Minnesota Drone Laws Summary

A comprehensive understanding of flying a drone or unmanned aircraft (UA) for commercial purposes in Minnesota must include knowledge of the overall regulatory structure governing drones. The first comprehensive federal drone law directly applicable to UA came into effect on August 29, 2016 – over two years after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorized the commercial operation of drones. For more than 20 years before the FAA Act (the Act), Minnesota state law also regulated model aircraft. The Act preempted most Minnesota laws regarding the operation of drones. Minnesota now only has a few limited state laws remaining governing drone use. Minnesota’s regulatory scheme for our Unmanned Aircraft (UA) is now both federally based and state specific. With this in mind, we must fully understand both the federal and state UA regulations in order to comply with the law when operating a UA commercially within the State of Minnesota.
While the federal regulator of aircraft is the FAA, the state regulator of aircraft is the Commissioner of Transportation. FAA rules are enforceable throughout the country, while state regulations are only enforceable within the borders of that state. Minnesota has three state statutes now applicable to UA: UAS Privacy Law, Economic Development Law, and Trespass Law.
The Trespass Law makes it unlawful for a person to commit trespass with a drone. This is generally known as the trespass to land law, and it provides that a person is guilty of a trespass if they enter another person’s property without permission and stay on the property after being asked to leave. The Trespass Law relating to drones specifies that no person may use a drone to attempt to penetrate the property below or above closed and locked houses and other buildings without permission of the owner or lawful occupant of the property. Similarly, a person may not use a drone to attempt to penetrate the airspace above another’s unoccupied building or cultivated land without the affected person’s consent. The law further expands into other areas such as penetrating the airspace over private property in greater than navigable airspace.
The Economic Development Law authorizes participation in the business of drone data collection in Minnesota. The law’s intent is to make data collection using UAs more affordable for municipalities, businesses, and residents. The law amended Minnesota Statutes chapter 469 to include drone data collection as a Category D business . Minnesota’s Economic Development law authorizes cities and other political subdivisions to offer business assistance in the form of loans and grants to new businesses or established businesses creating new jobs in the state. This law makes it more affordable for businesses, communities, and municipalities to use drone technology. The law exempts drone data collection from sales taxes if it is requested by a city, county, town, or school district and if the UA data collected is enhanced (such as via video, still photography, or atmospheric sensing) and will help in the construction, operation, or management of public infrastructure within that city, county, town, or school district. A business will collect the data for a city and then the city turns the data over to a region that may provide the enhanced data to other political subdivisions at no charge. Consequently, the UA data collection entrepreneur can affordably share their information with other city, county, and regional entities in the area. The category D modification is optional to all entities and permits political subdivisions to provide assistance to businesses under any reasonable terms and conditions. With this law, two successful UA businesses have developed – a photograph business out of Becker Minnesota and a data collection business out of Willmar Minnesota.
The UAS Privacy Law prohibits UA surveillance of another person in Minnesota. It is unlawful "to use an unmanned aerial vehicle in a manner that would interfere with another person’s reasonable expectation of privacy" and it also makes it unlawful to use drone technology "to photograph, video record, or audio record another person’s in a place and under circumstances in which the other person had a reasonable expectation of privacy". It may be a challenge to remember, but the law does not say that you cannot use a drone over someone’s land in order to do surveillance. It only states that you cannot use your drone technology in a way that is intrusive. The UAS privacy law provides an affirmative defense if the drone surveillance is lawful because it is under the direction of law enforcement or executed under search warrant. The UAS privacy law does not act if the surveillance is done as part of a protected activity under the First Amendment, including but not limited to protest, assembly, freedom of speech, and gathering information for good.

Minnesota Drone Licensing

Before taking to the skies in Minnesota, it’s essential to know the licensing requirements for operating a drone. To operate a commercial drone, or any drone for that matter, you must earn the appropriate certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA scrutinizes drone operations because commercial applications, chartered flights, government drones, and drone deliveries raise several safety issues that may endanger the public and other aircraft.
Many people who ask "do I need a drone license?" often think just a hobbyist license to fly a drone is all they need. But, like most things in life, there are layers to the licensing requirements. Hobbyist drone pilots must not make money off of their drone flights. For the average hobbyist who wants to take aerial photos or videos of their family, taking pictures of product reviews, or posting travel content online, you are free to fly your drone without FAA oversight. However, as soon as you start making money off of your flights and using your drone for commercial purposes, you must comply with FAA regulations or risk incurring civil penalties and subjecting yourself to confusion regarding your rights to fly.
Under federal guidelines, you must pass a knowledge test covering the operations of small drones. The FAA certificate for drone pilots, known as the Remote Pilot Certificate, is obtained by taking the FAA’s Aeronautical Knowledge Test for Remote Pilots at approved testing centers. To obtain this certificate, you must prove you are at least 16 years old, able to read, speak, write and understand the English language, and be in a physical and mental condition to safely operate a drone. The Aeronautical Knowledge Test will require you to answer 60 multiple choice questions relating to the FAA requirements for operating small drones. After you pass the knowledge test, you’ll submit FAA Form 8710-13 to apply for your drone pilot license.
The FAA has made the process for obtaining a drone pilot’s license easy. While the Remote Pilot Certificate is in some ways more extensive than a standard private flight license, this requirement allows the FAA to ensure that the safe operation of drones is a main priority. The FAA wants to encourage the development of commercial drone operations and ensure safety is at the forefront of the industry. That said, for the uninitiated, fulfilling the requirements to become a drone pilot can be difficult. Not to mention that, if you are applying on behalf of your company or organization, your application will require careful review by a corporate counsel familiar with aviation regulations.
Minnesota drone laws are primarily concerned with the regulation of commercial drones, and the FAA regulations dictate what commercial pilots must comply with. Because every state has its own laws regarding privacy and property, what you can do with your drone will depend in part on state drone laws.

Commercial vs. Personal Drones

The realm of drone operation is vast, and it has its way of breaking down into distinct categories: recreational and commercial. It is important for you as an operator to know what you are, because the answer determines what laws apply.
The difference between recreational and commercial drone use in Minnesota boils down to intention. Recreational use means you’re not bothering anybody else and you’re operating for your own enjoyment, like taking pictures of the local area or sending your drone up into the sky to see the view from above. Commercial use means you’re doing it for money – even if it’s just $10 for a photo for an ad or a video for a wedding – or some other form of remuneration or compensation.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration regulates the use of drones at the federal level, so that’s the primary place to start when figuring out the difference and what kind of licenses or permissions you may need. However, the FAA categorizes your drone use as ‘hobbyist’ or ‘commercial.’ In other words, they use the word ‘recreational’ in place of ‘hobbyist.’ When you’re being technical, the distinction is between commercial and hobbyist.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation also deals with drones, although there are more circumstances where Minnesota state law comes into play. If you’re a hobbyist working under the community-based guidelines of the Academy of Model Aeronautics, for instance, you’re considered a hobbyist in Minnesota. Any circumstances where local law comes into play usually adds complexity, and for that reason, it’s best to consult a lawyer to get a firm answer on your particular situation.

Restricted Areas for Drones

In addition to FAA-designated airspaces, such as restricted areas and temporary flight restrictions (TFRs), there are also no-fly zones maintained by other federal government agencies, Native American tribes, or state and local governments. U.S. National Park Service Rules: The National Park Service has designated a number of national park units with flying restrictions, such as Voyageurs National Park. The National Park Service has further restricted what drone operators can do in these parks with two separate regulations, NPS 36 CFR §2.17(a) and §2.17(f). The former prohibits the launching, landing, or operation of an unmanned aircraft. The latter prohibits launching, landing, or operating unmanned aircraft except in designated areas. A list of these parks, along with maps, is available on the NPS website. Note that if you fly your drone in a national park in violation of either regulation, you could be fined up to $5,000 and/or sit in jail for up to six months. Such sanctions are typically applied only in cases of egregious violations, however. State Parks, State Wildlife Management Areas, and State Trails: In Minnesota, it is illegal to launch, land, or operate unmanned aircraft from, in, or on lands managed by the Department of Natural Resources without a permit. Without a permit, drone flights are limited to the following areas: Minnesota Statutes, section 84.9283 provides that "a person may not launch, land, or operate an unmanned aircraft on or over state parks, state recreation areas, state forests, state wildlife management areas, or state trails except in designated permitted areas, use in designated permitted areas as established by the commissioner. A person who violates this section is subject to a civil penalty of up to $1,000." MPR 6100.1300. The state statute and rule contain narrow exceptions, including for the taking of public safety photographs, percolation testing, filming of nature films, and permitted scientific research. Those exceptions are narrow, and this is an area where double-checking with the DNR prior to flying is recommended. Minnesota Native American Reservations: There also appears to be drone restrictions at some Native American reservations in Minnesota. Minnesota Statutes § 360.1352 charges the Department of Transportation with establishing a system to mark Indian reservations with signs which read: "No unmanned aircraft are allowed. No flying over the reservation without permission." It does not appear the Department of Transportation has implemented or updated this law, but caution should be exercised when flying near any Native American reservation just to be safe. The same goes for any private property. It is best practice to always obtain permission before flying a drone over someone else’s private property to avoid a trespass claim, and because some property owners have their own no-fly zones for drones.

Drone Privacy Rules and Regulations

Minnesota’s constitution notes "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated and no warrant shall issue without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized." In short, what this means is that your activities aren’t lawfully subject to governmental investigation unless you’ve been charged with a crime, have committed a crime or have given your express permission for the surveillance.
But we also realize that the law may not mimic how people really live their lives, and that the law has not yet caught up with other technological advances. For example, in our standard business model, when we hire security professionals to conduct investigations on a client’s behalf, we have licensed private investigators on staff who are legally bound to uphold a certain standard of confidentiality about everything they discover. Yet technically, both our licensed investigator employees and myself could very well run afoul of existing Minnesota statutes on trespass and voyeurism merely by performing a routine investigation on a client’s behalf without first obtaining express written permission from the subject of investigation .
Following the passage of the federal Wiretap Act, the Minnesota legislature passed the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act: "No governmental entity may collect, use, or disseminate private data without the informed consent of the subject of the data, unless otherwise authorized by law." What this means is that governmental agencies can not collect information on you without your permission unless they are following another law that specifically gives them the permission to do so.
Hypothetically, if the police wanted to conduct a secret surveillance over someone as part of an investigation, they would necessarily need a warrant to do so, but under the Government Data Practices Act, the police cannot collect data on you even for criminal law enforcement purposes without your permission, unless they are following another law that gives them permission to do so.
What we’ve described so far are legal considerations. But as we noted in the introduction, it’s possible that a new class of privacy laws and litigation to protect you from these types of surveillance are on the horizon, and this totality of protection may likely include the Fourth Amendment, Professor Sam Kamin of The University of Denver Sturm College of Law believes that "given the dramatic changes in surveillance technology that criminals and law enforcement alike are using today, the time for the Court to lend coherence and constitutional protection to privacy interests threatened by warrantless surveillance is now."

Penalties for Violating Drone Laws

When it comes to piloting a drone in Minnesota, following the law is not optional; it is mandatory. Because the legislature and related agencies have a vested interest in regulating drone use, you may be on the receiving end of significant penalties if you are found to have violated drone laws.
The following are some of the most common penalties you could face for violating drone-related laws in Minnesota:
Criminal Penalties
As outlined above, drone users can face some serious criminal charges in Minnesota if the drone is used for illegal voyeurism, destruction of property, or other criminal activity. Violating the Minnesota law for illegally using drones for the purpose of voyeurism could result in gross misdemeanor charges. If there has been sexual conduct involved, the charge could be elevated even higher to be a felony. Felony charges could remain on your permanent record for life. Furthermore, felonies could result in prison time and a costly fine. Therefore, a gross misdemeanor charge, while serious, is a lesser charge than a felony.
Civil Penalties
You could find yourself on the receiving end of a civil lawsuit for violating an individual’s privacy rights. With the right amount of money and resources—and sometimes even just an attorney letter threatening action—you could find yourself in civil court being sued by another individual for using a drone to capture their image without consent. This could lead to heavy fines, restitution for damages, and other penalties assessed against you.
In addition to civil liability, general drone users should also be aware of the fines that the FAA imposes on violators of their drone regulations. For example, an unregistered drone could lead to a fine of $10,000. These fines could be even higher for those who have sustained injuries or property damage as a result of the violation.

Safe Droning Practices

When it comes to flying drones in Minnesota, being mindful of the current laws and regulations is crucial for safe and legal operation. Here are some tips to ensure that you are following the guidelines when operating your drone.

1. Register Your Drone

Before taking off, make sure your drone is registered with the FAA if it weighs more than .55 pounds. A small fee is required for the registration, but it’s an important step in making sure that you are operating legally.

2. Always Fly Below 400 Feet

Drones should always fly below 400 feet AGL (Above Ground Level) to avoid potential collisions with aircraft and comply with regulations.

3. Avoid Restricted and Controlled Airspace

Make sure to check if you’re in a restricted or controlled airspace before operating. The airspace over 7 state prisons in Minnesota , Federal Buildings and Military Bases classified as airspace are all restricted. Battlegrounds in the Boundary Waters are not piloting zones for Commercial UAS operators when the annual permits are not issued.

4. Respect People’s Privacy

Respect people’s right to privacy and do not fly over private property or use your drone to invade someone’s privacy. This includes not looking into someone’s windows or following people around with your drone.

5. Stay Informed on Changes in Laws

The laws and regulations for drones are constantly evolving. Stay informed by following drone news websites and registering for alerts with the FAA and other state and local government websites.