Illinois lawmaker seeks to ban drones around prisons

An Illinois state senator has proposed a bill in an attempt to stop inmates and their accomplices from conspiring to bring contraband into Illinois prisons using drones.

Senate Bill 2344 from Sen. Tim Bivins, R-Dixon, would add a year of prison time for any inmate working to bring in drugs, weapons, alcohol and other prohibited items into prisons.

Illinois statutes specifies various penalties for different types of contraband -- bringing in a controlled substance is a Class 1 offense and can carry a sentence of 15 years in prison. Bivins' bill would add another year for anyone found trying to bring in prohibited materials using a drone.

Operating a drone in navigable airspace over a prison would be a class A misdemeanor, according to the bill. If a person knowingly photographs a prison using a drone, they can face a class 4 felony charge. The bill was assigned to the Senate Criminal Law Committee on Feb. 3.

"You shouldn't have the ability to fly over a prison, whether you're dropping contraband or not," Bivens said to the Associated Press.

So far, Tennessee is the only state restricting the use of drones over prisons.

Illinois Department of Corrections spokeswoman Nicole Wilson said there has not been an incident where people have tried to smuggle items into an Illinois prison using a drone.

"However, the department is taking a proactive approach to ensure that it does not," Wilson wrote in an email about drones and contraband.

Drones are becoming a more common smuggling tool, with several incidents occurring in prisons in other states.

A drone carrying mobile phones, methamphetamine, marijuana, heroin, cigarettes, cigars and hacksaw blades in a bundle affixed with fishing line crashed on prison grounds in October after clipping razor wire at a Oklahoma state penitentiary.

Two suspects were apprehended in August in Maryland under the suspicion they would use a drone to fly pornographic DVDs, synthetic marijuana, buprenorphine (an opioid narcotic), tobacco and rolling papers into a prison in Cumberland, Maryland.

Smugglers had more success at the Mansfield Correctional Institute in Ohio in July when they dropped a package of heroin, marijuana and tobacco into the recreation yard, sparking a fight among nine inmates over the package's contents.

Missouri state Rep. Paul Fitzwater, R-Farmington, said drone use was mentioned in a recent Corrections Committee meeting on his bill, HB 1837, that would make cell phones illegal in prisons, complete with a penalty of a class D felony for smuggling one into a prison. Fitzwater said cell phones in prison seems somewhat innocuous, but they can create dangerous situations when prisoners are moved and accomplices intercept corrections officers en route with texted tips from the inmate.

"They're in prison for a reason," Fitzwater said. "The safety and security of officers is important."

Fitzwater can't remember Missouri ever having people try to smuggle items into prisons using a drone, but he said he may consider modifying his bill or introducing a new bill similar to the legislation proposed by Bivins.

"It's going to be a real problem," Fitzwater said of smuggling with drones.

Associated Press Reporter Ivan Moreno contributed to this report.

bkleine@semissourian.com

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