Senate Bill No. 255
(By Senator Schoonover)
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[Introduced January 30, 1998; 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 thirty-four, article two,
chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to wildlife
resources; issuance of licenses; disposition of license
fees; and providing that if there is a dispute in the amount
of fees collected by the county commission, an audit of the
disputed records shall be conducted by the director at the
cost of the division of natural resources.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirty-four, 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.
§20-2-34. Disposition of license fees; reports of agents; special funds and uses.
All persons in this state who receive money for licenses and
permits required by this chapter shall, on the first day of each
month, pay over to the director all moneys so collected by them
during the preceding month. Such payment shall be accompanied by
a report showing, in the case of license money, the name of the
county, the class of license sold, the names and addresses of the
persons paying the same, the date of the receipt thereof, the
signature of the person receiving and remitting such funds, and
such other information as the director may deem necessary.
Except where other provisions of this chapter specifically
require and direct payment of any such moneys into designated
funds for specific uses and purposes, all moneys so received by
the director hereunder shall be by him promptly paid into the
state treasury and shall be credited to the department division
of natural resources and shall be further credited to and kept in
a separate fund designated "license fund--wildlife resources"
which shall be used and paid out, upon order of the director
solely for law enforcement and for purposes directly relating to
the conservation, protection, propagation and distribution of
wildlife in this state pursuant to the provisions of this
chapter.
No funds from the "license fund--wildlife resources" shall
be expended for recreational facilities or activities that are used by or for the benefit of the general public, rather than
purchasers of hunting and fishing licenses.
Of the annual license fund income, the director shall retain
ten percent for capital improvements and land purchases
benefiting state wildlife, forty percent shall be budgeted to the
wildlife resources division, forty percent to law enforcement and
ten percent apportioned by the director within provisions of this
section. Any unexpended moneys for capital improvements and land
purchases shall be carried forward.
All interest generated from game and fish license fees after
the thirty-first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety- one, shall be used by the director for the department division of
natural resources in the same manner as is provided for the use
of license fees.
If any dispute arises between the county commission and the
division relating to the accuracy of the fees collected by the
county commission for hunting and fishing licenses and the clerk
of the county commission challenges the accuracy of the figures
presented by the division of natural resources, the director
shall cause an audit to be made of the records of the county
commission for fees collected for hunting and fishing license and
the costs of the audit shall be paid by the division.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the Director of
the Division of Natural Resources to audit, at the cost of the
Division, the records of county commissions for hunting and
fishing license fees, when any dispute arises as to the accuracy
of the commission's records relating to these fees.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.