# Arkansas HB1148: TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS PRIVACY ACT; AND TO ADDRESS CERTAIN IMAGES CAPTURED BY UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS. Arkansas HB1148, TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS PRIVACY ACT; AND TO ADDRESS CERTAIN IMAGES CAPTURED BY UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS., is a 2025 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Blake Johnson (Republican), DeAnn Vaught (Republican); status enacted, last action 2025-04-14 (Notification that HB1148 is now Act 597); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-16). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1148-2025 - As of: 2026-10-16 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Arkansas HB1148 - State: Arkansas - Session: 2025 Regular Session - Title: TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS PRIVACY ACT; AND TO ADDRESS CERTAIN IMAGES CAPTURED BY UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS. - Status: enacted - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2025-01-15 - Last action: 2025-04-14, Notification that HB1148 is now Act 597 - Sponsors: Blake Johnson (Republican), DeAnn Vaught (Republican) - Cosponsors: 1 - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 2 (130 yes, 0 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 4 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Drone users retain listed lawful uses: benefit, low. The law allows 25 categories of image capture, including owner consent, valid warrants, and specified public-property uses. Listed police and emergency uses cover pursuits, crime scenes, serious injuries, crashes, searches, disaster assessments, hazardous materials, fires, and rescues. Utilities, p… - Owners and renters can seek privacy damages: mixed, high. Owners and tenants can sue over unlawful drone images captured on their private property where they reasonably expected privacy. They can ask a court to stop violations. Damages are $5,000 for all images captured in one episode, or $10,000 for sharing or otherwise using images from one episode. Act… - Drone privacy protections bring new criminal penalties: mixed, medium. Using a drone to capture images of a person or private property for surveillance is a Class C misdemeanor. Possessing an image captured unlawfully under that rule is also a Class C misdemeanor. Possessing and sharing, displaying, distributing, or otherwise using it is a Class B misdemeanor; each im… - Infrastructure protections bring penalties for drone users: mixed, low. Knowingly surveilling, gathering information about, or recording critical infrastructure by drone requires the owner’s prior written consent unless an exception applies. A first offense is a Class B misdemeanor; a second or later offense is a Class A misdemeanor. Covered sites include power systems… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Blake Johnson (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: DeAnn Vaught (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Jon Milligan (Republican), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-04-08 | Senate | Senate Vote - Tuesday, April 8, 2025 8:30:04 PM | pass | 33 | 0 | | | 2025-04-02 | House | House Vote - Wednesday, April 2, 2025 2:40:27 PM | pass | 97 | 0 | | ## Actions (28) - 2025-04-14: Notification that HB1148 is now Act 597 (House) - 2025-04-09: Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's Office. (House) - 2025-04-09: TO BE ENROLLED (House) - 2025-04-09: Returned from the Senate as passed. (House) - 2025-04-08: Returned to the House as passed. (Senate) - 2025-04-08: Read the third time and passed. (Senate) - 2025-04-07: Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass (Senate) - 2025-04-02: Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to JUDICIARY COMMITTEE - SENATE (Senate) - 2025-04-02: Received from the House. (Senate) - 2025-04-02: Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. (House) - 2025-04-01: Returned by the Committee Do Pass (House) - 2025-03-11: REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED (House) - 2025-03-11: Amendment No. 5 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed. (House) - 2025-03-11: Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment. (House) - 2025-03-04: REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED (House) - 2025-03-04: Amendment No. 4 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed. (House) - 2025-03-04: Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment. (House) - 2025-02-17: REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED (House) - 2025-02-17: Amendment No. 3 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed. (House) - 2025-02-17: Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment. (House) - 2025-02-10: REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED (House) - 2025-02-10: Amendment No. 2 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed. (House) - 2025-02-10: Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment. (House) - 2025-02-05: REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED (House) - 2025-02-05: Amendment No. 1 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed. (House) - 2025-02-05: Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment. (House) - 2025-01-15: Read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on JUDICIARY COMMITTEE- HOUSE (House) - 2025-01-15: Filed (House) ## Bill text - HB1148 - Introduced, 2025-01-15: [PDF](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FBills%2F2025R%2FPublic%2FHB1148.pdf) - Act Version: [PDF](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2025R%2FPublic%2F&file=597.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2025%2F2025R) ## Related bills - HB1265: AN ACT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2025-2026 FISCAL YEAR. (enacted) - HB1686: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LICENSES TO CARRY CONCEALED HANDGUNS. (failed) - HB1237: TO PROHIBIT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS FROM SOLICITING INJURED INDIVIDUALS; AND TO SET PENALTIES FOR A VIOLATION OF THE PROHIBITION OF SOLICITATION OF INJURED INDIV… (failed) - SB440: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING EMBALMERS AND FUNERAL DIRECTORS; TO REGULATE THE USE OF ALKALINE HYDROLYSIS; AND TO REGULATE ALKALINE HYDROLYSIS FACILITIES. (failed) - HB1695: TO CLARIFY THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS FOR PROPERTY SUBJECT TO A MUNICIPAL LIEN; TO ALLOW A MUNICIPALITY TO PETITION TO SET ASIDE THE SALE OF PROPERTY TO CERTAIN P… (failed) - HR1012: TO AMEND THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY; TO REQUIRE THAT A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES BE SELECTED A… (failed) ## Sources - [HB1148 - Introduced (PDF)](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FBills%2F2025R%2FPublic%2FHB1148.pdf) - [Act Version (PDF)](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2025R%2FPublic%2F&file=597.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2025%2F2025R) ## Related - [HB1265: AN ACT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2025…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1265-2025) - [HB1686: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LICENSES TO CARRY CONCEALED HANDGUNS.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1686-2025) - [HB1237: TO PROHIBIT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS FROM SOLICITING INJURED INDIVIDUALS; AND TO S…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1237-2025) - [SB440: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING EMBALMERS AND FUNERAL DIRECTORS; TO REGULATE THE US…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-SB440-2025) - [HB1695: TO CLARIFY THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS FOR PROPERTY SUBJECT TO A MUNICIPAL LIEN; TO…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1695-2025) - [HR1012: TO AMEND THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HR1012-2025) - [Arkansas bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/arkansas/bills) - [Arkansas state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/arkansas) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1148-2025 (as of 2026-10-16).