COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 4477
(By Delegates Yeager and Poling)
(
Originating in the Committee on Agriculture
and Natural Resources)
[February 27, 2004]
A BILL to amend and reenact §20-2-32, §20-2-33 and §20-2-34 of the
code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to the
issuance of hunting and fishing licenses and the amount of and
disposition of fees.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §20-2-32, §20-2-33 and §20-2-34 of the code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 2. WILDLIFE RESOURCES.
§20-2-32. Issuance of licenses; duplicate licenses.
The clerk of the county court commission in each county and
such other persons as are designated by the director shall be the
license issuing authorities. hereunder Each license issuing
authority shall issue a license to a license applicant if, in the
opinion of such the authority, the license applicant is legally
entitled to obtain the license applied for and pays the proper fee. therefor
All materials and supplies necessary for the issuance of
licenses shall be furnished by the director to every each person
authorized to issue the licenses.
Each license shall bear a serial number and shall be signed by
the issuing authority licensee. The issuing authority shall keep
an accurate record, in the form and manner prescribed by the
director, of all licenses issued and of all money collected as
license fees.
Any license issuing authority may issue a duplicate license,
to replace any a lost, destroyed or damaged license, upon receipt
of a verified application therefor duly executed by the original
license holder and the payment by such applicant to the issuing
authority of a duplicate license fee of one dollar. which shall be
paid to the director as provided in section thirty-four hereof
§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 shall pay, in
addition to the license fee prescribed in this article, an
additional fee of seventy-five cents three dollars 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 three dollars as compensation:
Provided, That only one issuing fee of seventy-five cents or one
dollar three dollars 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 a person with a lifetime license
or a person who has paid the original additional fee of three
dollars to a county official or issuing agent for a license shall
only be charged an additional fee of one dollar as additional
compensation when subsequently purchasing an additional license
from a county official or issuing agent:
Provided further, 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.
(d) The director may propose rules for legislative approval in
accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code, governing the management of issuing
agents.
§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 deposit the moneys into an account at a
financial institution at intervals designated by the director with
the approval of the state treasurer. The payment shall be
accompanied by a sales 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 The form and content of the sales report shall be prescribed by the
director.
(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 of the "license fund-wildlife resources" for capital
improvements and land purchases benefitting 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 subaccount designated "hunters helping the hungry fund."