Did you know that Texas already has some laws about the flying of unmanned aircraft?  Turns out that there is an entire chapter of the Texas Government Code (423) that addresses this issue.  The statutes spell out when it is lawful and when it is unlawful to take pictures from the sky via “unmanned aircraft” a.k.a. a drone.

The chapter starts out by listing 19 ways in which unmanned aircraft may lawfully capture images. This includes:

*with the consent of the person who owns the real property or lawfully occupies the property; and

*on public real property or a person on that property.

Do you catch that distinction?   If the drone goes over private property, you need the consent of the owner. But if it goes over the public school….no problem. Take as many pictures as you want, even if it includes identifiable students and teachers.

Interesting.  Or as the late Mr. Spock would have said: “Fascinating.”

That’s the current status of state law, but this situation is changing rapidly.  There are also federal regulations about this, and more regs are in the pipeline, so don’t do anything rash until you consult legal counsel.

DAWG BONE: LOOK UP!  A DRONE!!