Oregon law
ORS 837
Unmanned aircraft systems operated by public bodies
- Citation
- ORS 837.300 to 837.390
- Enacted
- Status
- In force
- Governs
- Drones
What it requires
A law enforcement agency may not operate a drone, acquire information with one or disclose that information except as the statute allows; a warrant may authorize operation for at most 30 days, and evidence gathered in violation is inadmissible. Any public body operating a drone must register it with the Oregon Department of Aviation, file an annual report on how often and for what purposes its aircraft flew, and publish its policies for the use, storage, sharing and retention of drone data.
Source: Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 837 (2025 edition), Oregon State Legislature, accessed 26 Aug 2026
Oregon regulated law enforcement drones in 2013, earlier than most states, and the framework has been amended several times since; the text we read is the 2025 edition of the Oregon Revised Statutes.[1] The enacted date above is the 2013 session law the chapter’s section credits cite.
The core is a prohibition with enumerated exceptions: a law enforcement agency “may not operate an unmanned aircraft system, acquire information through the operation of an unmanned aircraft system or disclose information acquired through the operation of an unmanned aircraft system” except as the statute allows.[1] Operation under a warrant is one of the exceptions, and a warrant may not authorize operation for more than 30 days.[1] Evidence acquired in violation is inadmissible and cannot support reasonable suspicion or probable cause.[1]
The transparency layer is what these county pages check. A public body may not operate a drone without registering it with the Oregon Department of Aviation, and a registered body must file an annual report summarizing how often its aircraft flew and for what purposes.[1] Under ORS 837.362 the body must establish policies for the use, storage, sharing and retention of drone data and post them on its website or otherwise make them public.[1] A county drone program with no published data policy and no annual report is therefore not just undocumented; it is out of step with what the statute requires, and asking for those two documents is the shortest records request there is.
Agencies with a policy on record
We have not recorded a policy check for any agency under this law yet.
Where this technology is documented
What you can do
Ask your agency for the policy this law requires, and watch the agenda of the body that approves it. The Oregon page lists every county we cover and how far each has been researched.
Each technology page explains what the system records and what reduces your exposure to it: Drones .
Sources
- 1.