Part 107 Ace

Maryland drone laws

What Maryland actually regulates, what federal law settles before the state gets a say, and what that leaves you to check before a commercial flight.

State drone law changes every legislative session. This page cites the statutes as read on the date shown below and is not legal advice — verify against the current statute before you fly.

Maryland is one of the easiest states to reason about, because the legislature answered the hardest question for you. Under Md. Code, Economic Development §14-301, only the State may enact a law or take any other action to prohibit, restrict or regulate the testing or operation of unmanned aircraft systems in Maryland. It expressly preempts the authority of a county or municipality to do so and supersedes any existing county or municipal law or ordinance that does. That removes the patchwork that eats up planning time in most other states.

What remains is short. Maryland has two drone-specific criminal provisions, both aimed at correctional facilities, plus a general prohibition on hunting from aircraft. The live constraints for a working pilot are the Department of Natural Resources park policy and — near the capital — federal airspace restrictions that have nothing to do with Maryland law at all.

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 Maryland gets a say

The FAA has exclusive authority over aviation safety and the efficient use of the navigable airspace, and it set the boundary out in its State and Local Regulation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Fact Sheet of 14 July 2023. State or local rules that reach into those fields — altitude ceilings, flight paths, aerial corridors, mandatory geofencing, a pilot licensing regime layered on the Part 107 certificate — are preempted.

Outside those fields, states keep considerable power. The FAA's own list of permissible subjects includes land use and zoning, privacy, voyeurism, harassment, trespass, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, delivery of contraband to prisons, wildfire suppression, and photography of particular facilities such as water treatment plants, prisons and energy infrastructure. It also includes rules on where an aircraft may take off and land and where the operator may stand. The practical question here is rarely "may I fly" and usually "may I take off here, and what am I pointing the camera at".

Commercial operators are more exposed to preemption, 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, so a restriction that binds a hobbyist may be preempted as applied to a Part 107 job. Section 14-301 says outright that it does not affect federal preemption of State law.

Maryland's drone-specific laws

Md. Code, Econ. Dev. §14-301 — state preemption. The section defines "unmanned aircraft" as the flying portion of an unmanned aircraft system, flown by a pilot via a ground control system or autonomously through an onboard computer, a communication link and any additional equipment necessary to operate safely. It then reserves to the State alone the power to prohibit, restrict or regulate the testing or operation of UAS, preempts county and municipal authority, supersedes existing local ordinances, and preserves federal preemption. If a Maryland town tells you its own drone ordinance bars your flight, §14-301 is the citation to have on your phone.

Md. Code, Crim. Law §9-417.1 — contraband delivery by drone. A person may not deliver any contraband to a person detained or confined in a place of confinement using an unmanned aircraft. Violation is a misdemeanor carrying imprisonment not exceeding three years or a fine not exceeding $1,000, or both, and correctional facilities must post signage warning of the provision on the exterior of the property in an area visible to the general public.

Md. Code, Corr. Servs. §8-804 — recording images over a correctional facility. A person may not intentionally operate an unmanned aircraft over a correctional facility for the purpose of photographing or recording images of the correctional facility through the use of the unmanned aircraft, without the authorization of the facility's managing official or the Secretary. Violation is a misdemeanor carrying imprisonment not exceeding three years or a fine not exceeding $1,000, or both, and the same signage duty applies. Both this section and §9-417.1 were added by SB 273 of the 2024 session, Chapter 101, effective 1 October 2024.

Read the purpose element carefully, because it does the work. Section 8-804 is not limited to contraband or to criminal intent, but it does require that the images be of the facility. A survey whose subject is the prison itself needs authorization even if the job is entirely legitimate. If you are shooting a neighboring parcel and the facility is only incidental to the frame, the purpose element is not met on the face of the statute — but the safe play is written permission or a flight line that stays clear.

Md. Code, Nat. Res. §10-410(j) — hunting from aircraft. A person may not hunt or attempt to hunt wild birds or mammals from an aircraft within the State; violation is a misdemeanor subject to a fine of not more than $1,000 or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. It is written in terms of aircraft generally, and §10-410 does not use the words "drone" or "unmanned" anywhere.

Note what Maryland has declined to enact. HB 1349 of the 2025 session, "Criminal Law – Unmanned Aircraft Systems – Trespass and Surveillance," would have created a drone trespass offense; it went to a Judiciary Committee hearing and was never reported out. The only drone bill indexed in the 2026 session, HB 471, is a different animal — "Public Safety – State and Local Governments – Use of Unmanned Aircraft," aimed at government drone use rather than at private operators — and the General Assembly's record shows no enactment. Maryland still has no drone-titled trespass or privacy offense.

Where you can and cannot take off

Maryland does not ban drones from its state parks. The Department of Natural Resources publishes a statewide policy requiring that unmanned aircraft systems operated on DNR-managed land comply with all FAA regulations, with State and federal law, and with the Use of State Parks regulations at COMAR 08.07.06.13 and 08.07.06.20 — and that all drone operators contact the Park Manager prior to flying a drone in a State Park. The park manager is the gate: no call, no flight.

Individual parks add conditions. At Sandy Point State Park, DNR states that drone use is permitted before the Memorial Day holiday and after the Labor Day holiday, that the operator must possess all required FAA certifications or licenses, that operation is allowed during normal park operating hours of 7am to dusk, and that the operator must refrain from operating over groups of people and must not disrupt visitors or harass wildlife. It also flags that operating in close proximity to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge requires special permissions.

Separately, and this is federal rather than state law, Maryland's Washington suburbs sit inside the DC Special Flight Rules Area — under 14 C.F.R. §93.335, the airspace from the surface to but not including FL 180 within a 30-mile radius of the DCA VOR/DME. FDC NOTAM 9/1811 sets the UAS-specific security instructions and they are strict: all civil, including commercial, UAS operations are prohibited within the DC SFRA unless in compliance with Part 107 or an applicable grant of exemption and an FAA certificate of authorization or waiver. Inside the DC Flight Restricted Zone — the inner boundary drawn along the DCA 15 and 13 nautical mile arcs — UAS operations are prohibited outright unless specifically authorized through the TSA/FAA airspace waiver process.

What still applies everywhere

None of the above changes Part 107. You need a remote pilot certificate with a small UAS rating and an FAA-registered aircraft. You fly at or below 400 feet AGL, or within 400 feet of a structure's uppermost limit when inspecting it, and within visual line of sight. You need at least 3 statute miles of flight visibility from the control station and the required cloud clearances. Controlled airspace still requires authorization, usually through LAANC — know your airspace classes and watch for TFRs and special use airspace, which move constantly near the capital. Operations outside the standard rules need a waiver. Working toward the certificate? Start with a practice test.

Frequently asked questions

Can a Maryland county or city ban my drone flight?

No. Md. Code, Econ. Dev. §14-301 reserves to the State alone the power to prohibit, restrict or regulate the testing or operation of unmanned aircraft systems, expressly preempts county and municipal authority to do so, and supersedes existing local ordinances that do. Park managers acting under DNR's own state regulations are a separate matter.

Is it illegal to fly over a prison in Maryland?

If you do it intentionally for the purpose of photographing or recording images of the facility, without authorization from the managing official or the Secretary, yes — Md. Code, Corr. Servs. §8-804 makes that a misdemeanor carrying up to three years or a $1,000 fine, or both. Delivering contraband by drone is separately prohibited by §9-417.1, same penalty.

Do I need a permit to fly a drone in a Maryland state park?

DNR's statewide policy imposes no blanket permit, but it does require all drone operators to contact the Park Manager before flying in a State Park, and to comply with FAA rules and the Use of State Parks regulations at COMAR 08.07.06. Individual parks add their own seasonal and operational conditions, so call the park.

Does Maryland have a drone privacy statute?

Not one written for drones. Maryland's two drone-specific criminal provisions both concern correctional facilities. HB 1349 of 2025 would have created a drone trespass and surveillance offense but never got out of committee. A privacy complaint about aerial photography in Maryland would be argued under general law rather than under a drone-titled section.

How much of Maryland is inside the DC flight restrictions?

Enough to matter. Under 14 C.F.R. §93.335 the DC SFRA is the airspace from the surface to but not including FL 180 within a 30-mile radius of the DCA VOR/DME, which reaches well into Montgomery and Prince George's counties. Under FDC NOTAM 9/1811, commercial UAS operations there need a certificate of authorization or waiver on top of Part 107.

Sources

Neighboring states

VirginiaPennsylvania

Federal rules are the ones tested.

No state changes the 400-foot ceiling, visual line of sight, or the certificate itself. Those are what the Part 107 exam asks about.

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