Marion County Sheriff | Drones
The team is real and dated by the agency itself: formed in 2023, flying search and rescue, tactical operations and crash scenes. The policy governing it is available only by public records request, in the agency's own words.
At a glance
- The programme, in the agency’s words
- "The Marion County Sheriff's Office Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Team was formed in 2023" [1]
- Missions
- "Search and Rescue Operations, Tactical Operations, and Crime and Crash Scene Investigations", with FAA Part 107 certified pilots [1]
- The policy
- Unpublished. "The Unmanned Aircraft Systems policy is available upon request through the submission of a public records request" [1]
- What ORS 837 requires anyway
- Registration of each aircraft with the Oregon Department of Aviation, an annual usage report, and data policies posted or otherwise made available to the public [2]
- Fleet size
- not stated by the agency. The EFF Atlas records 10 DJI aircraft on the state registry as of 2024, via a records copy we cannot fetch [3]
How it happened
- Deployment
The team forms
Dated by the agency's own page. The missions listed are search and rescue, tactical operations, and crime and crash scene investigation. [1]
- Context
Ten aircraft on the state registry, per the Atlas
The EFF Atlas records 10 active DJI drones registered with the Oregon Department of Aviation, citing the same records-request copy as every county; a lead until the registry is read. [3]
A programme on the record, a policy behind a request
Marion County’s drone team needs no inference: the Sheriff’s own page dates it, staffs it and lists its missions. Formed in 2023, flying search and rescue, tactical operations and crime and crash scene work, with pilots holding federal Part 107 certifications.
The same page states the governing document’s status:
The Unmanned Aircraft Systems policy is available upon request through the submission of a public records request.
Oregon’s drone statute requires a public body to post its data policies on its website “or otherwise make the information available to the public”, and an upon-request posture is a reading of that second clause. We make no compliance claim either way. The practical difference is real, though: a resident of Lane County can read their Sheriff’s drone rules tonight, and a resident of Marion County must file a request and wait. Counties three hours apart, the same statute, and opposite defaults about who has to ask.
The fleet is on the state’s registry, where every Oregon public body must register each aircraft: the Atlas’s copy of that list shows ten DJI aircraft as of late 2024. The registry, the annual usage reports, and the policy itself are all one drafted records request away.
What we do not know
- The policy itself, which the agency will provide on request; the request is drafted.
- The fleet, and the ORS 837.360 annual reports on how often and why it flew.
What you can do
Show up
Systems like this one are approved by boards, councils and committees that meet in public. We have not yet confirmed where each of them meets in Marion County.
What we have documented in Marion County →Protect yourself
Practical steps to shrink your personal data trail. Our guides publish at launch; until then, EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense is the best starting point.
Surveillance Self-Defense →Sources
- 1. Marion County Sheriff's Office, Special Teams page, Unmanned Aircraft Systems Team section · Primary document · accessed
- 2.
- 3.
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