Bannock County, ID Drone Rules: Recreational Drones (2026)

Chapter 12.20 of the Bannock County Municipal Code governs the Bannock County recreation and events services areas: property the county owns, manages, leases or holds under easement for recreation and events, expressly including the Bannock County Downey Fairgrounds, the Bannock County Events Center and the Portneuf Wellness Complex. Section 12.20.020 defines 'unmanned aircraft' broadly to include model airplanes, quadcopters and drones used for any purpose, whether recreation or commerce, including devices with photographic capabilities. Section 12.20.070(F) then bans operating, launching or landing any unmanned aircraft on those properties unless the board has given prior authorization, and it designates the areas as 'No Fly Zones,' extending the ban to drones launched from off-site property but flown over county recreation land.

This is a location-specific rule: it reaches only the fairgrounds, events center and wellness complex property inside unincorporated Bannock County, not private land or the rest of the unincorporated county, where FAA and state rules, not this chapter, control recreational drone flight. Enforcement runs through Section 12.20.030: the Bannock County Sheriff has authority at the Downey Fairgrounds, while the Sheriff, Chubbuck Police, Pocatello Police and Idaho Department of Fish and Game share enforcement authority at the Events Center and Portneuf Wellness Complex under an interagency agreement.

Officers or authorized security personnel may eject a person believed to be violating the chapter and may inspect, seize or confiscate a drone used, or reasonably believed to have been used, in a violation, under Section 12.20.130(A). Because unmanned aircraft use is not listed among the offenses the chapter deems a misdemeanor, a drone violation defaults to the general infraction penalty in Section 12.20.130(B).