Indiana Drone Laws (2026): Police Warrants, Voyeurism, Hunting

Indiana law enforcement must get a search warrant before using a drone on or over private property, or to search, surveil, or photograph it, under Indiana Code 35-33-5-9, resolving years of uncertainty. Separate statutes ban drone-aided deer poaching, "remote aerial voyeurism" of an occupied home and its secluded grounds, and "remote aerial harassment" of a neighbor's property.

Federal Airspace Rules vs. Indiana State Law

The FAA governs where a drone may fly nationwide: altitude limits, pilot certification under 14 CFR Part 107, the recreational-flyer exception at 49 U.S.C. 44809, and Remote ID broadcast requirements. None of that answers whether an Indiana police department can point a drone's camera at your backyard, or whether a neighbor can legally hover one outside your bedroom window. Indiana answers those questions through its own statutes, layered on top of the federal operating rules every drone must already follow.

Does Indiana Police Need a Warrant to Fly a Drone Over Your Property?

Yes, in most circumstances. Indiana Code 35-33-5-9 sets out two independent triggers. A law enforcement officer must obtain a search warrant to use an unmanned aerial vehicle "on or over private property," or to use one "to conduct a search, perform surveillance, obtain a photograph, or obtain video of private property or of individuals, items, or structures located on private property," in each case without the consent of the owner of the affected private property. The first prong is easy to overlook and it matters: a police drone does not escape the warrant rule simply because it was not actively searching or recording while it was up there.

The chapter's definitions bound how far that reaches. Indiana Code 35-33-5-0.5(7) defines "use of an unmanned aerial vehicle" as use by a law enforcement officer to obtain evidence relevant to the enforcement of statutes, rules, or regulations, and says the term includes both the interception of wire, electronic, or oral communications and the capture, collection, monitoring, or viewing of images. So the section governs evidence-gathering flights, and it closes off an argument that only video, and not audio interception, triggers the warrant rule.

This provision resolves what earlier secondary sources described only as a plausible, unconfirmed rule: Indiana's warrant requirement is written directly into the state's search-and-seizure code, Title 35, Article 33, Chapter 5, the same chapter that governs ordinary search warrants.

The rule tracks, rather than expands, ordinary Fourth Amendment doctrine. A warrant is not required for a drone search if a warrant would not be required for the same search conducted without a drone, meaning the traditional exceptions to the warrant requirement, such as plain view from a lawful vantage point or exigent circumstances, still apply. The statute's warrant requirement does not apply if the affected property owner has consented to the drone's use.

Indiana backs the warrant rule with an exclusionary remedy that many states without a comparable warrant statute lack. Indiana Code 35-33-5-10 provides that a communication or image obtained through drone use in violation of Section 9, and any evidence derived from it, is inadmissible in any proceeding.

Remote Aerial Voyeurism and Harassment: Indiana's Civilian Drone Privacy Laws

Indiana's most direct civilian-facing drone statute is not framed as a general privacy law but as a voyeurism offense. Indiana Code 35-45-4-5(g) makes it "remote aerial voyeurism," a Class A misdemeanor, to operate an unmanned aerial vehicle with the intent to peep, in a manner intended to cause the drone to enter the space above or surrounding another person's occupied dwelling, for the purpose of capturing images, photographs, video recordings, or audio recordings of that person.

The statute reaches two situations, not one. The person may be inside the occupied dwelling, or on the land or premises on which that dwelling is located, in a location that is not visible from an area open to the general public or where a member of the general public has the right to be. A drone that peeps at someone in a secluded backyard is therefore covered even though nothing was captured indoors. A Class A misdemeanor carries up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $5,000. The offense escalates to a Level 6 felony if the operator has a prior, unrelated conviction under the section, or if the operator publishes the captured material, makes it available on the internet, or transmits it to another person.

Indiana also has a dedicated drone-harassment statute, so a flight that captures nothing at all can still be a crime. Indiana Code 35-45-10-6 makes "remote aerial harassment" a Class A misdemeanor, and it reaches four separate acts: operating a drone in a manner intended to subject another person to harassment; operating a drone over another person's property without that person's consent and with intent to harass, disturb, or injure an individual or animal, or to damage or disturb a crop, on that property; knowingly or intentionally dispersing any substance from a drone onto another person's property without consent; and recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally operating a drone over another person's property without consent in a manner that interferes with or endangers another aircraft or drone. A prior unrelated conviction under the section raises the offense to a Level 6 felony. The statute supplies defenses where the prohibited act resulted from a mechanical or electronic failure or was necessary to avoid a greater harm, and, for the substance-dispersal prong, where the substance drifted over as unintentional overspray despite reasonable good faith precautions.

That combination matters for the most common complaint. A drone that repeatedly hovers over a fence line without ever recording inside a home is not left to trespass, harassment, or nuisance theories alone: if the operator meant to harass or disturb the people or animals below, Section 35-45-10-6 applies directly, and if the operator was peeping at someone in a secluded part of the property, Section 35-45-4-5(g)(2) applies as well. Local reporting on rural Hoosiers describes residents turning to these overlapping statutes, rather than to self-help, when drones repeatedly fly over chicken coops or livestock, or appear to track game for poachers.

Indiana's Drone Hunting Ban and the State's First Conviction

Indiana Code 14-22-6-16, in force since 2016, bars knowingly using an unmanned aerial vehicle to search for, scout, locate, or detect a wild animal as an aid to taking that animal, both during the animal's open hunting season and during the 14 days immediately before the season opens. A 2024 amendment narrowed an ambiguity in the original law: a drone, including one equipped with infrared, may be used to locate and recover an animal that has already been legally taken, though this does not authorize entering another person's property, or recovering the animal from another person's property, without the landowner's permission.

Section 14-22-6-16 carries no penalty clause of its own. The general penalty provision for the article, Indiana Code 14-22-38-1, makes a violation a Class C infraction, and a knowing or intentional violation a Class C misdemeanor. Under Indiana Code 35-50-3-4, a Class C misdemeanor carries up to 60 days in jail and a fine of up to $500. Related hunting counts are graded higher and should not be confused with drone scouting: actually taking a deer or a wild turkey in violation of the article is a Class B misdemeanor under Indiana Code 14-22-38-3.

Indiana's Department of Natural Resources brought its first prosecution under Section 14-22-6-16 in early 2026, after residents near a rural steel plant reported a drone repeatedly tracking a well-known, heavily antlered buck the community had nicknamed for months. Forensic analysis of the seized drone recovered hundreds of tracking photographs and GPS movement data showing the animal was being patterned around a baited area, with flights beginning September 14, 2025, 14 days before the October 1 season opened. The primary defendant took a plea deal in February 2026: 60 days of probation, a one-year revocation of hunting and fishing privileges, a $500 replacement fee, court costs, and surrender of the animal's hide and antlers; a second, less culpable suspect received pretrial diversion and probation. It is widely cited as the first conviction under Indiana's drone hunting statute since it took effect.

Can You Shoot Down a Drone Over Your Property in Indiana?

No. Every drone is legally an "aircraft" under federal law, and 18 U.S.C. 32, the Aircraft Sabotage Act, makes willfully damaging, destroying, or disabling one a federal felony carrying up to 20 years in prison, regardless of whose land it is flying over. Because the FAA, not the individual landowner, controls the national airspace, no state, including Indiana, can authorize a landowner to shoot down a drone as a matter of right. Indiana law enforcement officials quoted in coverage of the state's rural drone disputes have specifically advised frustrated residents that shooting one down is not a legal option, and have pointed them instead to Indiana Code 35-45-4-5's voyeurism protection, the remote aerial harassment offense in Indiana Code 35-45-10-6, the state's general trespass law, and the hunting-drone statute where poaching is suspected.

Penalties at a Glance

For general video surveillance rules outside the drone context, see Surveillance Camera Laws by State. For the full 51-state breakdown of drone law, see Drone Laws by State.

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