Minnesota committee advances bill letting police use drones in narrower warrantless scenarios

The House Judiciary, Finance and Civil Law Committee on April 3 advanced House File 13‑96, a bill that narrows and clarifies circumstances when law enforcement may operate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) without a search warrant.

The bill, as amended by the A6 change adopted in committee, permits warrantless drone use in three specific circumstances: to document evidence at imminent risk of destruction, to assist in searches for certain fleeing criminal suspects, and to aid active searches for missing people who face risk of death or serious bodily harm.

Madam Chair and Representative Witte said the measure was negotiated with law‑enforcement groups and the ACLU and that the amendment tightens earlier language. “House File 13‑96 is a bill that expands situations for which a law enforcement agency may use an unmanned aerial vehicle without a search warrant,” Representative Witte told the committee, adding the bill “is another tool that we can utilize for law enforcement, to protect and keep our communities safe, without violating people’s rights.”

Renville County Sheriff Scott Habel, speaking for the Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association, said the bill would modernize statutes and allow timely documentation of outdoor crime scenes and other time‑sensitive situations. “This provision allows law enforcement to use a drone to document critical information that could be lost before search warrants can be issued,” Habel said, citing the example of weather threatening physical evidence on an outdoor scene.

Teresa Nelson of the ACLU of Minnesota told the committee the ACLU raised concerns in earlier hearings but that those concerns had been addressed with the A6 amendment. “Those concerns have been addressed with the A6 language,” Nelson said.

Committee members asked for definitions and guardrails. A representative from House Research explained that the phrase “crime against a person” lacks a single statutory definition but has been interpreted in other contexts to mean an assaultive or violent offense. BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said the language is intended to narrow permissible, warrantless uses to address privacy concerns raised by civil liberties groups.

Representative Witte said local departments would set unit-level policies and training for drone operators, and that oversight would include department supervisors and chiefs or sheriffs assigning who may operate the devices.

The committee adopted the A6 amendment by voice vote and then recommended the bill to the general register. Committee members recorded general support for the amended language; the vote was a voice vote and no roll‑call tally was recorded in the transcript.

The bill now moves to the next stage in the House process, with the committee record showing agreement among proponents and the ACLU that the current language narrows prior concerns.