Louisiana Drone Laws 2026: The Complete Pilot's Guide

If you plan to fly a drone over a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, stop and read this first. As of August 1, 2025, doing it is a crime in Louisiana. The legislature passed the "We Will Act" Act that summer, and one of the things it created is RS 14:337.1, a statute that makes the intentional flight of a drone over any permitted parade or parade route a fineable, jailable offense — $2,000 to $5,000, up to a year, and your aircraft forfeited. There is no "I didn't know" defense written into it, and the parade organizers are required to post "Drone No Fly Zone" notices along the route. The same 2025 law also did something no other state had done: it gave Louisiana law enforcement the explicit authority to jam, hack, or physically capture a drone they reasonably suspect is being flown for a dangerous or criminal purpose.

That tells you most of what you need to know about Louisiana. This is not a light-touch state. It has more drone-specific statute on the books than almost anywhere, spread across its criminal code, its agriculture title, and its aeronautics title, and the legislature keeps adding to it. A pipeline inspection along the river corridor, a film shoot for one of the productions that earned the state the "Hollywood South" nickname, a sugarcane crop scout in Acadiana, and a sunset clip over the Lake Pontchartrain shoreline all sit inside the same layered rules. This guide walks through each one with citations to legis.la.gov, the state agencies, and the FAA, so a Louisiana flight stays legal from pre-takeoff to landing.

What governs drone flight in Louisiana?

Three layers, in this order:

The rest of this article works through each layer in that order.

Federal baseline: what applies everywhere

Before any Louisiana rule kicks in, you are bound by FAA rules. Here is the short version.

• Part 107Covers commercial operation. If you fly for anything that benefits a business — real-estate listings, roof inspections, wedding videography, refinery imagery, paid social content — you need the FAA Remote Pilot Certificate.
• TRUSTThe Recreational UAS Safety Test covers non-commercial flight. Free, online, and you cannot fail it. Carry the completion certificate when you fly. No Louisiana drone license exists on top of it.
• FAA registrationFive dollars, every drone heavier than 0.55 lb (250 g). The registration number has to be visible on the aircraft.
• Remote IDMandatory since March 16, 2024 — Standard Remote ID, a broadcast module, or operation inside a FRIA.
• Altitude cap400 ft AGL for most flights.
• Visual Line of SightDaylight or civil twilight unless waivered.
• Controlled airspaceClass B (MSY), Class C (BTR, SHV, LFT), Class D, and surface E require LAANC authorization before launch.

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International (MSY) is Class B and its shelf covers a large share of the metro. Baton Rouge (BTR), Shreveport (SHV), and Lafayette (LFT) are Class C. LAANC is your pre-flight friend. Everything that follows is what Louisiana layers on top.

Louisiana state-level drone laws

The central statute: RS 14:337

Louisiana's main drone law, RS 14:337, has grown a lot since it first passed in 2014. It now defines three separate offenses. The common thread is that all three turn on flying near a sensitive place without permission.

First, it is a crime to intentionally use a drone to conduct surveillance of, gather evidence about, or record a "targeted facility" without the owner's prior written consent. The statute spells out exactly what counts as a targeted facility: petroleum and alumina refineries, chemical and rubber manufacturing plants, nuclear power generation facilities, schools and school premises, grain elevators and storage, and "critical infrastructure" as defined elsewhere in the criminal code at RS 14:61 — which sweeps in electrical substations, water-treatment plants, natural-gas compressor stations, LNG terminals, ports, railroad yards, pipelines, and more. In a state whose economy runs on petrochemicals and shipping, that list covers a lot of ground.

Second, it is a crime to fly a drone over the grounds of the governor's mansion or any state or local jail, prison, or correctional facility without the express written consent of the person in charge.

Third, added in 2025, it is a crime to surveil, record, or interfere with a federal or state military installation, facility, aircraft, ship, or weapon system without the commander's prior written consent. That provision became a live issue almost immediately. During the week of March 9, 2026, Barksdale Air Force Base near Bossier City reported multiple waves of unauthorized drones over sensitive parts of the installation, including the flight line, which forced a temporary shutdown. Two drones were recovered and turned over to the FAA.

The penalties scale with the target. Surveilling a targeted facility starts as a $500-or-six-months offense and climbs on a second conviction to as much as $4,000, two years, and forfeiture of the drone. Flying over the governor's mansion or a correctional facility starts at up to $2,000 and six months. The military-installation offense is the most serious by far: $2,000 to $5,000 and up to five years at hard labor, plus forfeiture.

The statute has carve-outs that keep ordinary pilots out of its reach. It does not apply to anyone operating in compliance with FAA rules and not surveilling a protected site, to people flying over their own property, to utilities maintaining their own facilities, to higher-education research, or to authorized film productions. The practical rule is simple: near a refinery, a prison, the governor's mansion, or a military base, either have written permission or stay well clear.

The parade statute and the counter-drone law (the 2025 "We Will Act" Act)

The 2025 session produced Act 170, the "We Will Act" Act, and it is the reason Louisiana drone law looks different from its neighbors. The Act created RS 14:337.1, which makes it a crime for an unauthorized person to intentionally fly a drone over any parade or parade route for which a government permit was issued. The definition of "parade" is written for Louisiana: it expressly names Mardi Gras and related carnival and pre-Lenten festivities, along with school, parish, state, and municipal parades and permitted demonstrations. The penalty is a $2,000 to $5,000 fine, up to a year in jail with or without hard labor, and mandatory forfeiture of the aircraft. Organizers must post "Drone No Fly Zone" notices along the route, and the statute states plainly that not knowing the rule applied is not a defense.

The same Act added subsection G to RS 14:337, the counter-drone provision. It lets a law enforcement officer or agency take "mitigation measures" against a drone flown in a "nefarious manner" — a defined term that covers spying, smuggling contraband, facilitating crime, or posing a direct threat to public safety. Those measures can include detection and tracking and, more striking, intercepting or disabling the drone by jamming, hacking, or physical capture. Officers may only act on reasonable suspicion that the drone is tied to criminal activity, poses an imminent threat, or is otherwise breaking state or federal law. Louisiana was the first state to put this authority in statute for state and local police. Both provisions took effect August 1, 2025.

Privacy and video voyeurism: RS 14:283

Louisiana's video-voyeurism statute is one of the few in the country that names drones directly. RS 14:283 makes it a crime to use a drone equipped with a camera or any image-recording device to observe, photograph, or film a person, without consent, where that person has a reasonable expectation of privacy. A first conviction can bring up to two years; a second is harsher and carries time without benefit of parole or probation. The detail that should make any pilot careful is that a video-voyeurism conviction in Louisiana also requires registration as a sex offender. A drone hovering a camera at a bedroom window or over a privacy-fenced backyard sits squarely inside this statute, and the consequences run far beyond a fine.

Agriculture: the RS 3:41 chapter

Louisiana is one of the few states with a dedicated agricultural-drone chapter. RS 3:41 through 3:48, in the agriculture title, set up a framework administered by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry for using unmanned aerial systems in commercial farming. The chapter defines an "agricultural commercial operation" broadly — crops, livestock, farm-raised fish, timber, poultry — and provides for licensing and registration of ag drones, with rules the commissioner sets. Data collected by an ag drone stays the property of the landowner unless they agree otherwise in writing, and operators working someone else's land need that landowner's written permission. This chapter is also why RS 14:337 carves out agricultural commercial operations from the criminal statute. An ag operator's checklist is short: comply with the FAA, get the landowner's written permission, and check with the Department of Agriculture and Forestry on whether the operation needs an ag-UAS license.

State preemption: RS 2:2

Here is the rule that flips the usual advice. Under RS 2:2, the state of Louisiana has exclusive jurisdiction to regulate drones, and state law supersedes and preempts any rule, regulation, code, or ordinance passed by a city, parish, or other local government. In most states the standard caution is "check your city's drone ordinance." In Louisiana, a standalone municipal drone ordinance is preempted and unenforceable. The one boundary the statute respects is the federal one: nothing in RS 2:2 touches the FAA's exclusive control of the airspace. What survives at the local level is the same thing that survives FAA preemption — a city or park district can still set conduct rules for the public property it owns, telling you whether you may launch, land, or operate from a particular park, but it cannot regulate the airspace or pass its own drone code.

Wildlife, hunting, and state parks

Using a drone to scout, drive, or harass game is prohibited, both under Louisiana's hunting regulations and under the federal Airborne Hunting Act, which bans using aircraft to take or harass wildlife. There is movement on one narrow exception. In early 2026 the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission advanced a rule for the 2026-27 season that would let FAA-certified operators use drones to recover a mortally wounded deer or bear, with safeguards: the drone has to leave immediately if it finds a live, healthy animal, no weapons may be mounted, and the rule has to stay inside the federal Airborne Hunting Act. As of this review that rule was a pending notice of intent, not yet final.

Louisiana's state parks are more welcoming to drones than most. The Office of State Parks does not impose a blanket statewide ban; individual parks set their own restrictions, and commercial or professional filming generally needs prior approval. The reliable habit is to call the specific park office before you plan a flight.

Commercial versus recreational operation

Beyond the FAA, Louisiana does not impose a general state pilot license. Commercial operators need FAA registration and Part 107; recreational operators need FAA registration and TRUST. The one extra state layer is agricultural: a drone used in a commercial farming operation may fall under the Department of Agriculture and Forestry's ag-UAS licensing and registration chapter. Otherwise, ordinary Louisiana business and tax rules apply to a commercial drone operator the same way they apply to any other business.

Penalties at a glance

Local ordinances to watch in Louisiana

Louisiana is the rare state where the headline about local rules is that there mostly are none to worry about. Because RS 2:2 preempts standalone local drone ordinances, the local layer comes down to two things: conduct rules on the park and public property a city or district owns, and the federal airspace overlay. Both still matter, and the metros each have their own quirks.

Where to fly legally in Louisiana

Looking for places to fly that do not require chasing a permit?

• Private property with the owner's permission, outside controlled-airspace rings unless you have LAANC.
• AMA-recognized club fields listed at modelaircraft.org. Membership includes insurance and a vetted list of fields.
• FAA-Recognized Identification Areas (FRIAs), updated at faa.gov.
• Louisiana state parks, for recreational flying, are more welcoming than most states' parks. There is no statewide ban; check the specific park's rules, and remember commercial filming needs prior approval.
• Kisatchie National Forest, under Forest Service rules — generally more permissive than the National Park Service units, though wilderness areas and any active fire or closure orders still apply.
• The B4UFLY app before every flight. It surfaces controlled airspace, active TFRs, and security exclusions in real time.

Two reminders that trip people up: the National Park Service units in Louisiana — Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, the New Orleans Jazz site, Cane River Creole, and the rest — prohibit drones outright. And the entire downtown New Orleans and French Quarter area is so event- and TFR-heavy that you should treat it as off the table without specific authorization.

Who enforces drone laws in Louisiana?

Federal rules are enforced by the FAA, with civil-penalty ceilings that can reach five figures for serious safety or TFR violations. State criminal charges under RS 14:337, 14:337.1, and 14:283 are filed by district attorneys after investigation by local police, parish sheriffs, or the Louisiana State Police. The 2025 counter-drone provision now lets those same agencies detect and, where justified, disable a drone flown in a nefarious manner. The Department of Agriculture and Forestry administers the ag-UAS chapter. Wildlife agents enforce the hunting and wildlife rules. National Park Service rangers enforce the federal drone ban at Jean Lafitte and the state's other NPS units, with citations filed in federal court. Civil liability for privacy intrusions runs in parallel with any criminal exposure.

How to fly legally in Louisiana — quick checklist

Commercial drone work in Louisiana

Louisiana's commercial drone demand reflects the shape of its economy. The biggest driver is energy: refineries, petrochemical plants, and the pipeline network along the Baton Rouge-to-New Orleans corridor lean on drones for flare-stack, tank, and right-of-way inspection. Ports and maritime add a second pillar, with the Port of South Louisiana, the Port of New Orleans, and the Port of Baton Rouge using drones for terminal and vessel work. Agriculture and commercial fishing run on aerial imagery, which is exactly what the state's ag-UAS chapter was built for. The film industry — "Hollywood South" — is large enough that the drone statutes carve out authorized productions by name. And because hurricanes and flooding are a recurring fact of Gulf Coast life, insurance and catastrophe-response work is a major use case, alongside the public-safety programs now backed by the 2025 counter-drone authority. The entry credential for nearly all of it is the same: the FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate.

How USI helps you fly legally

Knowing the rules is half the work. The other half is the credential — and the path looks different depending on who you are. Three audiences, three doors.

Louisiana drone law FAQ