HB949: HB949 Aviation; prohibit launch or intentional landing of unmanned aircraft systems from or on agricultural land

Georgia already regulates unmanned aircraft systems (drones) under O.C.G.A. § 6-1-4, including a state preemption of most local drone ordinances and a ban on flying drones near ticketed concerts or sporting events. This substitute bill adds new protections for farmland. It defines 'agricultural land' as land used or capable of being used for crops, timber, livestock, poultry, dairy, or horticultural products, as long as it is still zoned for agricultural use. The bill makes it illegal to operate a drone over agricultural land if that flight disturbs farming activity, applies any substance (like chemicals) to the soil, plants, or water without the landowner's consent, or harasses livestock. Anyone who knowingly does this is guilty of a misdemeanor, the same penalty already used for flying a drone too close to a ticketed event. The bill also tweaks the drone definition to exclude satellites and clarifies which local governments can still regulate drone launches or landings on their own public property.

• Creates a new crime for knowingly operating a drone over agricultural land in a way that disturbs farming, sprays substances without consent, or harasses livestock, punishable as a misdemeanor.
• Adds a legal definition of 'agricultural land' covering land used for crops, timber, livestock, poultry, dairy, or horticultural products that remains zoned for agricultural use.
• Excludes satellites from the legal definition of 'unmanned aircraft system' used throughout the drone law.
• Keeps the existing state preemption of local drone ordinances, while letting local governments still adopt rules for drone launches or landings on land the local government itself owns.
• Reorganizes and renumbers the existing rules on flying drones near ticketed concerts, sports, or performing arts events, without changing the underlying misdemeanor penalty.

Farmers and other landowners who use their property for crops, timber, livestock, poultry, dairy, or horticulture; drone operators, including hobbyists and commercial pilots; local governments, whose authority to regulate drones stays limited; and property owners near ticketed concerts or sporting events.

Farmers would gain a specific legal tool against drones that interfere with their operations, spray unwanted substances on their land, or stress their livestock, backed by a misdemeanor charge. Drone operators would need to be more careful flying near farmland, since certain effects of a flight, not just the flight itself, could trigger criminal liability.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 6-1-4 to add a definition of 'agricultural land' in subsection (a)(1), covering land usable for crops, timber, livestock, poultry, dairy, or horticultural products if still agriculturally zoned.
• New subsection (e) makes it unlawful to operate a drone over agricultural land where the operation disturbs agricultural practices, applies substances to soil, plants, or water without the owner or lessee's consent, or harasses livestock.
• New subsection (f) sets the penalty: knowingly violating subsection (d) (the ticketed event rule) or subsection (e) (the agricultural land rule) is a misdemeanor.
• Subsection (b) keeps state preemption of local drone ordinances but lets local governments enforce pre-2017 ordinances, adopt ordinances matching FAA rules, or regulate drone launches and landings on their own public property (except for commercial drone use).
• Subsection (c) lets state agencies, through their own rules, allow or prohibit drones from launching or landing on state-owned public property.
• The definition of 'unmanned aircraft system' in subsection (a)(4) is revised to explicitly exclude satellites.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-02-19House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
2. 2026-02-18House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
3. 2026-02-12House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
4. 2026-01-14House Second Readers (House)
5. 2026-01-13House First Readers (House)
6. 2026-01-12House Hopper (House)

• Beth Camp (R, HD-135)Primary sponsor
• Angie O'Steen (R, HD-169)
• Charles Cannon (R, HD-172)
• Robert Dickey (R, HD-134)
• Jaclyn Ford (R, HD-170)
• Jutt Howard (R, HD-071)

• drones
• agriculture
• farmland privacy
• aviation law
• local government preemption