Senate Bill No. 80

(By Senator Anderson)

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[Introduced February 18, 1993; referred to the Committee
on Natural Resources; and then to the Committee on Finance.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-seven, article two, chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to allowing people who graduated from high school in West Virginia or who were born in West Virginia to purchase a resident hunting and fishing license.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-seven, article two, chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. WILDLIFE RESOURCES.

§20-2-27. Necessity for license.

Except as otherwise provided by law, no resident who has reached his fifteenth birthday and who has not reached his sixty- fifth birthday, and no nonresident shall at any time take, hunt, pursue, trap for, kill or chase any wild animals, wild birds, or fish for, take, kill or catch any fish, amphibians or aquaticlife of any kind whatsoever in this state without first having secured a license or permit, and then only during the respective open seasons, except that a nonresident who has not reached his fifteenth birthday may fish for, take, kill or catch any fish, amphibians or aquatic life of any kind whatsoever in this state without first having secured a license or permit. No person under the age of fifteen years shall hunt or chase any wild animals or wild birds upon lands of another unless accompanied by a licensed adult.
A resident or nonresident member of any club, organization or association, or persons owning or leasing a game preserve, or fish preserve, plant or pond in this state shall not hunt or fish therein without first securing a license or permit as required by law: Provided, however, That resident landowners or their resident children or bona fide resident tenants of such land may, without a permit or license, hunt and fish on their own land during open seasons in accordance with laws and regulations applying to such hunting and fishing unless such lands have been designated as a wildlife refuge or preserve.
Licenses and permits shall be of the kinds and classes set forth in this article, and shall be conditioned upon the payment of the fees established therefor: Provided, That any person who (a) was born in West Virginia; or (b) graduated from high school in West Virginia is eligible, upon proof of birth or graduation in West Virginia, to purchase a resident hunting and fishing license or permit.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow people who graduated from high school in West Virginia or who were born in West Virginia to purchase a resident hunting and fishing license.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.