Part 107 Ace

Utah drone laws

What Utah 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.

Start with a citation problem, because it will cost you if you get it wrong. Utah's drone statutes used to live in Title 72, Chapter 14. The Utah Code's own copy of that chapter is now stamped "Repealed 5/3/2023", and the provisions were renumbered into Title 72, Chapter 10, Parts 7 through 10 by Chapter 216 of the 2023 General Session. Any page, forum post or contract clause still citing "Utah Code 72-14-something" is quoting a repealed chapter.

With that out of the way, Utah is a comparatively friendly state to work in, and one provision explains why. Utah Code § 72-10-702 says the chapter does not apply to a person or business entity using an unmanned aircraft for legitimate educational or business purposes and operating the system in a manner consistent with applicable FAA rules, exemptions or other authorizations. The provisions that most reliably bite a commercial operator sit outside that chapter: criminal trespass, the wildland fire statute, and the permit rules on state park land.

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 Utah gets a say

The FAA holds exclusive authority over aviation safety and the efficient use of the navigable airspace. Its 2023 fact sheet on state and local regulation of UAS states the boundary: flight altitude, flight paths, designated aerial routes, mandatory geofencing and pilot licensing schemes are federal subjects, and state or local rules aimed at them are preempted. The fact sheet adds a point that matters below — states may not adopt FAA regulatory requirements and then enforce them as state law, because where Congress occupies a field, even parallel state regulation is impermissible.

Outside those fields the states keep their police powers — privacy, voyeurism, harassment, trespass, reckless endangerment, land use and zoning, wildfire suppression, prison contraband, and photography of particular facilities. States may also regulate where an aircraft takes off and lands, and where the operator stands.

Commercial operators are more exposed to preemption, not less: the Airline Deregulation Act preempts state laws that relate to the prices, routes or services of an operator with economic authority to provide interstate transportation, so a rule that is enforceable against a hobbyist can be preempted as applied to a paid Part 107 job. Keep that in mind reading Utah's safe-operation statute below, which restates federal altitude and line-of-sight rules almost word for word. The practical question in Utah is rarely "may I fly here" and usually "may I take off here, and what am I pointing the camera at".

Utah's drone-specific laws

§ 72-10-701 — preemption and business licensing. A political subdivision, or an entity within one, may not enact a law, ordinance or rule governing the private use of an unmanned aircraft or an advanced air mobility system unless the chapter authorizes it, or unless the political subdivision is an airport operator regulating operations within its airport boundaries or takeoff and landing at that airport. The chapter supersedes any local enactment made before 1 July 2022.

The section defines an "advanced air mobility business" as one operating a UAS for a commercial purpose that requires a certificate under 14 C.F.R. Part 107 or Part 135 — which is you. A political subdivision may require a business license only if you do not already hold a current one in good standing from another Utah political subdivision, may charge only the actual processing cost, may not require a second license or a per-employee fee, and must recognize a valid license issued elsewhere in the state.

§ 72-10-702 — applicability. The chapter does not apply to a person or business entity using an unmanned aircraft for legitimate educational or business purposes and operating the unmanned aircraft system in a manner consistent with applicable FAA rules, exemptions or other authorizations. Read that before assuming the operating rules below bind you at all.

§ 72-10-902 — weapons. A person may not fly an unmanned aircraft that carries a weapon or to which a weapon is attached. Violation is a class B misdemeanor. Exceptions exist for an FAA certificate of authorization or other written approval, a contract with the state or federal government, and Department of Defense airspace with DoD permission.

§ 72-10-903 — correctional facilities. An individual may not operate a UAS to carry or drop any item to or inside the property of a correctional facility, to remove any item from inside it, or in a manner that interferes with the facility's operations or security. Carrying, dropping or removing is a third degree felony; interference is a class B misdemeanor. The current version took effect 6 May 2026 and adds a narrow exception for mosquito abatement district staff.

§ 72-10-1002 — safe operation, and why it probably is not about you. Subsection (1) points the section at recreational flying: an individual operating a UAS for recreational purposes shall comply with this section or 49 U.S.C. § 44809. Most of what follows restates federal rules — visual line of sight, prior ATC authorization for Class B, C and D airspace and surface-area Class E, no interference with airport traffic patterns, no operation contrary to a notice to airmen under 14 C.F.R. § 107.47, and the 400-foot ceiling with its structure exception. Part 107 already imposes those duties on you, and the FAA's position is that a state cannot enforce parallel copies of them. Two rules are genuinely Utah's own: no operating from a public transit rail platform or station, or below 50 feet within a public transit fixed guideway right-of-way directly above the overhead power lines; and no operating over a surface critical infrastructure facility as defined in § 76-6-106.3 without the facility's prior authorization. Enforcement escalates from a written warning to an infraction to a class B misdemeanor, and a violator is liable for resulting damages. Nothing here lets Utah raise or lower your ceiling, extend your line of sight or issue your certificate.

§ 76-2-106. An actor may be found guilty of an offense committed with the aid of an unmanned aircraft where the system was under the actor's control at the time.

§ 76-6-206 — criminal trespass, and it reaches the air. Utah's trespass statute expressly covers causing an unmanned aircraft to enter and remain unlawfully over property. "Enter" means intrusion of the entire unmanned aircraft; "remain unlawfully" means remaining over private property not open to the public where the operator is not otherwise authorized to fly there. The offense still needs intent to cause annoyance or injury, intent to commit a crime other than theft or a felony, recklessness as to whether the aircraft's presence will cause fear for another's safety, or knowing entry after notice by personal communication, fencing or posted signs. It is a class B misdemeanor, or a class A misdemeanor in a dwelling, and it exposes you to statutory damages and attorney fees in a civil action by the owner.

§ 65A-3-2.5 — wildland fire. You may not fly inside a wildfire temporary flight restriction, or an area designated as a wildland fire scene on a government emergency information system, without the incident commander's permission and within the restrictions set. Reckless violation is a class B misdemeanor with a fine up to $2,500. It rises to a class A misdemeanor with a fine up to $5,000 where the flight makes a firefighting aircraft drop its payload somewhere other than the designated location, land without dropping it, or fail to take off at all; to a third degree felony on direct physical contact with a manned aircraft; and to a second degree felony where it is the proximate cause of a manned aircraft colliding with the ground, a structure or another manned aircraft. Two subsections cut the other way. Subsection (5) requires the incident commander to grant reasonable access to the fire area, and within three miles of it, to a "sanctioned entity" — a defined list that includes news media, utility providers, pipeline owners and operators, insurers and any FAA certificate of waiver or authorization holder — where the access relates to that entity's business and can be granted safely. Subsection (7) bars political subdivisions from writing their own wildfire drone rules.

Where you can and cannot take off

State parks are permit territory. Utah Admin. Code R651-635-1(1) provides that no Commercial Activity, privileged or Special Use may be conducted on division managed areas or property unless the division has provided a permit. The only carve-out, in R651-635-6, covers visitor-requested services such as towing, vehicle repair, ride share, emergency medical and food delivery — nothing reaching aerial work. R651-601-11 defines "Commercial Activity" as any activity, private or otherwise, for commercial gain or part of a scheme to obtain it, and lists sales of services. A paid aerial shoot in a Utah state park is a commercial activity and needs a permit.

Utah State Parks says the same thing on its own Personal Use Drone Flight Permission Form, which a park must sign before a recreational flight: it "authorizes personal use only" and "any commercial use is strictly prohibited without Special Use Permit (SUP)".

Individual parks then layer seasonal closures on top, and they are strict. Dead Horse Point prohibits drones throughout the park from March through October, requires a $10-per-day permit from 1 November through the end of February, and closes the main viewpoint to drone operation entirely. Antelope Island prohibits drones from March through November and allows them December through February on a permit signed and paid for at the visitor center, currently $15 for one day or $30 for a multi-day permit; the Davis County Causeway is not part of the park and is not subject to those permitting rules. Both parks route commercial work through the Special Use Permit process rather than the recreational permit.

A single statewide state parks rule text for drone operation could not be opened during this check — the Utah Administrative Code site refused automated access — so nothing beyond R651-601 and R651-635 is quoted here. Contact the specific park before the job. Federal land is separate again: Utah's national parks and monuments run on National Park Service rules, and BLM and Forest Service land on their own.

What still applies everywhere

Utah changes none of the federal core. You need a remote pilot certificate under Part 107, FAA aircraft registration, flight at or below 400 feet AGL or within 400 feet of a structure, visual line of sight unless waived, 3 statute miles of flight visibility from the control station, and cloud clearances of 500 feet below and 2,000 feet horizontally.

Controlled airspace still requires authorization, normally through LAANC, and the Wasatch Front stacks a lot of it into a small area — see what each airspace class demands. Wildfire TFRs are a summer fixture here and carry real criminal exposure, so read TFRs and special use airspace before flying near smoke. Anything outside the rules is a federal waiver, and no Utah agency can grant one.

Frequently asked questions

Why do other sites cite Utah Code 72-14?

Because they have not updated. The Utah Code marks Title 72, Chapter 14 as repealed effective 3 May 2023, and its drone provisions were renumbered into Title 72, Chapter 10, Parts 7 through 10 by Chapter 216 of the 2023 General Session. Much of the substance carried over, but every section number changed. Cite the Chapter 10 numbers.

Can a Utah city ban my commercial drone work?

Not by ordinance. Under § 72-10-701, a political subdivision may not enact a law, ordinance or rule governing the private use of an unmanned aircraft unless the chapter authorizes it, or unless it is an airport operator regulating its own airport. The chapter supersedes local enactments made before 1 July 2022, and federal preemption independently bars local altitude or flight-path rules.

Does Utah's safe operation statute add rules on top of Part 107?

Largely no. Section 72-10-1002(1) directs the section at recreational operators, and § 72-10-702 excludes business use consistent with FAA authorizations. Its line-of-sight, airspace-authorization and 400-foot provisions simply mirror Part 107, which already binds you. The genuinely state-specific items are the public transit and critical infrastructure restrictions.

Is flying over private property a crime in Utah?

It can be. Section 76-6-206 covers causing an unmanned aircraft to enter and remain unlawfully over private property that is not open to the public where the operator is not otherwise authorized. It still requires intent, recklessness as to causing fear, or knowing entry after notice by personal communication, fencing or signs, and it carries civil damages as well as a criminal grade.

Do I need a permit for a paid shoot in a Utah state park?

Yes. R651-635-1(1) requires a division permit for any Commercial Activity on division managed property, and R651-601-11 defines commercial activity to include sales of services. Utah State Parks' own drone permission form says it covers personal use only and that commercial use requires a Special Use Permit. Individual parks add seasonal closures and fees.

Sources

Neighboring states

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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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