Wisconsin Drone Laws (2026): Privacy, Warrants & New Rules

Wisconsin criminalizes flying a drone to spy on someone, requires police to get a warrant before using one to gather evidence, and, as of April 2026, bans low flights over schools in session and utility infrastructure.

This guide is part of our Drone Laws by State series.

Jurisdiction scope: This article addresses Wisconsin state law governing drones: the civilian privacy offense in section 942.10, the law-enforcement warrant requirement in section 175.55, the hunter-harassment and weaponization statutes, the 2025 school and utility-facility rules, the limit on local drone ordinances in section 114.105, and the federal shoot-down prohibition. It does not address FAA registration, Remote ID, or Part 107 licensing, which apply the same way nationwide; see the Drone Laws by State hub for that baseline and how other states compare.

FAA airspace rules and Wisconsin conduct rules answer different questions

The FAA is the exclusive regulator of where a drone may fly nationally, through registration, Remote Pilot Certification under 14 CFR Part 107 for most non-hobby flights, and Remote ID broadcast requirements. Wisconsin has instead built one of the more layered state drone codes in the country on top of that federal baseline, covering what an operator does with the footage or data, when police need a warrant, and where a drone may not go at all. Six separate statutes now touch drones in Wisconsin: sections 942.10, 175.55, 29.083, 941.292, 114.045, which dates to 2015 and was expanded in 2025, and 114.105. Together they place Wisconsin among the more privacy-protective states nationally on this topic.

Those rules are set at the state level, and local government has almost no room to add to them. Wis. Stat. section 114.105(4)(b) provides that, except as provided in subsection (3), no political subdivision may regulate the ownership or operation of a drone. Subsection (3) lets a city, village, town, or county enact an ordinance limiting its own use of drones, which is the narrow exception the preemption clause preserves. Section 114.105(4)(a) separately bars any local ordinance governing aircraft or aeronautics that is contrary to or inconsistent with chapter 114 or federal law. So a municipal drone ordinance aimed at how residents or businesses fly is outside a Wisconsin political subdivision's authority.

Can your neighbor legally fly a drone over your house in Wisconsin?

Not to observe you. Wis. Stat. section 942.10 makes it a Class A misdemeanor, the most serious misdemeanor tier in Wisconsin, to use a drone with the intent to photograph, record, or otherwise observe another individual in a place or location where that individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy. A conviction carries up to nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine. The statute turns on intent to surveil, not on the mere fact that a drone crossed above the property; a drone incidentally passing overhead is not, by itself, a violation. The statute exempts law enforcement officers authorized to use a drone under section 175.55, discussed below, so an officer acting within that statute's rules is not separately liable under the general privacy offense.

Does Wisconsin police need a warrant to fly a drone over your property?

Generally yes. Wis. Stat. section 175.55(2) prohibits any Wisconsin law enforcement agency from using a drone to gather evidence or other information in a criminal investigation from a place where an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy without first obtaining a search warrant under section 968.12. The statute carves out five exceptions: use in a public place, assisting an active search-and-rescue operation, locating an escaped prisoner, surveilling a location to execute an arrest warrant, and situations where an officer has reasonable suspicion that drone use is necessary to prevent imminent danger to a person or imminent destruction of evidence. Outside those five circumstances, evidence a Wisconsin agency gathers by drone from a place carrying a reasonable expectation of privacy requires a warrant to be lawfully obtained.

Drones and hunting: Wisconsin's harassment law

Wisconsin is one of a small number of states that names drones directly in its hunter-protection statute. Wis. Stat. section 29.083 bars interfering or attempting to interfere with lawful hunting, fishing, or trapping with intent to prevent the taking of a wild animal, listing specific prohibited acts such as disturbing a hunting blind, disturbing bait, or maintaining physical proximity to a hunter. Subsection (2)(a)8 extends that list to using a drone, defined by cross-reference to section 941.292(1), to conduct any of the same prohibited activities. The statute allows a civil action for an injunction and damages, including punitive damages and reimbursement of costs like license fees, travel, and guide expenses. A 2023 Seventh Circuit decision, Brown v. Kemp, struck down the neighboring clause at section 29.083(2)(a)7, covering photographing and maintaining proximity to a hunter, as facially unconstitutional under the First Amendment. The drone-specific clause at (2)(a)8 was not the provision the court invalidated, but the ruling shows this corner of Wisconsin law is still being tested.

Wisconsin's new 2026 school and utility no-fly rules

Wis. Stat. section 114.045 dates to 2015 Wisconsin Act 318, which banned flying a drone over a Wisconsin correctional institution or its grounds without authorization from the secretary of corrections (for a state facility) or the county sheriff (for a county jail); that rule remains in force today under subsection (1m)(a) and carries the same $5,000 forfeiture penalty as the newer rules below. Two companion 2025 laws, Wisconsin Act 189 and Wisconsin Act 194, expanded section 114.045 to add school and utility-facility no-fly rules. Both were enacted April 3, 2026 and published April 4, 2026, and because neither act prescribes its own effective date, both took effect April 5, 2026 under the default rule in Wis. Stat. section 991.11. The school-property rule bars operating a drone over property owned by a school, or on which a school is located, while the school is open for instruction or hosting a school-board-approved event, unless the school board or its designee authorizes the flight; a school board must respond to an authorization request within five business days. The utility-facility rule separately bars flying a drone at an altitude of less than 300 feet over or within 500 feet of a parcel containing a water reclamation facility, gas or electric power plant, generating station, substation, telecommunications carrier plant, internet or cable service facility, public water system facility, or petroleum refinery. Both parts of that threshold have to be met. The altitude limit is an element of the offense, not an alternative to the distance limit, so a flight that stays at or above 300 feet is outside the rule even when it passes directly over a covered parcel.

Shooting down a drone in Wisconsin

Even where a drone is violating section 942.10's privacy rule or the new facility restrictions, Wisconsin law gives a resident no authority to shoot it down or otherwise disable it. 18 U.S.C. section 32, the Aircraft Sabotage Act, makes it a federal felony, punishable by up to twenty years in prison, to willfully damage, destroy, or disable an aircraft, and the FAA has classified drones as aircraft within the National Airspace System since 2012. That exposure applies even over the shooter's own property, because the FAA, not the landowner, controls the airspace. Separately, operating a weaponized drone is already a Class H felony in Wisconsin under section 941.292, regardless of who is on the receiving end.

Disclaimer

This article provides general legal information about Wisconsin law governing drones, as verified on 2026-07-09. It does not constitute legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Readers should consult a lawyer licensed in Wisconsin for advice about a specific incident or dispute.

Related articles

• Drone Laws by State: the complete hub
• Surveillance Camera Laws by State

Last updated: 2026-07-09. Statutes cited reflect their in-force version as of 2026-07-09.

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