Andrew Fiske is an Attorney in the
Chicago office
Effective immediately, the Illinois General Assembly has
pre-empted all Illinois municipalities other than Chicago,
including home rule municipalities, from regulating "unmanned
aircraft systems," commonly referred to as "drones."
Going forward, the law prohibits municipalities from adopting
ordinances or resolutions regulating drones, and any existing
municipal regulations outside of Chicago have been deemed
unenforceable.
On Aug. 3, 2018, Gov. Bruce Rauner signed Public Act 100-0735 (the Act), which takes
immediate effect and amends the Illinois Aeronautics Act to
preclude Illinois municipalities with a population of less than 1
million from enacting "an ordinance or resolution to regulate
unmanned aircraft systems." 620 ILCS 5/42.1(b). This means
that all Illinois municipalities other than Chicago are precluded
from regulating "unmanned aircraft systems," which the
Act defines as "an unmanned aircraft and its
