Regards drone use by law enforcement; aviation facilities

The bill now applies to all public entities, not just law enforcement, regarding the purchase and use of unmanned aerial vehicles.

New restrictions prevent public entities from purchasing, operating, or using state funds for drones manufactured or assembled by foreign adversaries.

New operational requirements allow drones to be used for threat assessments at large events and to collect information from public areas with reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.

New definitions were added for 'foreign adversary' and 'public entity' to clarify who and what the new restrictions apply to.

The effective date for the new foreign adversary restrictions was changed to 48 months after the bill's passage, delaying implementation.

The definition of 'aircraft' was changed to specify that it means any 'manned' device, explicitly excluding ultralight vehicles.

New definitions were added to clarify the purposes of unmanned aerial vehicle operations, including observing things visible to the naked eye in a nonintrusive manner.

The requirement for flight data to be a public record was updated to also include 'surveillance data'.

The range of Revised Code sections affected by the bill was extended from 4561.25 to 4561.27.