Alaska Drone Laws (2026): Police Warrants, Hunting & Privacy

Alaska has no dedicated civilian drone-privacy statute, but it is one of a small group of states with a specific law requiring police to obtain a warrant before using a drone to gather evidence, and one of just a handful of states that bans using a drone to locate or pursue game while hunting.

Information last verified on 2026-07-09. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Scope: This page covers Alaska law on civilian and law-enforcement drone use, the state's hunting-drone ban, and the federal shoot-down law. It does not cover FAA flight-operation rules. For a related surveillance topic, see Alaska Surveillance Camera Laws.

Does the FAA or Alaska control where a drone can fly?

The Federal Aviation Administration controls the navigable airspace, which for drones reaches down to the ground, and that authority does not change because a flight happens in Fairbanks or Ketchikan rather than the Lower 48. Anyone flying a drone in Alaska must register it with the FAA, fly at or below 400 feet, and stay within visual line of sight unless a waiver applies. Recreational flyers take the FAA's free TRUST test, while commercial and government operators need a Remote Pilot Certificate under 14 CFR Part 107. None of that federal machinery answers whether a neighbor can point a drone at your property, or whether Alaska State Troopers need a warrant to fly one over it. Those are state-law and state-constitutional questions, and Alaska answers the law-enforcement half of that question more directly than most states.

The FAA's own guidance draws the same line nationally: the agency controls aviation safety and airspace, while states keep their traditional police power over conduct, including privacy, trespass, hunting, and law-enforcement use.

Does Alaska have a civilian drone privacy law?

No. Alaska has not enacted a statute aimed specifically at a private citizen using a drone to spy on a neighbor. A person harmed by that kind of conduct has to rely on general criminal and civil law. AS 11.61.123 makes it a crime to knowingly view or photograph the private exposure of another person's genitals, anus, or breast without consent, but that statute is narrow, aimed at nudity, and would not reach a drone simply hovering over a yard or deck to record ordinary activity. Alaska's general trespass statutes, AS 11.46.320 (first degree, entering land with intent to commit a crime there) and AS 11.46.330 (second degree, unlawfully entering or remaining on premises), were drafted for people who physically enter land, so whether a drone that never lands or crosses a fence line on the ground counts as a trespass under either statute is an open question no published Alaska appellate decision has resolved.

In practice, an Alaskan dealing with a persistent nuisance drone is more likely to pursue a civil claim for intrusion upon seclusion or private nuisance, or to report the operator to the FAA for reckless or careless operation, than to rely on a criminal drone-privacy charge that does not clearly exist yet.

Does Alaska police need a warrant to fly a drone over my property?

Yes, with narrow exceptions. Alaska is one of a small group of states that directly regulates law enforcement drone use by statute. AS 18.65.900 bars a law enforcement agency from using an unmanned aircraft system at all except as allowed elsewhere in the same article, and AS 18.65.902 permits evidence-gathering use in a criminal investigation only under the express terms of a search warrant issued by a court, or in accordance with a judicially recognized exception to the warrant requirement. The statute does not list which exceptions qualify, leaving that question to case law. Separately, AS 18.65.902(2) allows drone use in situations that do not involve a criminal investigation and are not intended to produce evidence for one, such as a search-and-rescue flight, so long as the use does not constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. Enacted as House Bill 255, signed into law on July 28, 2014 as Chapter 105 SLA 2014, this framework also requires each agency to adopt written procedures covering FAA authorization, trained and certified operators, command-level approval of each flight, a public purpose for the flight, and an auditable flight-log record, under AS 18.65.901.

Under AS 18.65.903, a law enforcement agency may not retain images or other data a drone collects at all, unless retention is required as part of an investigation or prosecution, for training purposes, or by other federal or state law or municipal ordinance. Images that do not meet one of those conditions are confidential and not public records, and the statute sets no fixed retention period such as one year. Outside the drone context, the Alaska Supreme Court held in State v. McKelvey (2024) that the Alaska Constitution requires law enforcement to obtain a warrant before using aircraft and vision-enhancing technology (such as a camera with a zoom lens or binoculars) to observe the curtilage of a home that is protected from ground-level observation. In that case, state troopers flew past a wooded property in an airplane and photographed it with a high-powered zoom lens, without a warrant, to check a tip about a marijuana grow. The court reasoned that aerial observation with enhanced optics can reveal intimate details of private life and discourage people from using their own outdoor space. The court also noted that the rise of drones could make aerial surveillance cheaper and more common, while acknowledging that the case did not involve a drone and that there may be reasons to distinguish drones from manned aircraft.

Does Alaska restrict drones for hunting?

Yes. Alaska is one of only a handful of states, alongside Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, with a confirmed statutory or regulatory ban on using a drone to help take game. Under 5 AAC 92.085, a hunter may not use any airborne, remotely controlled, or wirelessly communicating device, including a drone, to spot or locate game with a camera or video device, whether to scout an area before a hunt or to help during one. The regulation also imposes a cooling period: even after a hunter stops using a drone, they cannot take that specific animal until 3:00 a.m. the following day. A related regulation, 5 AAC 33.398, separately bars using a drone to locate salmon or to direct a commercial salmon-fishing operation during an open commercial fishing period. Alaska Wildlife Troopers enforce both rules, and a violation is treated as an unlawful method of take under the state's general hunting and fishing penalty structure.

Is it legal to shoot down a drone over my property in Alaska?

No. Federal law, 18 U.S.C. Section 32, makes it a felony to willfully damage, destroy, or disable an aircraft, and the FAA has classified drones as aircraft within the National Airspace System since 2012. Shooting down a drone is a federal crime wherever it happens, including directly over the shooter's own land, because the FAA, not the property owner, controls the airspace. A conviction carries up to 20 years in federal prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and permanent loss of firearm rights. Alaska has no statute authorizing a landowner to disable or destroy a drone, and none of the state's hunting-drone or trespass laws change that federal exposure.

Well-publicized cases where a shooter faced only reduced or dismissed state charges do not establish a right to shoot down a drone. In the most widely cited example, a Kentucky man's 2015 shoot-down of a neighbor's drone led a local judge to dismiss state criminal-mischief and wanton-endangerment charges, but the drone owner's separate federal lawsuit, Boggs v. Merideth, was dismissed in 2017 purely for lack of federal jurisdiction, without any court deciding whether the shoot-down was actually lawful. That federal exposure applies to an Alaska landowner the same as anywhere else, including someone who believes a drone is illegally spotting game or spying on their property.

Disclaimer

This article provides general legal information about Alaska drone law as verified on 2026-07-09. It does not constitute legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Readers with a specific drone incident, hunting question, or law-enforcement encounter should consult a lawyer licensed in Alaska.

Related articles

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

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

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does Alaska require a warrant for police drone use?

Yes. Under AS 18.65.900 through AS 18.65.903, a law enforcement agency may not use a drone to gather evidence in a criminal investigation except under the express terms of a search warrant issued by a court, or in accordance with a judicially recognized exception to the warrant requirement. A separate provision covers uses that do not involve a criminal investigation, such as search and rescue, if the use is not an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. Data may not be retained at all unless it is needed for an investigation or prosecution, for training, or is otherwise required by law.

Can my neighbor legally fly a drone over my yard in Alaska?

Alaska has no drone-specific civilian privacy law. Simply flying over a yard is not automatically illegal, and general trespass statutes were written for physical entry onto land, not airspace-only intrusion, so a repeated or targeted flight is more likely to raise a civil nuisance or intrusion claim than a criminal charge.

Can I use a drone to scout for hunting in Alaska?

No. Under 5 AAC 92.085, using a drone or any remotely controlled airborne camera device to spot or locate game, including scouting before a hunt, is prohibited, and a hunter must wait until 3:00 a.m. the next day to take an animal spotted with one.

What did the Alaska Supreme Court decide in State v. McKelvey?

In March 2024, the court held that the Alaska Constitution requires police to get a warrant before using aircraft and vision-enhancing technology, such as a zoom-lens camera, to observe a home's curtilage that is protected from ground-level view. State troopers had photographed a property suspected of a marijuana grow from an airplane with a high-powered zoom lens without a warrant, and the court reasoned that enhanced-optics aerial surveillance can reveal intimate details of private life. The case involved a manned airplane, not a drone.

Is it legal to shoot down a drone over my property in Alaska?

No. Destroying a drone is a federal felony under 18 U.S.C. Section 32 regardless of location, including over your own property, punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison. Alaska has no law authorizing self-help against a drone.

Can Alaska police use a drone without a warrant in an emergency?

Yes, in narrow circumstances. AS 18.65.902 allows evidence-gathering without a warrant only in accordance with a judicially recognized exception to the warrant requirement, and the statute does not list which exceptions qualify, so that question is governed by case law. It separately allows drone use in situations that do not involve a criminal investigation, such as an active search-and-rescue operation, if the use is not an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy and follows the procedures in AS 18.65.901.

Does Alaska have a drone law for commercial salmon fishing?

Yes. Under 5 AAC 33.398, a person may not use a drone to locate salmon or to direct a commercial salmon-fishing operation during an open commercial fishing period.