North Dakota OKs Less-Lethal Drones

Before the bill was passed in February, there was nothing stopping Law enforcement from using drones for surveillance without a search warrant. That's changed now, with several exceptions including border patrol, emergencies, and training.

There was also no regulation on the type of force that could be used by drones - they're now limited to non-lethal tactics like TASERs and tear gas.

While the Grand Forks Sheriff's Department has the use of drones, there are none owned or used by law enforcement in the Fargo area.

It's legal for law enforcement in North Dakota to use unmanned aircraft systems, commonly called drones. Now House Bill 1328 explicitly states that they may be used to deploy non-lethal force and restricts how departments can use the unmanned aircraft to gather evidence, reports WDAY .

One of the bill's sponsors, Representative Rick Becker, says a main goal was to make sure civil liberties are respected.