Part 107 Ace

Missouri drone laws

What Missouri 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.

Missouri has two drone-specific criminal statutes, and both are the kind that catch working pilots rather than peeping toms. One covers stadiums, amphitheaters and critical infrastructure; the other covers prisons and jails. Neither regulates altitude or licensing in the abstract — they define places and make it an offense to be over them with a drone.

The detail that matters most is that the two treat you differently. The open-air facility and critical infrastructure statute, Mo. Rev. Stat. §577.800, does not apply to a drone used for a commercial purpose that is otherwise operating lawfully where the operator is FAA-authorized. The correctional center statute, Mo. Rev. Stat. §217.850, has no such carve-out: its FAA-related exemption reaches only a person operating pursuant to and in compliance with a waiver issued under 14 C.F.R. §107.200 — the FAA's waiver provision, which contemplates an actual certificate of waiver rather than the remote pilot certificate you already hold. Do not assume your certificate covers you at a Missouri prison.

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 Missouri gets a say

The FAA holds exclusive authority over aviation safety and the efficient use of the navigable airspace, and its State and Local Regulation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Fact Sheet of 14 July 2023 sets out the line. A state or city rule that fixes flight altitude, dictates flight paths, designates aerial routes, mandates geofencing, or imposes a pilot license on top of the Part 107 certificate is regulating in a preempted field.

Outside those fields, states retain real authority. The FAA's own list of what state and local government may still regulate includes land use and zoning, privacy, voyeurism, harassment, trespass, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, delivery of prison contraband, wildfire suppression, and photography of particular facilities such as water treatment plants, prisons and refineries — plus rules on where an aircraft may take off and land and where the operator may stand.

Missouri's two drone statutes read as place-based criminal provisions rather than airspace rules, which is the category the FAA treats as open to the states — but whether any particular application survives preemption is a question for a court, so plan around them rather than hoping they fall. One point cuts your way: 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 commercial operators are in some respects more insulated from state rules than hobbyists are.

Keep the 400-foot figures below in perspective. Where a Missouri statute says "four hundred feet," that is the statute's own trigger for a place-based offense, not a state ceiling on your flight. Your ceiling comes from Part 107, and no state can move it.

Missouri's drone-specific laws

Mo. Rev. Stat. §577.800 — unlawful use of unmanned aircraft over an open-air facility or critical infrastructure facility. A person commits the offense if he or she purposely operates an unmanned aircraft within a vertical distance of four hundred feet from the ground and within the property line of an open-air facility; uses one with the purpose of delivering certain prohibited objects to a person within an open-air facility; uses one within the boundary of any critical infrastructure facility; or operates one within a vertical distance of four hundred feet from the ground and within the property line of a critical infrastructure facility in furtherance of any violation of criminal law.

"Open-air facility" means any sports, theater, music, performing arts or other entertainment facility with a capacity of five hundred people or more and not completely enclosed by a roof or other structure. Five hundred, not five thousand — several widely circulated drone-law summaries get this number wrong, and it is the difference between a county fairground and a major league stadium.

Subsection 3 exempts facility employees, owners and operators; anyone with written consent from the facility's president or chief executive officer; on-duty law enforcement, fire and EMS personnel; government officials and employees; public utilities and rural electric cooperatives on conditions; and railroad employees. Subsection 6 adds the one that matters to you: the section does not apply to an operator of an unmanned aircraft being used for a commercial purpose that is otherwise operating lawfully, provided the operator is authorized by the FAA to conduct lawful operations in that airspace. The offense is an infraction unless the aircraft delivers a gun, knife, weapon or other article, including any explosive, that may endanger the life of an employee or guest (a class B felony) or a controlled substance (a class D felony). Each covered facility must post a warning sign at least eleven by fourteen inches in a conspicuous place. The section came from H.B. 1963 in 2020 and was amended in 2026, effective 12 June 2026 for H.B. 2637 and 3155 and 9 July 2026 for S.B. 1421.

Mo. Rev. Stat. §217.850 — unlawful use of unmanned aircraft over a correctional center. A person commits the offense if he or she purposely operates an unmanned aircraft within a vertical distance of four hundred feet over a correctional center's secure perimeter fence, or allows one to make contact with a correctional center, including any person or object on the premises of or within the facility. It reaches state correctional centers, private jails, and county or municipal jails, all of which must post the same eleven-by-fourteen-inch sign.

The exemptions mostly track §577.800, but the FAA-related one is narrower: it covers only a person operating pursuant to and in compliance with any waiver issued under 14 C.F.R. §107.200. Written consent from the chief administrative officer is the other realistic route. The offense is an infraction unless the aircraft delivers a weapon or other article that may endanger the life of an offender or correctional center employee (a class B felony), facilitates an escape under §575.210 (a class C felony), or delivers a controlled substance (a class D felony).

Critical infrastructure. Section 577.800 borrows the definition in Mo. Rev. Stat. §569.086, amended effective 28 August 2026. It covers a long list of facilities, whether operational or under construction, and it is broader than most people expect: refineries, electric generating and switching facilities and power lines, chemical and rubber plants, water and wastewater facilities, gas compressor stations and LNG terminals, telecommunications and broadband networks including cell towers and fiber lines, ports, rail yards and rail tracks, gas processing plants, broadcast transmitters, electric-arc steelmaking plants, CFATS-regulated sites, regulated dams, gas distribution and crude oil storage facilities, and grain mills. Unlike some states' versions, only the aboveground pipeline, tank and storage category carries a fence-or-sign condition; the rest are covered whether or not they are marked.

Landing on someone else's land. Mo. Rev. Stat. §305.030, a 1939 provision, states that flight in aircraft over the lands and waters of the state is lawful — unless at such a low altitude as to interfere with the then existing use to which the land, water or the space above it is put by the owner, or unless so conducted as to be imminently dangerous to persons or property lawfully beneath. It then provides that the landing of an aircraft on the lands or waters of another, without consent, is unlawful except in the case of a forced landing. Section 305.010 defines "aircraft" for that chapter as including balloons, airplanes, hydroplanes "and every other vehicle used for navigation through the air."

That low-altitude clause predates federal preemption by decades, and a state cannot set your operating altitude — that is the FAA's alone. The half of §305.030 that does useful work for you is the landing rule, a property provision of the kind states may enact. Get landowner consent in writing before you set a landing zone on private property.

Missouri has no drone-specific privacy statute. Neither §577.800 nor §217.850 says anything about photographing people, and aerial photography complaints here are argued under ordinary trespass, nuisance and harassment law. Be careful with one claim that circulates online: Mo. Rev. Stat. §542.525 is sometimes described as a drone surveillance law, but it says nothing about aircraft — it restricts state and local government employees from placing surveillance or game cameras on private property without landowner consent, a warrant, or internal authorization.

Where you can and cannot take off

Conservation areas. The Missouri Department of Conservation states that launching, landing or operating a UAS from a conservation area requires a special use permit. Its guidance, published under the heading of recreational drone flying, also tells operators to keep the aircraft within visual line of sight, not to fly over or near wildlife, and to stay away from populated and noise-sensitive areas such as campgrounds and trailheads; it names nature centers and staffed shooting ranges with heavy public use as inappropriate locations. Drones may be used to recover wounded black bear, deer, elk and turkey with prior authorization from a conservation agent.

State parks. Missouri State Parks takes a lighter approach. Its laws and regulations page states there are no laws prohibiting drones on state park grounds, asks operators to keep to the main, open day-use areas and be respectful of other visitors, and adds that if you will be taking photos for professional use or sale, there is a process to go through to gain approval. Treat a paid shoot as needing advance approval. We could not open the Missouri Code of State Regulations text for the park rules, so nothing is claimed here about the codified regulations — call the park.

What still applies everywhere

Missouri changes none of your federal obligations. 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, normally through LAANC, so know your airspace classes and check for TFRs. Anything outside the standard rules needs a waiver. Still studying? Run a practice test.

Frequently asked questions

Can I fly over a Missouri stadium for a client?

Only with care. Mo. Rev. Stat. §577.800 makes it an offense to purposely operate an unmanned aircraft below four hundred feet within the property line of an open-air facility holding five hundred or more. Subsection 6 excepts a commercial drone operating lawfully with FAA authorization, but written consent from the facility's president or CEO is the cleanest route.

Does my Part 107 certificate exempt me at a Missouri prison?

Not on the face of the statute. The FAA-related exemption in Mo. Rev. Stat. §217.850 reaches only a person operating under a waiver issued per 14 C.F.R. §107.200, which contemplates an actual certificate of waiver. A plain remote pilot certificate is not named. Get the chief administrative officer's written consent instead.

What counts as critical infrastructure in Missouri?

Section 577.800 borrows the definition in §569.086: refineries, electric generating and switching facilities, gas compressor stations and LNG terminals, water and wastewater plants, telecommunications and broadband networks, ports and rail yards, chemical and steelmaking plants, regulated dams, grain mills, and fenced or signed aboveground pipeline sections, among others. That definition was amended effective 28 August 2026.

Is a drone photo of someone's property illegal in Missouri?

No Missouri statute makes it an offense in itself. The state has no general drone privacy law, so a complaint would be brought under ordinary trespass, nuisance or harassment principles. That is not the same as saying you are safe — the argument turns on facts such as altitude, duration and what you recorded.

Do I need a permit to fly in a Missouri conservation area?

Yes. The Missouri Department of Conservation requires a special use permit to launch, land or operate an unmanned aerial system at a conservation area. That is separate from Missouri State Parks, which requires no permit for casual flying but does describe an approval process for photography intended for professional use or sale.

Sources

Neighboring states

IllinoisTennessee

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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