A measure that would prohibit the use of drones in Kentucky for harassment, voyeurism, or to facilitate a burglary won committee approval Wednesday.
Lexington Representative Robert Benvenuti says there’s uncertainty as to how federal law impacts this legislation. "We currently have voyeurism on the books. We have harassment on the books whether doing that through a drone or some other modality, it’s a punishable offense as it should be," he says.
Bullitt County Representative Linda Belcher says the bill came about following an incident in her home county. She says a drone flying over sunbathers was shot down by a property owner. “We had some ladies out at the pool and we had a drone fly over and we had a dad who shot it down. He was a good shot. He killed it. So, he is now known as the drone slayer,” she says.
Northern Kentucky Representative Tom Kerr says legislation sponsored by Representative Diane St. Onge includes a prohibition for government surveillance of property where one has an expectation of privacy.
An effort by committee members to amend the measure to include provisions from other drone related bills was rejected.
