Police authority to disable drones threatening public safety
Summary
Wisconsin Assembly Bill 629, which would have granted police authority to disable drones threatening public safety and established penalties, was vetoed by Governor Tony Evers on April 3, 2026. The bill had passed the Assembly 57-42 on February 17, 2026, and received Senate concurrence on March 17, 2026. The veto ends the legislative effort to create statutory authority for drone interception by law enforcement.
What changed
Assembly Bill 629 proposed to create statutory authority under Wisconsin statute 114.045 for law enforcement to disable drones deemed threatening to public safety, along with associated penalties. The bill attracted mixed support, passing the Assembly 57-42 and receiving Senate concurrence with narrow margins (5-3 in committee). Multiple amendments were adopted during the legislative process addressing procedural and substantive provisions.
With the Governor's veto, the bill will not become law and law enforcement agencies in Wisconsin will not gain new statutory authority to disable or intercept drones under this proposal. No compliance obligations were established. Organizations and advocacy groups may wish to monitor for future legislative efforts on this topic in Wisconsin or other jurisdictions.
Source document (simplified)
ChangeBridge / Wisconsin / AB629 Vetoed AB629 Assembly Bill Vetoed 2026-04-03
Police authority to disable drones threatening public safety and providing a penalty.
An Act to renumber and amend 114.045; to create 114.045 (1m), 114.045 (2m) (bm) and 114.045 (3m) of the statutes; Relating to: police authority to disable drones threatening public safety and providing a penalty.
Bill Details
State Wisconsin
Session 2025-2026 Regular Session
Chamber House
Official Source docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2025/proposals/re...
LegiScan View on LegiScan
Sponsors
Chuck Wichgers (Rep - R) Elijah Behnke (Rep - R) Barbara Dittrich (Rep - R) Joy Goeben (Rep - R) Dan Knodl (Rep - R) Tony Kurtz (Rep - R) Paul Melotik (Rep - R) David Murphy (Rep - R) Jeffrey Mursau (Rep - R) Julian Bradley (Sen - R) Andre Jacque (Sen - R) Howard Marklein (Sen - R) Steve Nass (Sen - R)
Action History
2026-04-03 A Report vetoed by the Governor on 4-3-2026 2026-04-02 A Presented to the Governor on 4-2-2026 2026-03-25 A Report correctly enrolled on 3-25-2026 2026-03-25 A LRB correction (Assembly Amendment 2 to Assembly Amendment 1) 2026-03-25 A LRB correction (Assembly Amendment 1 to Assembly Amendment 1) 2026-03-18 A Received from Senate concurred in 2026-03-17 S Ordered immediately messaged 2026-03-17 S Read a third time and concurred in 2026-03-17 S Rules suspended to give bill its third reading 2026-03-17 S Ordered to a third reading 2026-03-17 S Read a second time 2026-03-16 S Placed on calendar 3-17-2026 pursuant to Senate Rule 18(1) 2026-03-16 S Public hearing requirement waived by committee on Senate Organization, pursuant to Senate Rule 18 (1m), Ayes 3, Noes 2 2026-03-04 S Available for scheduling 2026-03-04 S Report concurrence recommended by Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, Ayes 5, Noes 3 2026-03-04 S Executive action taken 2026-02-20 S Read first time and referred to committee on Judiciary and Public Safety 2026-02-18 S Received from Assembly 2026-02-17 A Ordered immediately messaged 2026-02-17 A Read a third time and passed, Ayes 57, Noes 42 2026-02-17 A Rules suspended 2026-02-17 A Ordered to a third reading 2026-02-17 A Assembly Amendment 1 adopted 2026-02-17 A Assembly Amendment 2 to Assembly Amendment 1 adopted 2026-02-17 A Assembly Amendment 2 to Assembly Amendment 1 offered by Representative Wichgers 2026-02-17 A Assembly Amendment 1 to Assembly Amendment 1 adopted 2026-02-17 A Read a second time 2026-02-13 A Withdrawn from committee on Rules and referred to calendar of 2-17-2026 2026-02-11 A Assembly Amendment 1 to Assembly Amendment 1 offered by Representative Wichgers 2026-01-22 A Referred to committee on Rules 2026-01-22 A Report passage as amended recommended by Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety, Ayes 11, Noes 4 2026-01-22 A Report Assembly Amendment 1 adoption recommended by Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety, Ayes 11, Noes 4 2026-01-21 A Executive action taken 2026-01-20 A Assembly Amendment 1 offered by Representative Wichgers 2026-01-09 A Senator James added as a cosponsor 2025-12-03 A Public hearing held 2025-11-07 A Read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety 2025-11-07 A Introduced
Votes
2026-02-17 Assembly: Read a third time and passed Yea: 57 Nay: 42
Committee Referrals
2025-11-07 A Criminal Justice and Public Safety 2026-01-22 A Rules 2026-02-20 S Judiciary and Public Safety
Amendments
2026-01-20 Assembly Amendment 1 2026-02-11 Assembly Amendment 1 2026-02-17 Assembly Amendment 2
Bill Text Versions
2025-11-07 Introduced 0000-00-00 Enrolled Legislative data powered by LegiScan (CC BY 4.0)
Named provisions
Related changes
Source
Classification
Who this affects
Taxonomy
Browse Categories
Get Government General alerts
Weekly digest. AI-summarized, no noise.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime.
Get alerts for this source
We'll email you when Wisconsin Legislative Events publishes new changes.