---
type: "Bill"
title: "A bill for an act prohibiting the use of remotely piloted aircraft flying over farm property, and making penalties applicable."
description: "A bill for an act prohibiting the use of remotely piloted aircraft flying over farm property, and making penalties applicable."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ia"
legislature: "Iowa General Assembly"
session: "2025-2026"
identifier: "SF 491"
citation: "Iowa SF 491 (2025-2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["agricultural land", "aircraft", "airports", "commodities", "crops", "drones", "farming", "homesteads", "implements of husbandry", "livestock", "property", "real property", "surveillance"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 6
action_count: 26
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2025-03-04"
last_action: "2025-05-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c5e72b1d-7eb7-4b78-b492-b335570ae41c"
source_url: "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/billTracking/billHistory?billName=SF 491&ga=91"
source_hash: "946d3d535047c14752cfea76a8ef4d90e3e6b866d89c74484019b305367c660d"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ia"]
---

# Iowa SF 491 (2025-2026) — A bill for an act prohibiting the use of remotely piloted aircraft flying over farm property, and making penalties applicable.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/LGI/91/attachments/SF491.html)
2. **Amendment H-1215** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/AMDI/91/H1215.pdf)
3. **Amendment S-3086** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/AMDI/91/S3086.pdf)
4. **Enrolled with Governor's Action** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/LGEG/91/attachments/SF491.html)
5. **Signed Enrolled Bill (PDF)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/LGE/91/Attachments/SF491_GovLetter.pdf)
6. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/LGE/91/attachments/SF491.html)

## Votes

- Shall the bill pass? — **89–7** (pass) · lower
- Shall the bill pass? — **43–3** (pass) · upper
- Shall the bill pass? — **42–8** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION — primary (organization)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2025-03-04** Introduced, placed on calendar. `introduction`
- **2025-03-04** Committee report, approving bill. `committee-passage`
- **2025-03-14** Fiscal note.
- **2025-03-17** Passed Senate, yeas 43, nays 3. `passage`
- **2025-03-17** Immediate message.
- **2025-03-17** Message from Senate.
- **2025-03-18** Read first time, referred to Agriculture. `reading-1`
- **2025-03-19** Subcommittee: Wulf, Scholten and Sexton.
- **2025-03-25** Subcommittee Meeting: 03/27/2025 8:45AM House Lounge.
- **2025-03-27** Subcommittee recommends passage. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-04-01** Committee report, recommending amendment and passage. `committee-passage`
- **2025-04-01** Committee vote: Yeas, 20. Nays, 3.
- **2025-04-02** Placed on calendar.
- **2025-04-02** Committee amendment H-1215 filed. `amendment-introduction`
- **2025-04-08** Committee amendment H-1215 adopted. `amendment-passage`
- **2025-04-08** Passed House, yeas 89, nays 7. `passage`
- **2025-04-24** Explanation of vote.
- **2025-04-08** Immediate message.
- **2025-04-08** Message from House, with amendment S-3086.
- **2025-04-09** Fiscal note.
- **2025-04-28** Senate concurred with S-3086.
- **2025-04-28** Passed Senate, yeas 42, nays 8. `passage`
- **2025-04-28** Immediate message.
- **2025-04-29** Message from Senate.
- **2025-05-06** Reported correctly enrolled, signed by President and Speaker, and sent to Governor.
- **2025-05-06** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c5e72b1d-7eb7-4b78-b492-b335570ae41c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Iowa legislature records).