                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

USE OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS BY PUBLIC BODIES; SEARCH WARRANT REQUIRED (§
19.2-60.1)

A. As used in this section, unless the context requires a different meaning:
			&#8220;Unmanned aircraft&#8221; means an aircraft that is operated without
the possibility of human intervention from within or on the aircraft.
			&#8220;Unmanned aircraft system&#8221; means an unmanned aircraft and
associated elements, including communication links, sensing devices, and the
components that control the unmanned aircraft.

B. No state or local government department, agency, or instrumentality having
jurisdiction over criminal law enforcement or regulatory violations, including
but not limited to the Department of State Police, and no department of law
enforcement as defined in &#xA7; 15.2-836 of any county, city, or town shall
utilize an unmanned aircraft system except during the execution of a search
warrant issued pursuant to this chapter or an administrative or inspection
warrant issued pursuant to law.

C. Notwithstanding the prohibition in this section, an unmanned aircraft system
may be deployed without a warrant (i) when an Amber Alert is activated pursuant
to &#xA7; 52-34.3; (ii) when a Senior Alert is activated pursuant to &#xA7;
52-34.6; (iii) when a Blue Alert is activated pursuant to &#xA7; 52-34.9; (iv)
where use of an unmanned aircraft system is determined to be necessary to
alleviate an immediate danger to any person; (v) by a law-enforcement officer,
an employee of the Department of State Police, or an employee of a local
law-enforcement agency following an accident where a report is required pursuant
to &#xA7; 46.2-373, to survey the scene of such accident for the purpose of
crash reconstruction and record the scene by photographic or video images; (vi)
by the Department of Transportation when assisting a law-enforcement officer to
prepare a report pursuant to &#xA7; 46.2-373; (vii) for training exercises
related to such uses; (viii) if a person with legal authority consents to the
warrantless search; (ix) by a law-enforcement officer or an employee of a
law-enforcement agency to (a) aerially survey a primary residence of the subject
of the arrest warrant to formulate a plan to execute an existing arrest warrant
or capias for a felony offense or (b) locate a person sought for arrest when
such person has fled from a law-enforcement officer and a law-enforcement
officer remains in hot pursuit of such person; or (x) by a law-enforcement
officer investigating unmanned aircraft systems surrounding or over property of
the federal or state government, public critical infrastructure as defined in
&#xA7; 44-146.28:2, or nongovernment-operated prison or jail facilities.

D. The warrant requirements of this section shall not apply when such systems
are utilized to support the Commonwealth or any locality for purposes other than
law enforcement, including damage assessment, traffic assessment, flood stage
assessment, and wildfire assessment. Nothing herein shall prohibit use of
unmanned aircraft systems for private, commercial, or recreational use or solely
for research and development purposes by institutions of higher education and
other research organizations or institutions.

E. Evidence obtained through the utilization of an unmanned aircraft system in
violation of this section is not admissible in any criminal or civil proceeding.

F. In no case may a weaponized unmanned aircraft system be deployed in the
Commonwealth or its use facilitated in the Commonwealth by a state or local
government department, agency, or instrumentality or department of law
enforcement in the Commonwealth except in operations at the Space Port and
Naval/Aegis facilities at Wallops Island. No weaponized unmanned aircraft
systems shall be construed to include such systems designed and used for the
purpose of disabling another unmanned aircraft system.

G. Nothing herein shall apply to the Armed Forces of the United States or the
Virginia National Guard while utilizing unmanned aircraft systems during
training required to maintain readiness for its federal mission or when
facilitating training for other U.S. Department of Defense units.

HISTORY: 2015, cc. 764, 774; 2018, cc. 419, 546, 654; 2019, c. 781; 2025, c.
400.