Iowa Drone Laws

Prohibits the state or any political subdivision of Iowa from using drones for traffic law enforcement. This is a restriction on government agencies, not a prohibition on private operators.

Information obtained as a result of the use of a drone is not admissible as evidence in a criminal or civil proceeding unless obtained pursuant to a search warrant or in a manner consistent with state and federal law. This is an evidence rule, not a categorical ban on drone use, but discourages warrantless surveillance.

A person may not knowingly operate a drone in, on, or above a county jail, municipal holding facility, secure juvenile-detention facility, community-based correctional facility, or institution under the Department of Corrections, or above the contiguous grounds surrounding such facility. Exceptions exist for law enforcement operating drones and FAA-compliant commercial operations. Violation is a Class D felony.

A person commits intrusion by knowingly flying a drone over a homestead (principal residence plus up to 400 feet of surrounding land, outside city limits) that the person does not own or lease and letting it remain over that homestead, or by flying over a farmstead (property of 40+ acres used for farming generating at least $15,000 in farm-commodity sales, outside city limits) and remaining within a 400-foot secured area surrounding farm animals, farm equipment, or farm structures. Originally enacted by HF 572 (2024) and amended/expanded by SF 491 (effective July 1, 2025). Exceptions exist for landowner consent, FAA-compliant commercial/agricultural operations, government and public-utility operators, flights above 400 feet, and weather/climate data collection.

Flying a drone equipped with a surveillance device (camera, microphone, or sensor capable of reasonably identifying a person's appearance, voice, farm animal species, or farm equipment/structure type) over a homestead or within 400 feet of a farmstead without consent constitutes surveillance. Originally enacted by HF 572 (2024) and amended by SF 491 (effective July 1, 2025). Subject to same exceptions as intrusion (landowner consent, FAA-compliant commercial/agricultural operations, etc.). A property owner may seek court injunction and destruction of unlawfully recorded images under Iowa Code § 715E.5.

A person commits invasion of privacy by knowingly viewing, photographing, or filming another person for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire, when that person does not consent, is in full or partial nudity, and has a reasonable expectation of privacy. Applies to drone-mounted cameras used to capture images of nude occupants in bedrooms, privacy-fenced areas, or other locations where subjects have reasonable privacy expectations. Includes recording or transmission of such images.

Iowa Code § 716.11 defines critical infrastructure as electrical, gas, oil, petroleum, chemical, telecom, broadband, wastewater, and water-supply systems and the structures that house them. Section 716.12 makes sabotage of critical infrastructure a Class B felony. A drone used as an instrument of sabotage is covered by this statute, though merely photographing or flying over critical infrastructure is not sabotage without an overt act intended to cause substantial and widespread interruption of service. Does not apply to ordinary farm activity.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources explicitly states that drones are considered aircraft by the federal government and that 'the use of drones while hunting is not allowed.' Separate provision prohibits killing, wounding, or pursuing any animal, fowl, or fish from or with an aircraft or drone in flight. Driving or harassing game with a drone violates fair-chase hunting rules and this prohibition.