House Bill 291

AN ACT TO CREATE THE MISSISSIPPI UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS PROTECTION ACT OF 2021; TO PROVIDE CERTAIN DEFINITIONS; TO PROVIDE THAT A PERSON COMMITS THE OFFENSE OF UNLAWFUL USE OF AN UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM, ALSO KNOWN AS A DRONE, WHEN COLLECTING CERTAIN INFORMATION WITHOUT RECEIVING WRITTEN CONSENT FROM A CORRECTIONAL FACILITY OR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SITE OR WHEN DELIVERING CONTRABAND USING A DRONE TO INTRODUCE CONTRABAND INTO A CORRECTIONAL FACILITY; TO PROVIDE CERTAIN PENALTIES FOR INDIVIDUALS CONVICTED OF SUCH OFFENSE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be referred to as the "Mississippi Unmanned Aircraft Systems Protection Act of 2021."

SECTION 2. For the purposes of this act, unless otherwise specified, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(a) "Correctional facility" means any of the following:

(i) Confinement facility operated or contracted by the Mississippi Department of Corrections;

(ii) Confinement facility operated or contracted by the Federal Department of Prisons;

(iii) Municipality or county jail;

(iv) Confinement facility operated or contracted by the Federal Department of Prisons; or

(v) Public or private youth detention facility.

(b) "Critical infrastructure" means any of the following, whether public or private:

(i) Petroleum refinery or storage location;

(ii) Electrical power generation facility, substation, switching station or electrical control center;

(iii) Chemical manufacturing facility;

(iv) Water intake structure, water treatment facility or pumping station;

(v) Natural gas terminal or compressor station;

(vi) Telecommunications control stations, towers, or any structure that provides wire or wireless communication services;

(vii) Port, railroad switch yard, trucking terminal or other freight transportation facility;

(viii) Gas processing facility;

(ix) Commercial transport vessel operating on any inland waterway or ocean;

(x) Military installation owned by the federal or state government;

(xi) Entity contracted by the Department of Defense or Mississippi Military Department to produce defense products;

(xii) Any other facility completely enclosed by a fence or physical barrier designed to exclude intrusion; or

(xiii) Any other facility marked with a sign or signs that are posed on the property.

(c) "Unmanned aircraft" means an aircraft that in 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 purposes of this act, this term is synonymous with the term "drone."

(d) "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. A person commits the offense of unlawful use of an unmanned aircraft system if he or she knowingly:

(a) Uses an unmanned aircraft system to conduct surveillance of, collect information or data, or photographically or electronically record a critical infrastructure or correctional facility without the prior written consent of the owner, or his/her designee, of the critical infrastructure or correctional facility; or

(b) Delivers or attempts to deliver contraband using an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) on a correctional facility property or adjacent property for the purpose of introducing contraband into a correctional facility.

SECTION 4. Nothing in this act shall be deemed to prohibit the operation of an unmanned aircraft system by a law enforcement agency for any lawful purpose in this state. A public agency or contractor may operate an unmanned aircraft system only if the public agency or contracted entity operates the unmanned aircraft system in accordance with written permission required under Section 3(a) of this act and with the rules and regulations adopted by the Federal Aviation Administration.

SECTION 5. (1) Any person who is convicted of Section 3(a) under this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable up to one (1) year in prison and/or a fine not to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) for the first offense. A second or subsequent offense is subject to a felony, punishable by a maximum penalty of up to five (5) years in prison and/or a fine not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00).

(2) Any person convicted of Section 3(b) of this act shall be guilty of a felony, punishable by a term of no less than three (3) years and no more than fifteen (15) years in the State Penitentiary, a fine not to exceed Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00), or both.

SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2021.