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Senate advances bill to block drone deliveries of contraband to correctional facilities
Summary
Senator Milner introduced and the Senate voted to advance a bill that would make it unlawful to deliver contraband to correctional facilities via unmanned aircraft; a senator asked whether prior incidents were prosecutable under current law and the sponsor said he would follow up.
Senator Milner introduced a bill on the Senate floor that would prohibit delivering contraband into correctional facilities using an unmanned aerial vehicle and bar interference with the operation of a correctional facility.
During brief questioning, Senator Fillmore said the sponsor had previously referenced an incident and asked: "Was the perpetrator of that incident unable to be prosecuted because the law was unclear or did not address this point?" Senator Milner replied, "I can't answer that question... I just know there's been they felt like there was a need to clarify," and offered to follow up with specifics.
Senator Milner moved to call the question on the second substitute of House Bill 59; the Senate conducted a roll-call vote and the presiding officer indicated the bill would be sent to the House for further action. The transcript records senators responding 'aye' across the chamber; the sponsor characterized the bill as clarifying statutory gaps that correctional institutions had identified.
The Senate did not record prosecutorial outcomes or cite a specific instance in the floor record; the sponsor acknowledged a need for clarification and committed to follow up when asked for prosecutorial detail. The bill as presented focuses on creating a statutory offense for delivering contraband by unmanned aircraft or otherwise interfering with correctional operations.
Next steps recorded in the floor proceedings were transmittal to the House for further processing.
