Hi everyone, I have a question about Drone use. 21 OS 1743 came into effect on November 1, 2022 essentially saying no drones are to be flown within 400 feet of private property, etc. If found guilty, it is a misdemeanor. With the statute being state law and the town not yet adopting an ordinance for this as of yet, if an individual has been told to stop flying drones in particular areas, would this allow the city police to make an arrest based on trespass? I would think yes but would like to hear other perspectives. [1470857813174_cropped] Samantha M. Manuel Private Counsel & Attorney at Law PALMER LAW 1609 Arlington Ada, OK 74820 (918) 219-9997 manuel@callpalmer.com This email may be privileged attorney-client communication and/or litigation work product. It is intended solely for the addressee(s). Please reply to sender if you receive this message in error. Such error does not waive the applicable privilege(s).

Just based on what you wrote, I would say no. Under the statute, it's not unlawful to fly within 400 feet of the ground. The crime, under the statute, is flying within 400 feet of the ground with the intent to eavesdrop or surveil. If someone flies a drone above my house (within 400 feet of the ground) and I tell them repeatedly to stop doing so, that would help get some of the elements of the crime, but not all of them - the Officer would still have to have a factual basis to believe that the reason the person was doing it was to eavesdrop or surveil me or someone else (not sure it'd have to be someone else on my property as the statute is worded - if they are sneaking into the airspace above my property to surveil my neighbor, I think you are there. It's a misdemeanor and there's no language that makes it a cite-and-release-only offense (there are a few of those out there). So it's arrestable but only if the crime occurs in the Officer's presence. So just because they are flying within 400 feet on property that they've been asked not to, that doesn't get you there under this statute. I'm not sure that it would get you there under the general trespass statute either, but I've never looked at that. Regardless, the Officer is going to have to have facts and reasonable inferences drawn from those facts to believe that the person is doing so with the intent to surveil or eavesdrop, and they are going to have to be present when it is happening to be able to effect an arrest. Matt On Tue, Jan 24, 2023 at 2:01 PM Samantha Manuel <manuel@callpalmer.com> wrote: > Hi everyone, > > > > I have a question about Drone use. 21 OS 1743 came into effect on > November 1, 2022 essentially saying no drones are to be flown within 400 > feet of private property, etc. If found guilty, it is a misdemeanor. > > > > With the statute being state law and the town not yet adopting an > ordinance for this as of yet, if an individual has been told to stop flying > drones in particular areas, would this allow the city police to make an > arrest based on trespass? I would think yes but would like to hear other > perspectives. > > > > > > [image: 1470857813174_cropped] > > Samantha M. Manuel > > Private Counsel & Attorney at Law > > PALMER LAW > > 1609 Arlington Ada, OK 74820 > > (918) 219-9997 manuel@callpalmer.com > > > *This email may be privileged attorney-client communication and/or > litigation work product. It is intended solely for the addressee(s). Please > reply to sender if you receive this message in error. Such error does not > waive the applicable privilege(s). * > > > > > -- > Oama mailing list -- oama@lists.imla.org > To unsubscribe send an email to oama-leave@lists.imla.org >