15) years, a fine of not more than Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00), or both.

SECTION 9. Section 97-3-107, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

97 3 107. (1) (a) Any person, including any person operating an unmanned aircraft system, who purposefully engages in a course of conduct directed at a specific person, or who makes a credible threat, and who knows or should know that the conduct would cause a reasonable person to fear for his or her own safety, to fear for the safety of another person, or to fear damage or destruction of his or her property, is guilty of the crime of stalking.

(b) A person who is convicted of the crime of stalking under this section shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one (1) year or by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(c) Any person who is convicted of a violation of this section when there is in effect at the time of the commission of the offense a valid temporary restraining order, ex parte protective order, protective order after hearing, court approved consent agreement, or an injunction issued by a municipal, justice, county, circuit or chancery court, federal or tribal court or by a foreign court of competent jurisdiction prohibiting the behavior described in this section against the same party, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one (1) year and by a fine of not more than One Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,500.00).

(2) (a) A person who commits acts that would constitute the crime of stalking as defined in this section is guilty of the crime of aggravated stalking if any of the following circumstances exist:

(i) At least one (1) of the actions constituting the offense involved the use or display of a deadly weapon with the intent to place the victim of the stalking in reasonable fear of death or great bodily injury to self or a third person;

(ii) Within the past seven (7) years, the perpetrator has been previously convicted of stalking or aggravated stalking under this section or a substantially similar law of another state, political subdivision of another state, of the United States, or of a federally recognized Indian tribe, whether against the same or another victim; or

(iii) At the time of the offense, the perpetrator was a person required to register as a sex offender pursuant to state, federal, military or tribal law and the victim was under the age of eighteen (18) years.

(b) Aggravated stalking is a felony punishable as follows:

(i) Except as provided in subparagraph (ii), by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for not more than five (5) years and a fine of not more than Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00).

(ii) If, at the time of the offense, the perpetrator was required to register as a sex offender pursuant to state, federal, military or tribal law, and the victim was under the age of eighteen (18) years, by imprisonment for not more than six (6) years in the custody of the Department of Corrections and a fine of Four Thousand Dollars ($4,000.00).

(3) Upon conviction, the sentencing court shall consider issuance of an order prohibiting the perpetrator from any contact with the victim. The duration of any order prohibiting contact with the victim shall be based upon the seriousness of the facts before the court, the probability of future violations, and the safety of the victim or another person.

(4) Every conviction of stalking or aggravated stalking may require as a condition of any suspended sentence or sentence of probation that the defendant, at his own expense, submit to psychiatric or psychological counseling or other such treatment or behavioral modification program deemed appropriate by the court.

(5) In any prosecution under this section, it shall not be a defense that the perpetrator was not given actual notice that the course of conduct was unwanted or that the perpetrator did not intend to cause the victim fear.

(6) When investigating allegations of a violation of this section, law enforcement officers shall utilize the Uniform Offense Report prescribed by the Office of the Attorney General in consultation with the sheriffs' and police chiefs' associations. However, failure of law enforcement to utilize the Uniform Offense Report shall in no way invalidate the crime charged under this section.

(7) For purposes of venue, any violation of this section shall be considered to have been committed in any county in which any single act was performed in furtherance of a violation of this section. An electronic communication shall be deemed to have been committed in any county from which the electronic communication is generated or in which it is received.

(8) For the purposes of this section:

(a) "Course of conduct" means a pattern of conduct composed of a series of two (2) or more acts over a period of time, however short, evidencing a continuity of purpose and that would cause a reasonable person to fear for his or her own safety, to fear for the safety of another person, or to fear damage or destruction of his or her property. Such acts may include, but are not limited to, the following or any combination thereof, whether done directly or indirectly: (i) following or confronting the other person in a public place or on private property against the other person's will; (ii) contacting the other person by telephone or mail, or by electronic mail or communication as defined in Section 97-45-1; or (iii) threatening or causing harm to the other person or a third party.

(b) "Credible threat" means a verbal or written threat to cause harm to a specific person or to cause damage to property that would cause a reasonable person to fear for the safety of that person or damage to the property.

(9) The incarceration of a person at the time the threat is made shall not be a bar to prosecution under this section. Constitutionally protected activity is not prohibited by this section.

SECTION 10. Duties of commission and support. (1) The commission shall have the following duties:

(a) To provide advice to other departments and agencies of this state concerning the use of unmanned aircraft systems and related technology;

(b) To provide advice to the public concerning the following:

(i) Regulation of unmanned aircraft systems by the federal government and by this state;

(ii) Safe operating principles for unmanned aircraft systems;

(iii) Restrictions on the use of unmanned aircraft systems; and

(iv) Any other matters within the scope of the commission's authority under this act;

(c) To provide education and information to departments and agencies of this state, political subdivisions, and the general public about unmanned aircraft systems;

(d) To receive and consider comments from persons in this state who are interested in or affected by the use of unmanned aircraft systems.

(2) The departments and agencies of this state shall provide support to the commission as necessary and as requested for the commission to perform its duties under this act. In addition to the commission's provision of support through its department, the following agencies shall provide primary support to the commission:

(a) The Department of Public Safety;

(b) The Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks;

(d) The Department of Agriculture and Commerce.

(3) The commission shall direct its department to study a "Commercial Drone Airway" in Class G airspace, above which nonrecreational unmanned aircraft systems shall be permitted to operate without interference of recreational unmanned aircraft.

SECTION 11. The provisions of this act shall apply unless preempted by applicable federal law or by regulations adopted by the Federal Aviation Administration.

SECTION 12. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2020.