HB 1556 Summary: Oklahoma Unmanned Aerial Surveillance Act

• Prohibits operation of unmanned aircraft systems (drones) for surveillance in Oklahoma, with exceptions for law enforcement with valid search warrants, emergency services searching for missing persons, firefighting/disaster response, operations with written consent, and surveillance of public land/property only.

• Establishes criminal penalties of up to one year in jail and $500-$5,000 fines for unauthorized surveillance, plus allows civil lawsuits for treble damages up to $50,000 in punitive damages.

• Prohibits inadmissible use of any data obtained through illegal drone surveillance in court proceedings and requires deletion of incidentally collected data within 24 hours.

• Bans weaponized unmanned aircraft systems (those carrying lethal or non-lethal weapons) except for U.S. military operations, with penalties up to 10 years imprisonment and $1,000-$10,000 fines for violations.

• Allows incidental overflight of drones over property in transit at 500+ feet altitude without surveillance, but requires immediate deletion of any data collected and makes such data inadmissible in legal proceedings; effective November 1, 2013.