Nebraska Drone Laws 2026: The Complete Pilot's Guide

If you read three drone-law guides about Nebraska before this one, at least one of them probably cited a statute number that does not say what they claim it says. The favorite is "Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-3115," waved around as Nebraska's drone privacy and harassment law. Pull up the actual statutes and that number does not lead where they suggest. Nebraska's drone-privacy rules actually live in two places in the criminal code — the second-degree criminal-trespass statute, Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-521, which the legislature amended in 2022 to cover sending a drone over someone's property to spy on them, and the unlawful-intrusion statute, Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-311.08, which names a drone as a way of unlawfully viewing or recording someone in a state of undress and carries far stiffer penalties. It is a small thing to get the citation wrong, but it tells you something useful: a lot of Nebraska drone content is copied rather than checked, and the rules that actually govern your flight here are narrower and easier to follow than the internet makes them sound.

Nebraska keeps a famously light hand on drones. There is no comprehensive state UAS code, no state pilot license, no state drone registration, and no insurance mandate stacked on top of the FAA. What Nebraska has is three narrow state threads — a privacy-trespass provision, a wildlife-harassment statute the Game and Parks Commission applies to drones, and a brand-new 2025 law about which drones government agencies are allowed to buy — plus a permit rule for state parks and a couple of real city frameworks in Omaha and Lincoln. A crop scout over a Buffalo County cornfield, a spray drone working a center-pivot circle, a powerline inspection for a public-power district, a real-estate fly-around in west Omaha, and a sunrise clip of the sandhill cranes on the Platte all sit inside the same three layers of law. This guide walks through each one with citations to the Nebraska Legislature, the Nebraska Department of Transportation, Game and Parks, and the FAA, so a Nebraska flight stays legal from pre-takeoff to landing.

What governs drone flight in Nebraska?

Three layers, in this order:

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

Federal baseline: what applies everywhere

Before any Nebraska 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, farm 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 Nebraska 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 for most operations since 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 C (Eppley/OMA) and the controlled rings over Lincoln (LNK) require LAANC authorization before launch.

Eppley Airfield (OMA) anchors Class C airspace over Omaha, and Lincoln Airport (LNK) anchors controlled airspace over Lincoln. LAANC is your pre-flight friend. Everything that follows is what Nebraska layers on top.

Nebraska state-level drone laws

The privacy statute: Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-521

Nebraska's drone-privacy rule is not a freestanding "drone act." It is built into the second-degree criminal-trespass statute. Under Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-521(2), a person commits the offense if, knowing they are not licensed or privileged to do so, they intentionally cause an electronic device — the statute names an unmanned aircraft as the example — to enter into, upon, or above another person's property, with the intent to observe another person without consent in a place of solitude or seclusion. The statute defines "unmanned aircraft" to include an aircraft commonly known as a drone, operated without the possibility of direct human intervention from within or on it. The legislature added this drone language in 2022.

The penalty is a Class III misdemeanor, rising to a Class II misdemeanor if the operator defies an order to leave that is personally communicated by the property owner or another authorized person. The key word in the statute is observe. This is a peeping-and-surveillance rule, aimed at someone who flies a camera over a fence to watch a person in a private moment. It is not a general overflight ban, and Nebraska has no statute making simple transient passage over private property a crime — that airspace is federal. The line is intent: lingering a camera at a bedroom window or over a privacy-fenced backyard is squarely inside 28-521. A note on citations, because Nebraska content gets this wrong constantly: some guides point to a "28-3115" for drone privacy. There is no such statute. Cite 28-521 — and, for the more serious conduct below, 28-311.08.

The unlawful-intrusion statute: Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-311.08

The 28-521 trespass charge is the floor for drone privacy. The ceiling is Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-311.08, Nebraska's unlawful-intrusion statute, and it is the one that carries real teeth. It makes it a crime to knowingly intrude upon another person, without consent, in a place of solitude or seclusion — a Class I misdemeanor, and a Class IV felony on a second offense. It separately makes it a Class IV felony to knowingly photograph, film, or record an image or video of another person's intimate area without consent when that area would not be generally visible to the public. The statute defines "intrude" to expressly include viewing or recording someone in a state of undress "by unmanned aircraft," and defines "unmanned aircraft" to include a drone. In plain terms: flying a drone to peer into a bathroom, locker room, dressing room, or bedroom window — or to capture an image of someone undressed — is not a petty trespass in Nebraska. It is unlawful intrusion, and recording it is a felony. This statute, not 28-521, is the one a voyeuristic drone flight will be charged under.

Wildlife and the sandhill cranes: Neb. Rev. Stat. 37-509

This is the layer most likely to catch a Nebraska pilot off guard, because the state sits on a globally significant migration route. Neb. Rev. Stat. 37-509 makes it unlawful to use any aircraft to shoot, attempt to shoot, or harass any bird, fish, or other animal, absent a narrow permit. The statute text says "aircraft," and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has stated plainly that this reaches drones — that state law and the federal Airborne Hunting Act both prohibit using drones to harass wildlife, and that a drone should never be used to flush, chase, or harass any animal. A violation is a Class II misdemeanor.

Nebraska is where this matters more than almost anywhere. Each spring the Platte River valley around Kearney, Grand Island, and Gibbon hosts the largest sandhill-crane migration on earth, with whooping cranes passing through alongside them. Game and Parks specifically warns drone operators away from flushing those flocks. State and federal endangered-species laws separately bar harassing listed species found in Nebraska — the whooping crane, least tern, piping plover, mountain plover, and red knot — and the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act prohibits disturbing eagles, so drones should not be flown to observe eagles or near their nests. Eagles, for what it is worth, sometimes settle the matter themselves by attacking the drone.

The 2025 Secure Drone Purchasing Act: a government rule, not a pilot rule

In 2025 the Nebraska Legislature passed the Secure Drone Purchasing Act, now codified at Neb. Rev. Stat. 73-1001 to 73-1005 (from LB660). It directs the NDOT Aeronautics Division to build and maintain a List of Secure Drones Authorized for Purchase — drones cleared through the Defense Department's Blue UAS program, compliant with the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, or otherwise meeting a detailed cybersecurity standard. The list was due by January 1, 2026, and from January 1, 2027, Nebraska state agencies may acquire only listed drones, with counties and cities directed to do the same to the extent practicable.

It is worth being clear about what this law does not do, because the headlines around it can mislead. The Secure Drone Purchasing Act governs what government buys, not how anyone flies. NDOT's own page says it plainly: the policy does not regulate private recreational drone use, FAA flight authorization, or non-government purchases. If you are a hobbyist or a commercial operator, this statute does not touch your aircraft, your flights, or what brand you are allowed to own. It is a procurement-and-cybersecurity rule for public agencies.

Spray drones and the Pesticide Act

One state-law layer does reach commercial pilots directly: agricultural spraying. Nebraska treats a drone that applies pesticide as an aerial pesticide application, which means the operator needs the proper Nebraska pesticide applicator license category — the aerial category — on top of FAA Part 107, FAA registration, and any FAA approvals a heavier spray aircraft requires. If you are scouting fields with a camera, this does not apply. If you are putting product on the crop from the air, it does.

Police drone use and the "warrant" question

Nebraska has not enacted a statute requiring police to obtain a warrant before drone surveillance, and no statute excluding drone-gathered evidence from court. Police drone use in Nebraska is governed by ordinary Fourth Amendment doctrine and individual agency policy. Lincoln, for example, runs its police drone program under a published department general order rather than a state statute. If a future legislature enacts a dedicated rule, this section will change; as of this review, there is no such state statute.

Penalties at a glance

Local ordinances to watch in Nebraska

Nebraska has no broad state law preempting local drone rules, so cities are free to regulate takeoff, landing, and conduct on the property they own — though not the airspace, which stays federal. Two metros have real frameworks worth knowing before you launch.

Where to fly legally in Nebraska

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

• Private property with the owner's written 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.
• Open federal grassland under more permissive management — national forest and national grassland units in Nebraska are generally less restrictive 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: Nebraska's state parks, state recreation areas, and wildlife management areas need a Game and Parks special-occasion permit, applied for at least 30 days ahead. And the National Park Service units — Homestead National Historical Park, Scotts Bluff National Monument, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, and the Niobrara National Scenic River — are off the list entirely.

Who enforces drone laws in Nebraska?

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 28-521, 28-311.08, and 37-509 are filed by county attorneys after investigation by local police, county sheriffs, the Nebraska State Patrol, or Game and Parks conservation officers, who are the agency that enforces the wildlife-harassment and state-park rules. The Secure Drone Purchasing Act is administered by the NDOT Aeronautics Division and applies to public agencies, not pilots. National Park Service rangers enforce the federal drone ban at Homestead, Scotts Bluff, Agate Fossil Beds, and the Niobrara riverway, with citations filed in federal court. Civil liability for privacy intrusions runs in parallel with any criminal exposure.

How to fly legally in Nebraska — quick checklist

Commercial drone work in Nebraska

Nebraska's commercial drone demand is anchored, unsurprisingly, by agriculture. Crop scouting and stand counts run across the state's row-crop and cattle country, and spray drones are the fastest-growing piece — the segment where the Pesticide Act licensing layer kicks in. On top of ag, Nebraska is the only all-public-power state, and its public power districts and municipal utilities lean on drones for transmission and distribution inspection. Add bridge and roadway inspection — the NDOT itself uses drones for bridge and culvert inspection, project documentation, and emergency response — plus real-estate and media work in Omaha and Lincoln, and a growing set of public-safety UAS programs at the state patrol, city police departments, and county sheriffs, and the through-line is clear: the entry credential for nearly all of it is 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.

Nebraska drone law FAQ