Arizona drone laws

Arizona has one drone statute, A.R.S. § 13-3729, and it does two jobs at once. It creates a short list of state offenses, and it wipes out municipal drone regulation across the state. The preemption subsection declares that, except as authorized by law, a city, town or county may not enact or adopt any ordinance, policy or rule relating to the ownership or operation of an unmanned aircraft, and that any such rule "whether enacted or adopted by the city, town or county before or after August 6, 2016, is void." That is about as clean a preemption clause as exists in American drone law, and it means the municipal patchwork problem largely does not exist here.

The important news for 2026 is that the statute has just grown. On 22 June 2026 the Governor approved two acts amending § 13-3729 — Laws 2026, chapter 215 (SB 1160), on ticketed entertainment events, and Laws 2026, chapter 236 (SB 1627), on schools. Both take effect on the general effective date the Legislature publishes for the Fifty-seventh Legislature, Second Regular Session: 12 September 2026. As of 25 August 2026 the Legislature's published text of § 13-3729 does not yet show either amendment. One of the two reaches commercial work directly. The other, by its own terms, does not.

State drone law changes frequently. This page was last checked on 25 August 2026; verify against the current statute before you fly.

What federal law settles before Arizona gets a say

The FAA holds exclusive authority over aviation safety and the efficient use of the navigable airspace. Its State and Local Regulation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Fact Sheet (14 July 2023) sets the boundary. No state or locality may prescribe flight altitudes, flight paths, aerial routes, mandatory geofencing, or a pilot license layered on the federal certificate.

Outside those fields the states keep their ordinary police powers, and the fact sheet's own list includes privacy, voyeurism, harassment, trespass, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, land use and zoning, search and rescue, delivery of prison contraband, and photography of particular facilities such as refineries, prisons and energy infrastructure. States may also regulate where an aircraft takes off and lands, and where the operator stands. Commercial operators are more exposed to preemption than hobbyists, not less: the Airline Deregulation Act preempts state laws related to the prices, routes or services of an operator with economic authority to provide interstate transportation. Keep that in mind when you reach Arizona's new entertainment-event provision below.

Arizona's drone-specific laws

A.R.S. § 13-3729(A) — the catch-all. It is unlawful to operate a model aircraft or a civil unmanned aircraft if the operation is prohibited by a federal law or regulation that governs aeronautics, including FAA regulations, or if it interferes with a law enforcement, firefighter or emergency services operation. A violation is a class 1 misdemeanor. Note what this does: it converts a Part 107 violation into a state crime. A busted altitude limit is no longer just a certificate action.

A.R.S. § 13-3729(B) — critical facilities. It is unlawful to photograph or loiter over or near a critical facility "in the furtherance of any criminal offense." That final clause is the whole safeguard: lawful photography is not covered. A violation is a class 6 felony, or a class 5 felony on a second or subsequent offense. The statute lists seventeen categories of critical facility, among them petroleum and alumina refineries, chemical manufacturing, water and wastewater treatment facilities and dams, electric generation facilities and their substations and switchyards, transmission lines of at least sixty-nine thousand volts, communication towers, natural gas facilities, any railroad infrastructure or facility, courts, jails and prisons, military installations, and hospitals that receive air ambulance services.

Statewide preemption. Except as authorized by law, a city, town or county may not enact or adopt any ordinance, policy or rule relating to the ownership or operation of an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system, and any such rule is void. Three narrower exceptions follow: a locality may regulate its own publicly owned unmanned aircraft; a locality may regulate the take-off or landing of model aircraft in a park or preserve it owns, subject to conditions about leaving other parks available; and the section does not reach first responders acting in their official capacity or emergency workers. Read the park exception carefully, because it is written for model aircraft. A "civil unmanned aircraft" — defined as one operated for any purpose other than strictly hobby or recreation, expressly including commercial purposes — is not model aircraft, so on its face the park take-off exception does not reach your paid job.

The carve-out for FAA-authorized operators. Subsection (D)(1) provides that the section "does not apply to a person or entity that is authorized or allowed by the federal aviation administration to operate or use an unmanned aircraft system if the person's or entity's operation or use complies with the authorization granted to the person or entity or with federal aviation administration rules." Read literally, that lifts the whole section off a Part 107 operator for as long as the flight stays inside the federal rules — which is also why it is no shelter at all once you step outside them. Arizona courts have not construed how far it reaches, so treat it as an argument, not a plan.

New from 12 September 2026: ticketed entertainment events. Laws 2026, ch. 215 inserts a new subsection making it unlawful to intentionally operate a civil unmanned aircraft within 5,280 feet of, or within 5,280 feet above, a ticketed entertainment event, unless the operator obtains written consent from a person with legal authority over the event, is an employee of the property conducting official business, is an employee of a water, sewer, electric, telecommunications, cable or other public or regulated utility conducting official business, or is flying their own aircraft above their own private property consistent with federal law and not for commercial purposes, broadcast or publication, or to monitor or interfere with the event. A violation is a class 1 misdemeanor. The act defines "ticketed entertainment event" narrowly: a music, sporting or performing arts event held in a location with gated entries or barriers preventing general public access, where an owner, operator or lessee has issued evidence of the right of entry, and held outdoors, at a venue with a retractable roof, or in a facility with a capacity of at least one thousand attendees.

Two things temper this. The FAA-authorization carve-out sits in the same section and is not limited to the older subsections, so its application to a compliant Part 107 flight is an open question. And a state rule expressed as a distance above an event is the kind of vertical airspace restriction the FAA fact sheet places in its own exclusive field, which makes the provision a candidate for preemption as applied to a certificated commercial operator. Neither point has been tested in court, and neither is a defense you want to run. Written consent from the event is still the reliable answer.

New from 12 September 2026: schools. Laws 2026, ch. 236 inserts a subsection making it unlawful to intentionally photograph or loiter two hundred feet or less above a property where the operator is flying for hobby or recreational purposes and knows or reasonably should know all four of the following: the property is not zoned for residential use; it is used to provide instruction to students in kindergarten or any of grades one through twelve, when school is in session or school activities are occurring outside normal hours; the owner or a person with lawful control has posted reasonable notice prohibiting entry on or over the property; and a peace officer, the owner or a person with lawful control has notified the operator of the prohibition and given a reasonable request to leave. A violation is a class 3 misdemeanor. By its own words this provision does not reach a Part 107 operation, because paid work is not flight for hobby or recreational purposes. The same act also replaces the statute's definition of "model aircraft" — currently the section 336 definition from the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 — with a three-part test: capable of sustained flight, flown within the operator's visual line of sight, and flown for hobby or recreational purposes. That sharpens the point that the municipal park take-off exception is written for hobbyists, not for you.

One drafting wrinkle to watch: both 2026 acts insert their new material as subsection C and re-letter what follows, so once Legislative Council blends them the final lettering may differ from what either act shows. Cite the operative language, not the letter.

Where you can and cannot take off

State parks. Arizona State Parks & Trails states in its published FAQ that "the current rule is all recreational drone use is prohibited in state parks. Commercial use will be evaluated with a Filming Permit for news, publicity, and promotional purposes. Film Permit rules require insurance and a current FAA drone registration permit. The final decision and any fees associated with access is at the discretion of park management." There is a route in, but it runs through the film permit office, not the front gate.

State Trust land. this page could not verify the Arizona State Land Department's current terms for drone use or for recreational permits: land.az.gov refused every automated request at the last check, so they were not read for this page, and are not characterized them here. If your launch point is Trust land, contact the Department directly before the job.

Everywhere else. Because § 13-3729 voids municipal drone ordinances except as authorized by law, Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff and Scottsdale have no general power to write their own drone rules. That does not mean you can launch anywhere. Ordinary trespass, park-use and film-permit rules still govern the ground you stand on, and federal and tribal land — national forests, BLM, the Grand Canyon, the Navajo Nation — sits outside state law and follows its own managing authority.

What still applies everywhere

Nothing Arizona does changes Part 107. You still need a remote pilot certificate, a registered aircraft, and compliance with the federal operating rules: a 400-foot ceiling above ground level or within 400 feet of a structure, visual line of sight, three statute miles of flight visibility, cloud clearances of 500 feet below and 2,000 feet horizontally, and airspace authorization before entering controlled airspace. Federal compliance carries extra weight here, because § 13-3729(A) makes a federal aeronautics violation a state misdemeanor as well — and because the section's carve-out for FAA-authorized operators only helps you while you are inside the federal rules. If any of this is new, start with how to get a drone license, then LAANC authorization and the airspace classes explained.

Frequently asked questions

Can an Arizona city pass its own drone ordinance?

Generally no. A.R.S. § 13-3729 provides that a city, town or county may not enact any ordinance, policy or rule relating to the ownership or operation of an unmanned aircraft, and voids any such rule adopted before or after 6 August 2016. The exceptions cover a locality's own public aircraft, model aircraft in municipal parks, and FAA-authorized operators.

Is it a crime in Arizona to break an FAA rule?

It can be. A.R.S. § 13-3729(A) makes it unlawful to operate a model or civil unmanned aircraft if the operation is prohibited by a federal law or regulation that governs aeronautics, including FAA regulations, and a violation is a class 1 misdemeanor. That is unusual — most states leave Part 107 enforcement to the FAA.

Does the new stadium rule stop me filming near an event?

From 12 September 2026 it restricts a great deal. Laws 2026, ch. 215 makes it a class 1 misdemeanor to intentionally operate a civil unmanned aircraft within 5,280 feet of, or above, a ticketed entertainment event without written consent from a person with legal authority over the event. The section's FAA-authorization carve-out may reach a compliant Part 107 flight, but that is untested. Get the consent in writing.

Does the new school rule apply to Part 107 work?

Not on its face. Laws 2026, ch. 236 applies only where the operator is flying for hobby or recreational purposes, and requires posted notice plus an actual request to leave before the class 3 misdemeanor bites. Commercial operations fall outside its terms — but posted property rules and trespass law still apply to where you stand and launch.

Can I photograph a power substation in Arizona?

Lawfully, yes. A.R.S. § 13-3729(B) reaches photographing or loitering over or near a critical facility only "in the furtherance of any criminal offense." Substations, transmission lines of at least sixty-nine thousand volts, refineries and railroad infrastructure are all listed critical facilities, so document the commercial purpose of the flight.

Return to the state drone law index, or check your federal knowledge with the Part 107 practice test.

Sources

• FAA, State and Local Regulation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Fact Sheet, 14 July 2023
• A.R.S. § 13-3729, Unlawful operation of model or unmanned aircraft; state preemption; classification; definitions
• Arizona Legislature, Laws 2026, ch. 215 (SB 1160) — drones; entertainment events; prohibition. Approved by the Governor 22 June 2026
• Arizona Legislature, Laws 2026, ch. 236 (SB 1627) — schools; prohibition; unmanned aircraft. Approved by the Governor 22 June 2026
• Arizona Legislature, General Effective Dates — 09-12-2026 for the Fifty-seventh Legislature, Second Regular Session
• Arizona State Parks & Trails, Frequently Asked Questions