Senate 900

WEST virginia legislature

2026 regular session

Introduced

Senate Bill 900

By Senator Weld

[Introduced February 10, 2026; referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary]

A BILL to amend and reenact §61-16-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to including jails, state correctional facilities, juvenile detention centers, and federal correctional facilities in the definition of the term "targeted facility".

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 16. USE OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS.

§61-16-1. Definitions.

As used in this article:

(1) "Aircraft" means any device now known or subsequently invented, used, or designed for flight in the air, including, but not limited to, unmanned aerial vehicles;

(2) "Targeted facility" means a critical infrastructure facility, as defined in § 61-10-34 of this Code, and shall also include any jail, state correctional facility, juvenile detention center, or federal correctional facility.

(3) "Unmanned aerial vehicles" means an aircraft that is operated without direct human intervention from inside or on the aircraft and includes the crewmember, the associated support equipment, the control station, data links, telemetry, communications, and navigation equipment necessary to operate the unmanned aircraft, including, but not limited to, drones;

(4) "Unmanned aerial vehicle operator" or "operator" means a person exercising control over an unmanned aerial vehicle during flight.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is criminalize the use of unmanned aerial vehicles over correctional and detention facilities.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.