
ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2240
(By Delegates Boggs and Yeager)
[Passed March 8, 2003; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to
amend and reenact sections thirty, thirty-three, thirty-
four and forty-three, article two, chapter twenty of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended; and to further amend said article by adding thereto
a new section, designated section thirty-three-a, all relating
generally to hunting and fishing license applications and
fees; statement of eligibility for license; false statement;
electronic application for license to apprise applicant of
hunters helping the hungry program; voluntary donations;
creating subaccount designated "hunters helping the hungry
fund"; authorized expenditures; establishing a Class J license
for small game preserves; and technical amendments.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections thirty, thirty-three, thirty-four and forty-
three, article two, chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and
reenacted; and that said article be further amended by adding
thereto a new section, designated section thirty-three-a, all to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. WILDLIFE RESOURCES.
§20-2-30. Application and statement of eligibility for licenses;
procuring license in violation of chapter.





(a) Each person who applies for any class of license must
state to the issuing agent that he or she is eligible for and has
satisfied all prerequisites required by this chapter for that class
of license.





(b) It is unlawful for a person to make a false statement when
applying for any license issued pursuant to the provisions of this
chapter.
§20-2-33. Authority of director to designate agents to issue
licenses; bonds; fees.
(a) The director may appoint, in addition to the clerk of the
county commission, agents to issue licenses under the provisions of
this article to serve the convenience of the public. Each person
appointed shall, before issuing any license, file with the director
a bond payable to the state of West Virginia, in the amount to be
fixed by the director, conditioned upon the faithful performance of
his or her obligation to issue licenses only in conformity with the provisions of this article and to account for all license fees
received by him or her. The form of the bond shall be prescribed
by the attorney general. No person, other than those designated as
issuing agents by the director, may sell licenses or buy the
licenses for the purpose of resale.
(b) Except when a license is purchased from a state official,
every person making application for a license must pay, in addition
to the license fee prescribed in this article, an additional fee of
seventy-five cents to any county official issuing the license and
all fees collected by county officials must be paid by them into
the general fund of the county treasury or, in the case of an agent
issuing the license, an additional fee of one dollar as
compensation: Provided, That only one fee of seventy-five cents or
one dollar may be collected by county officials or authorized
agents, respectively, for issuing two or more licenses at the same
time for use by the same person or for issuing combination resident
statewide hunting, trapping and fishing licenses: Provided,
however, That licenses may be issued electronically in a manner
prescribed by the director, and persons purchasing electronically
issued licenses may be assessed, in addition to the license fee
prescribed in this article, an electronic issuance fee to be
prescribed by the director.
(c) In lieu of the license issuance fee prescribed in
subsection (b) of this section, the director shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of
article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, governing the
application for and issuance of licenses by telephone and other
electronic methods.
§20-2-33a. Electronic application to apprise applicant of hunters
helping the hungry program; check-off donations;
special fund continued; authorized expenditures.
(a)(1) Every application for electronic license shall include
a solicitation for a voluntary donation to the division's
previously established hunters helping the hungry program.
(2) The license applicant will be offered an opportunity to
designate a donation in any amount to the hunters helping the
hungry program.
(b)There is hereby created a subaccount, designated the
"hunters helping the hungry fund", within the special revenue
account established in section thirty-four of this article, into
which all donations derived under this section shall be deposited.
Moneys in the subaccount shall be expended solely for the purposes
set forth in subsection (c) of this section. Funds paid into the
subaccount may also be derived from the following sources: (1) All
interest or return on investment accruing to the subaccount; (2)
Any gifts, grants, bequests, transfers, appropriations or other
donations which may be received from any governmental entity or
unit or any person, firm, foundation, or corporation; and (3) any appropriations by the Legislature which may be made for the
purposes of this section. Any balance including accrued interest
and other earnings at the end of any fiscal year shall not revert
to the general fund but shall remain in the fund for the purposes
set forth in this section.
(c) The moneys in the fund will be paid out, at the direction
of the director, to eligible participants for the butchering of
game carcasses and for the expenses related to the acquisition and
distribution of food to the needy residents of West Virginia.
(d) For purposes of this section, "eligible participant" means
a nonprofit organization that coordinates, with the division of
natural resources and other entities, a statewide system for the
distribution of meat products derived from the butchering of
donated game carcasses by a person licensed under the provisions of
article two-b, chapter nineteen of this code.
§20-2-34. Disposition of license fees and donations; reports of
agents; special funds and uses.
(a) All persons in this state who receive money for licenses
and permits required by this chapter, or as donations for the
hunters helping the hungry program, shall, on the first day of each
month, pay over to the director all moneys so collected by them
during the preceding month. The payment shall be accompanied by a
report showing, in the case of license fees and donated money, the
name of the county, the class of license sold, the amount of any donation, the names and addresses of the persons paying the license
fees and donated moneys, the date of the receipt, the signature of
the person receiving and remitting the funds, and other
information the director determines necessary.
(b) Except where other provisions of this chapter specifically
require and direct payment of moneys into designated funds for
specific uses and purposes, all license fees received by the
director shall be promptly paid into the state treasury and
credited to the division of natural resources "license fund--
wildlife resources" which shall be used and paid out, upon order of
the director solely for law enforcement and for other 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" may 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 division of natural resources
in the same manner as is provided for the use of license fees.
(c) Moneys received as donations to the hunters helping the
hungry program shall be deposited in the hunters helping the hungry
fund.
§20-2-43. Class E, Class EE, Class F, Class H and Class J licenses
for nonresidents.
(a) The licenses in this section are required of nonresidents
to hunt, trap or fish in West Virginia.
(1) A Class E license is a nonresident hunting and trapping
license and entitles the licensee to hunt or trap all legal species
of wild animals and wild birds in all counties of the state except
when other licenses or permits are required. The fee for the
license is one hundred dollars.
(2) A Class EE license is a nonresident bear hunting license
and entitles the licensee to hunt bear in all counties of the
state, except when additional licenses or permits are required.
The fee for the license is one hundred fifty dollars.
(3) A Class F license is a nonresident fishing license and
entitles the licensee to fish for all fish in all counties of the
state except when additional licenses or permits are required. The fee for the license is thirty dollars. Trout fishing is not
permitted with a Class F license unless the license has affixed to
it an appropriate trout stamp as prescribed by the division of
natural resources.
(4) A Class H license is a nonresident small game hunting
license and entitles the licensee to hunt small game in all
counties of the state, except when additional licenses or permits
are required, for a period of six days beginning with the date it
is issued.
The fee for the license is twenty dollars. As used in this
section, "small game" means all game except bear, deer, wild turkey
and wild boar.
(5) A Class J license is a nonresident small game shooting
preserve license and entitles the licensee to hunt small game on
designated shooting preserves, except when additional licenses or
permits are required, for a period of six days beginning with the
date it is issued. The fee for the license is ten dollars.