Louisiana superintendent urges Congress to clarify state authority to mitigate threatening drones

Colonel Robert T. Hodges, superintendent of the Louisiana State Police, told a House Oversight roundtable that state law enforcement has training and commercially available tools to identify and seize control of threatening unmanned aircraft but currently lacks clear federal authorization to do so in many circumstances.

The point matters for public safety at large events: Hodges said the lack of explicit state authority forces reliance on federal agencies during events such as the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras, when temporary flight restrictions and heightened security are in place.

“We do not have authorization to mitigate a drone, which is to take down a drone that puts the public at risk, as the chairman pointed out, with probable cause,” Hodges said. He described operations in New Orleans during the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras this year and said state troopers had training and equipment but that the prevailing interpretation of Federal Aviation Administration rules limited mitigation authority to federal entities such as the U.S. Secret Service, the Coast Guard or the Department of Homeland Security. Hodges argued that commercially available mitigation tools used under probable‑cause standards should be available to state agencies with training and oversight, and he urged Congress to clarify the law.

Committee members and panelists discussed potential options, including targeted statutory authorization, limited federal deputization similar to 287(g) for immigration enforcement, or a clarified FAA interpretation that explicitly permits state mitigation under defined circumstances. No legislative text was adopted at the roundtable; the session was informational and intended to surface operational and legal friction points for congressional staff and oversight consideration.