North Dakota drone laws layer federal aviation rules on top of state statutes covering weapons, privacy, stalking, hunting, and law enforcement surveillance. To fly legally in the state, you need to register with the FAA, hold the right certification for how you fly, follow Part 107’s operating rules and the Remote ID broadcast requirement, and stay clear of a handful of state-specific prohibitions that can turn a bad flight into a criminal charge.
Register Your Drone and Get Certified
Any drone weighing more than 0.55 pounds (250 grams) must be registered through the FAA DroneZone portal before it leaves the ground. Registration costs five dollars and lasts three years, whether you fly recreationally or commercially.1Federal Aviation Administration. How to Register Your Drone
What you need beyond registration depends on why you fly.
If you fly purely for fun, you must pass the Recreational UAS Safety Test (TRUST) before your first flight. It’s free, available online through FAA-approved administrators, and covers basic safety and regulatory knowledge. Keep the completion certificate on you and show it to any law enforcement officer or FAA personnel who asks.2Federal Aviation Administration. The Recreational UAS Safety Test (TRUST)
If you fly for any business purpose, including aerial photography for a client, crop surveying, or infrastructure inspection, you need a Remote Pilot Certificate under Part 107. That requires passing an aeronautical knowledge exam at an FAA-approved testing center. You must be at least 16, able to read and speak English, and in physical and mental condition to safely fly.3Federal Aviation Administration. Become a Certificated Remote Pilot The line turns on purpose. Photos of your own ranch are recreational; the same photos for a paying customer are commercial.
Where and How You Can Fly
Every flight in North Dakota has to follow the FAA’s operating rules under Part 107.4eCFR. 14 CFR Part 107 – Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems These apply directly to commercial pilots and set the practical ceiling for recreational flying too.
- Stay at or below 400 feet above ground level. You can go higher only within 400 feet of a structure, and never more than 400 feet above that structure’s top.
- Keep the drone in your visual line of sight the entire flight. Corrective lenses are fine; binoculars and FPV goggles alone are not.
- Do not fly over people who aren’t part of the operation unless they’re under a covered structure, inside a stationary vehicle, or you meet one of the FAA’s operational categories for flights over people.
- Do not fly in Class B, C, D, or surface-area Class E airspace without prior Air Traffic Control authorization. Most pilots get this through the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) system, which can approve flights below preset ceilings in near real time.
Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks, and Minot all sit in controlled airspace, so LAANC authorization is a routine step for flights in and around those cities. Check the FAA’s B4UFLY app or a comparable airspace tool before every flight.
Remote ID: The Digital License Plate
Most drones must broadcast identification and location information during flight under the FAA’s Remote ID rule. Compliance is mandatory nationwide, and non-compliance can bring fines and certificate suspension. There are three ways to satisfy it:5Federal Aviation Administration. Remote Identification of Drones
- Fly a Standard Remote ID drone, which is manufactured with built-in broadcast capability and transmits data for both the drone and the control station.
- Attach an FAA-approved Remote ID broadcast module to an older drone. The module broadcasts the drone’s ID and takeoff location, and you must maintain visual line of sight when using one.
- Fly inside an FAA-Recognized Identification Area (FRIA). Both you and the drone must stay within the FRIA boundaries and in visual line of sight for the whole flight.6Federal Aviation Administration. FAA-Recognized Identification Areas (FRIAs)
Drones sold in the last couple of years typically have Standard Remote ID built in. Older aircraft usually need the broadcast module.
Weapons on Drones Are Off Limits for Civilians
North Dakota drew national attention in 2015 as the first state to explicitly allow law enforcement to deploy less-than-lethal weapons from drones under Chapter 29-29.4 of the Century Code.7North Dakota Legislative Branch. North Dakota Century Code 29-29.4 – Surveillance by Unmanned Aerial Vehicle That rule is for police, not you.
For private citizens, the FAA prohibits attaching any weapon to a drone as a matter of federal law, and doing so can bring civil penalties or criminal charges. North Dakota’s Chapter 29-29.4 also broadly prohibits using drones for private surveillance or surveillance of constitutionally protected activities. Weaponizing a civilian drone is illegal under both federal and state law.
Privacy: Stalking and Surveillance Statutes
Two North Dakota criminal statutes apply directly to how you point your camera.
Stalking Covers Drones by Name
The stalking statute, N.D. Cent. Code § 12.1-17-07.1, defines “robot” to include remotely piloted aircraft, and it defines stalking to reach both an intentional course of conduct that frightens or intimidates a person and the unauthorized electronic tracking of someone’s movements or location. A first offense is a Class A misdemeanor carrying up to 360 days in jail and a $3,000 fine. With a prior conviction for stalking or certain violent offenses against the same victim, it becomes a Class C felony with up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.8North Dakota Legislative Branch. North Dakota Century Code 12.1-17-07.1 – Stalking9North Dakota Legislative Branch. North Dakota Century Code 12.1-32-01 – Classification of Offenses and Penalties A prosecutor does not need to prove you were told to stop; an attempt to contact or follow someone after being told to stop is treated as prima facie evidence of intent.
Looking Into Windows Is Disorderly Conduct
The disorderly conduct statute, N.D. Cent. Code § 12.1-31-01, makes it an offense to use a fixed optical device to view through another person’s windows or to use a surveillance camera to capture images from someone’s dwelling or accessory structure. If a law enforcement officer notifies you that your camera is capturing images of another person’s property, you have seven days to redirect or shield it before charges attach. Disorderly conduct is a Class B misdemeanor, up to 30 days in jail and a $1,500 fine.10North Dakota Legislative Branch. North Dakota Century Code 12.1-31-01 – Disorderly Conduct9North Dakota Legislative Branch. North Dakota Century Code 12.1-32-01 – Classification of Offenses and Penalties
Hunting: Keep the Drone Grounded
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department prohibits using drones to gain an unfair advantage while hunting. You cannot use a drone to locate, track, or drive wildlife during a hunting season, and using aerial footage to spot game for the purpose of taking them violates fair-chase principles enforced through state administrative rules. Violations can bring citations, license revocation, and equipment seizure. The safest practice is to keep the drone grounded during any active hunting outing.
Using a drone after a hunt to recover wounded game is a grayer area. Some commercial services offer thermal-drone recovery in North Dakota, but no statute or regulation explicitly authorizes it. Talk to your local game warden before trying it, because the line between “recovering” and “locating” may not look the same when a warden is writing the citation.
No-Fly Zones You Need to Know
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, in the North Dakota Badlands, is completely off limits. The National Park Service prohibits launching, landing, or operating any drone within the boundaries of every national park under Policy Memorandum 14-05. Violating the ban is a federal misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine.11U.S. National Park Service. Uncrewed Aircraft in the National Parks Your FAA registration and certificate don’t override it.
Controlled airspace around North Dakota’s airports requires LAANC authorization or manual FAA approval. Military installations, including sites in the western part of the state, maintain their own restricted airspace that shows on sectional charts and in drone apps. State parks and recreation areas don’t appear to be subject to a blanket statewide drone ban, but individual park managers may set local rules, so contact the specific park office before planning a flight.
A Note on Police Drones
North Dakota’s Chapter 29-29.4 also governs how police and other government agencies may use drones for surveillance, generally requiring a warrant before drone-collected evidence can be used in court, with narrow exceptions for border monitoring, exigent circumstances, disaster response, and educational research.12North Dakota Legislative Branch. North Dakota Century Code 29-29.4-02 – Limitations on Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems and Robots Those rules bind law enforcement, not private pilots, but they’re the reason North Dakota’s drone chapter exists and why the state’s civilian surveillance limits are as detailed as they are.