Laser jammer laws by state

What a laser jammer is, and where it is banned

A laser jammer is a device that senses the infrared light pulses of a police lidar speed gun (lidar measures speed by timing laser pulses reflected off a vehicle) and transmits light of its own to interfere with the reading. A radar jammer does the same job against microwave police radar. The two are treated very differently in U.S. law, and that difference is the whole subject of this page.

Radar jammers are illegal under federal law in every state, because the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) prohibits the marketing, sale and operation of devices that jam authorized radio services, police radar included. No federal statute was found that bans laser jammers. Eleven states ban them by statute: California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia. Nebraska and the District of Columbia ban radar jamming devices in text that does not name laser. In the remaining 38 states no laser jammer statute was found.

"No statute found" is not the same as "legal." Those 38 rows rest on searches of official legislature sites conducted in October 2026, not on a full-text reading of every state code. Commercial vehicles and military installations carry separate rules that apply regardless of state. This page describes what statutes say; it is not legal advice, and current statute text should be checked before anyone relies on it.

Federal law: radar jammers are banned, laser jammers are outside FCC rules

The FCC's position on radar jammers is explicit. Its Enforcement Advisory No. 2011-03 states that the federal prohibition on jammers "applies to any type of jamming equipment, including devices that interfere with" cellular service, GPS, Wi-Fi and police radar. Operation is barred under 47 U.S.C. § 333, which prohibits willful or malicious interference; manufacture, marketing and sale are barred under 47 U.S.C. § 302a(b) and 47 C.F.R. § 2.803. The 2011 advisory listed forfeitures of up to $16,000 per violation or per day and up to $112,500 for a single act, plus equipment seizure and possible imprisonment. A 2012 consumer advisory said penalties "can exceed $100,000 per violation" and that a jammer may not be operated in the U.S. even on private property. Both sets of figures are dated; the FCC adjusts them for inflation.

The so-called passive radar jammer has been tested in court. In Rocky Mountain Radar, Inc. v. FCC, 158 F.3d 1118 (10th Cir. 1998), the court upheld an FCC order barring the marketing of the "Spirit II," which the FCC had found to be an intentional radiator that emits a radio signal to interfere with police radar. The argument that such a device "only reflects" radar did not succeed.

Laser jammers fall outside that framework. The FCC defines radio waves as electromagnetic waves below 3,000 GHz (47 C.F.R. § 2.1), and police lidar operates in infrared light at approximately 904 to 905 nanometers, according to NHTSA's lidar operator training manual. That manual states directly that a lidar transmitter used as a jamming device "does not violate FCC regulations." As light-emitting laser products, laser jammers are subject to the Food and Drug Administration's laser product performance standard, 21 CFR 1040.10, which applies to all laser products made after Aug. 1, 1976. That standard governs product safety and labeling, not whether a driver may use the device, and no FDA document naming laser jammers was found.

The 11 states that ban laser jammers by statute

Each statute below was read and either names laser or lidar or covers any police speed-measuring device. Minnesota and Oklahoma reach lidar through technology-neutral wording rather than the word "laser" in the ban itself. The Oklahoma and Tennessee texts were read on Justia mirrors rather than official sites, and the California and Texas texts on public.law mirrors, so those four should be confirmed against the official code.

Iowa Code § 321.232 is the clearest model of the type: a "speed detection jamming device" is any active or passive device that interferes with "the radar or laser" used by a peace officer, and the statute bans selling, operating or possessing one in a vehicle on Iowa highways, with seizure and forfeiture. The full text is in the Iowa Code.

Nebraska and D.C.: radar named, laser not

Blog lists frequently count Nebraska and Washington, D.C. as laser jammer bans. On the text, neither is.

• Nebraska. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-6,275 (Laws 1982, LB 32) bans operating or possessing a "radar transmission device" while driving on a highway, a Class IIIA misdemeanor. The section does not define the term and does not mention laser. No court decision was found that decides whether a lidar jammer counts.
• District of Columbia. 18 DCMR § 736 bars selling any device "designed to detect or counteract police radar" and using or possessing one in an automobile in the District, with an exemption for U.S. Armed Forces vehicles. Laser is not named, and whether a lidar jammer "counteracts police radar" is a matter of interpretation. The rule dates from a 1961 Commissioner's Order and was upheld against a federal preemption challenge in Smith v. District of Columbia, 436 A.2d 53 (D.C. 1981). It states no penalty.

Both jurisdictions clearly ban radar jammers, which are also illegal federally. A lidar-only jammer is not clearly covered by either text.

How the 11 statutes differ: possession, stowed devices and seizure

The bans are not uniform, and the differences decide whether a device in the trunk is an offense.

• Possession alone. California, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Tennessee make possessing or selling a device an offense.
• Use or installation in an operated vehicle. In Utah, Illinois, Virginia and Texas the offense turns on the device being in or installed in a vehicle being driven, or being used.
• Stowed-device exceptions. Illinois (625 ILCS 5/12-613(b)) exempts a device that is not operating and is in a locked opaque container or outside the passenger compartment. Utah (§ 41-6a-609(3)) gives an affirmative defense if the device was inoperative or not readily usable. Virginia (§ 46.2-1079(B)) requires both no power source and no ready access.
• Seizure. Iowa provides for forfeiture; Colorado and Tennessee for seizure and court-ordered destruction; Illinois requires the officer to seize the device. Virginia expressly does not authorize forfeiture.

Penalties range from an infraction in California and Utah to a Class B misdemeanor for active use in Tennessee. South Carolina caps the fine at $1,000, and Texas treats the offense as a Class C misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500. Several penalty amounts are set in general penalty sections outside the jammer statutes (Iowa, Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Utah and Virginia) and were not verified.

Because Iowa, Utah and Virginia tie the offense to a vehicle operated on their highways, the law that matters is the law where the car is being driven, not where the device was bought. Minnesota's ban is in Minn. Stat. § 169.14, subd. 12; lists that cite subdivision 13 are out of date, as subdivision 13 now covers speed safety cameras.

States where no laser jammer statute was found

No state statute banning laser jammers was found in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Radar jammers remain illegal in all of them under federal law.

Several of these states have considered bans that did not become law. Florida SB 1982 (2010), which would have barred jamming of "radar, laser, or other" speed devices, died in committee. New York bills to ban radar and laser jammers were introduced repeatedly from 2009 onward and did not pass. Michigan HB 5585 (2004) was introduced with no enactment found. Mississippi HB 1047 (2026) appeared in searches, but its text could not be retrieved, so its content and status are unverified. New Jersey's A3739 (2024-25) addresses cell and GPS signal jammers, not speed guns. In West Virginia and Pennsylvania, the speed-measurement statutes found govern radar and laser evidence, not jammers.

Commercial vehicles and military installations

Two sets of rules apply on top of state law. For commercial motor vehicles, 49 CFR 392.71 bars radar detectors, and 49 CFR 390.5 defines a radar detector to include devices that detect laser beams. FMCSA guidance on products advertised as radar jammers draws a line: devices that only reflect energy passively, or that transmit steadily on a police radar frequency, are not radar detectors, but devices that detect the incoming signal and then transmit on the same frequency do qualify as radar detectors and are banned in commercial vehicles. Most laser jammers also detect the lidar pulse before responding, but no FMCSA document was found that says whether a laser jammer counts as a radar detector, so that point is unverified.

Military installations write their own traffic codes. Fort Leavenworth's installation regulation bars operating a vehicle while using a radar or laser detection device or a jamming device, and that rule applies to every driver on post regardless of the surrounding state's law.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• NHTSA — Speed-Measuring Device (SMD) Lidar Participant Manual (2018, PDF)
• Iowa Legislature — Iowa Code § 321.232 Speed detection jamming devices — penalty (current code (amended 2013), PDF)
• Virginia General Assembly (Legislative Information System) — Code of Virginia § 46.2-1079 Radar detectors (current as of 2026, Statute (HTML))
• transition.fcc.gov/bureaus/eb/Public_Notices/DA-11-249A1.html
• fcc.gov/node/255409
• ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-A/part-2/subpart-A/section-2.1
• le.utah.gov/xcode/Title41/Chapter6A/41-6a-S609.html
• scstatehouse.gov/code/t56c005.php
• nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=60-6,275
• fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/enforcement/do-electronic-devices-which-are-advert…