Bill Text: OH SB189 | 2013-2014 | 130th General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: To regulate the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in this state.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-09-12 - To State Government Oversight & Reform [SB189 Detail]

Download: Ohio-2013-SB189-Introduced.html
As Introduced

130th General Assembly
Regular Session
2013-2014
S. B. No. 189


Senator Jordan 



A BILL
To enact sections 4561.51 to 4561.58 of the Revised 1
Code to regulate the use of unmanned aerial 2
vehicles in this state.3


BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

       Section 1.  That sections 4561.51, 4561.52, 4561.53, 4561.54, 4
4561.55, 4561.56, 4561.57, and 4561.58 of the Revised Code be 5
enacted to read as follows:6

       Sec. 4561.51.  As used in sections 4561.51 to 4561.58 of the 7
Revised Code:8

       (A) "Employee" means a person who is employed by a department 9
or agency of either this state or a political subdivision of this 10
state. "Employee" includes a person who works on behalf of such a 11
department or agency pursuant to a contract executed between the 12
department or agency and the person or the person's employer.13

       (B) "Unmanned aerial vehicle" means an aircraft that is 14
operated without the possibility of direct human intervention from 15
within or on the aircraft.16

       Sec. 4561.52.  Any operation of an unmanned aerial vehicle in 17
this state shall comply fully with all applicable federal aviation 18
administration requirements and guidelines. Acquisition of an 19
unmanned aerial vehicle by a department or agency of this state 20
shall be approved by the head of the department or agency seeking 21
such acquisition. Acquisition of an unmanned aerial vehicle by a 22
department or agency of a political subdivision of this state 23
shall be approved by the legislative authority of the political 24
subdivision seeking such acquisition.25

       Sec. 4561.53.  (A) No employee shall operate an unmanned 26
aerial vehicle unless authorized to do so under section 4561.54 of 27
the Revised Code.28

       (B) No employee shall disclose information acquired through 29
the authorized operation of an unmanned aerial vehicle except as 30
provided in section 4561.54 of the Revised Code.31

       Sec. 4561.54.  (A) An employee may operate an unmanned aerial 32
vehicle and disclose information acquired through the operation of 33
the unmanned aerial vehicle only as follows:34

       (1) A person provides a written statement to such an employee 35
giving the employee permission to operate the unmanned aerial 36
vehicle for purposes of acquiring information about the person and 37
to disclose information about the person that is acquired through 38
operation of the unmanned aerial vehicle.39

       (2) The employee determines that there is reasonable cause to 40
believe that an emergency situation exists in which there is an 41
immediate threat to the life or safety of a person, and, in order 42
to assist that person, operation of an unmanned aerial vehicle and 43
the reception and disclosure of information acquired through such 44
operation is necessary, subject to both of the following:45

       (a) A written request for the use of the unmanned aerial 46
vehicle is made to the applicable department or agency that 47
documents the factual basis for the emergency;48

       (b) Not later than forty-eight hours after the employee 49
begins operation of the unmanned aerial vehicle, an official with 50
supervisory authority or power over the employee files a sworn 51
statement with the court of common pleas that has jurisdiction 52
over the location of the person whose life or safety was 53
threatened, setting forth the grounds for the emergency use of the 54
unmanned aerial vehicle.55

       (3)(a) The employee determines that there is reasonable cause 56
to believe that an emergency situation exists that involves 57
conspiratorial activities that threaten the national security 58
interests of the United States or that are characteristic of 59
organized crime, and all of the following apply:60

       (i) Operation of an unmanned aerial vehicle is required 61
before a warrant or order authorizing such operation, with due 62
diligence, can be obtained;63

       (ii) There are grounds upon which such a warrant or order 64
could be issued to authorize such operation;65

       (iii) An application for a warrant or order approving such 66
operation is made in the appropriate court of common pleas within 67
forty-eight hours after operation of the unmanned aerial vehicle 68
has occurred or begins to occur.69

       (b) In the absence of a warrant or order described in 70
division (A)(3)(a)(iii) of this section, operation of an unmanned 71
aerial vehicle carried out under division (A)(3) of this section 72
shall terminate immediately upon obtaining the information 73
concerning the emergency situation or upon the denial of the 74
application for a warrant or order, whichever is earlier.75

       (c) If an application for a warrant or order described in 76
division (A)(3)(a)(iii) of this section is denied, all information 77
obtained from the operation of the unmanned aerial vehicle under 78
division (A)(3) of this section shall be deemed as having been 79
obtained in violation of sections 4561.51 to 4561.58 of the 80
Revised Code. Notice of such denial and the status of the 81
information shall be served on the person named in the application 82
for the warrant or order who is the target of the unmanned aerial 83
vehicle.84

       (4) The unmanned aerial vehicle is operated in order to 85
collect information from private property pursuant to a warrant 86
issued by the court of common pleas that has jurisdiction over the 87
property.88

       (5) The unmanned aerial vehicle is operated in order to 89
collect information from public property; provided, that in such a 90
circumstance the operation shall be conducted pursuant to a 91
warrant or order issued by the court of common pleas that has 92
jurisdiction over the subject area. The court shall issue the 93
warrant or order only if the employee offers to the court specific 94
and articulable facts that demonstrate reasonable suspicion of 95
criminal activity, that the operation of the public unmanned 96
aircraft system will uncover such activity, and that alternative 97
methods of data collection are either cost-prohibitive or present 98
a significant risk of bodily harm to any person. No order issued 99
under division (A)(5) of this section shall be issued for a period 100
greater than forty-eight hours. The court may grant extensions of 101
the order, but in no case shall an extension be longer than the 102
issuing judge determines necessary to achieve the purposes for 103
which it was granted. No extension shall be granted for more than 104
thirty days.105

       (6) The unmanned aerial vehicle is being used to collect 106
information and none of the information acquired through the 107
operation of the unmanned aerial vehicle and no evidence derived 108
from such operation is to be received in evidence in any trial, 109
hearing, or other proceeding in or before any court, grand jury, 110
department, officer, agency, regulatory body, legislative 111
committee, or other authority of this state or a political 112
subdivision of this state, or is to be used for any intelligence 113
purpose.114

       (B) When an unmanned aerial vehicle is used in any of the 115
circumstances described in division (A) of this section, it shall 116
be operated in a manner to collect data only on the person who is 117
the target of the unmanned aerial vehicle and shall avoid data 118
collection on individuals, homes, or areas other than the target.119

        (C) No data collected through operation of an unmanned aerial 120
vehicle on an individual, home, or area other than the target 121
person who justified deployment of the vehicle shall be used, 122
copied, or disclosed for any purpose. Such data shall be deleted 123
and overwritten as soon as possible, and in no event later than 124
twenty-four hours after collection. Neither facial recognition nor 125
other biometric matching technology shall be used on nontarget 126
data collected by an unmanned aerial vehicle.127

       Sec. 4561.55.  When an employee operates an unmanned aerial 128
vehicle, none of the information acquired from such operation and 129
no evidence derived from such operation shall be received in 130
evidence in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding in or before 131
any court, grand jury, department, officer, agency, regulatory 132
body, legislative committee, or other authority of this state or a 133
political subdivision if the information is obtained in violation 134
of sections 4561.51 to 4561.58 of the Revised Code or the 135
disclosure of that information would be in violation of sections 136
4561.51 to 4561.58 of the Revised Code.137

       Sec. 4561.56.  No unmanned aerial vehicle shall be equipped 138
with any weapon of any kind.139

       Sec. 4561.57.  (A) Any person who is injured in any manner 140
due to a violation of sections 4561.51 to 4561.56 of the Revised 141
Code may file an action with the appropriate court of common 142
pleas.143

       (B) If a court or department or agency of this state 144
determines that an employee of this state has violated any 145
provision of sections 4561.51 to 4561.56 of the Revised Code and 146
the court or department or agency finds that the employee acted 147
willfully or intentionally with respect to the violation, the 148
department or agency, upon receipt of a true and correct copy of 149
the decision and findings of the court or upon a written 150
determination of such decision and findings by the department or 151
agency, shall initiate promptly a proceeding to determine whether 152
disciplinary action against the employee by the department or 153
agency is warranted. The head of the department or agency that 154
employs the employee shall determine whether or not disciplinary 155
action is warranted, and upon such determination shall notify the 156
inspector general and provide the inspector general with the 157
reasons for such determination.158

       Sec. 4561.58.  (A) Not later than the last day of June of 159
each year, any department or agency of this state or of any 160
political subdivision that operated or had operated on its behalf 161
an unmanned aerial vehicle during the immediately preceding twelve 162
months shall report to the general assembly, and make public on 163
its web site, all of the following information:164

       (1) The number of times an unmanned aerial vehicle was used, 165
organized by the types of incidents and the types of justification 166
for deployment;167

       (2) The number of criminal investigations that were aided by 168
the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, including a description of 169
how the unmanned aerial vehicle was of assistance to each 170
investigation;171

       (3) The number of times unmanned aerial vehicles were used 172
for reasons other than criminal investigations, including a 173
description of how the unmanned aerial vehicle was of assistance 174
in each instance;175

       (4) The frequency and type of data collected on individuals 176
or areas other than targets;177

       (5) The total cost to the department, agency, or political 178
subdivision of its unmanned aerial vehicle program.179

       (B) Not later than the last day of January of each year, any 180
judge who issued an order or an extension of an order under 181
sections 4561.51 to 4561.58 of the Revised Code that expired 182
during the preceding calendar year, or who denied issuance of such 183
an order or extension during that year, shall submit to the 184
attorney general a report that contains all of the following:185

       (1) The fact that an order or extension was applied for;186

       (2) The kind of order or extension that was applied for;187

       (3) The fact that the order or extension was granted as 188
applied for, was modified, or was denied;189

       (4) The period of unmanned aerial vehicle use authorized by 190
the order, and the number and duration of any extensions of the 191
order that were issued;192

       (5) The offense specified in the order or application, or 193
extension of an order;194

       (6) The name of the employee who made the application and the 195
name of the person who authorized the application.196

       (C)(1) Not later than the last day of June of each year, the 197
attorney general shall compile a report that contains all of the 198
following:199

       (a) The information described in divisions (B)(1) to (6) of 200
this section with respect to each application for an order or 201
extension made during the preceding calendar year;202

       (b) A general description of the information gathered under 203
such orders or extensions, including all of the following:204

       (i) The approximate nature and frequency of incriminating 205
conduct gathered;206

       (ii) The approximate number of persons upon whom information 207
was gathered;208

       (iii) The approximate nature, amount, and cost of the 209
manpower and other resources used in the collection.210

       (c) The number of arrests resulting from information gathered 211
and the offenses for which arrests were made;212

       (d) The number of trials resulting from such information;213

       (e) The number of motions to suppress made with respect to 214
such information, and the number granted or denied;215

       (f) The number of convictions resulting from such information 216
and the offenses for which the convictions were obtained;217

       (g) A general assessment of the importance of the 218
information;219

       (h) A summary and analysis of the data described in divisions 220
(B)(1) to (6) and (C)(1)(a) to (g) of this section.221

       (2) Not later than the last day of June of each year, the 222
attorney general shall transmit to the general assembly and post 223
on the web site of the attorney general the report described in 224
division (C)(1) of this section.225

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