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SB469 SUB1 Senate Bill 469 History

OTHER VERSIONS  -  Introduced Version  |  Committee Substitute (2)  |     |  Email
Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted

WEST virginia legislature

2017 regular session

Committee Substitute

for

Senate Bill 469

By Senators Takubo, Jeffries, Maynard and Cline

[Originating in the Committee on Natural Resources; reported on March 7, 2017]

 

 

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §20-2-5i, relating to prohibiting the wanton waste of game animals, game birds and game fish or parts thereof; providing exclusions; and setting forth misdemeanor criminal penalties and fines.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:


That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §20-2-5i, to read as follows:

ARTICLE 2. WILDLIFE RESOURCES.


§20-2-5i. Wanton waste of game animals, game birds or game fish; penalties.

(a) A person may not wantonly waste a game animal, game bird or game fish that has been wounded, killed or taken by the person while hunting or fishing.  This section does not apply to groundhogs or fur-bearing animals.

(b) For purposes of this section, “wanton waste” means:

(1) To detach or remove only the head, hide, feet, paws, claws, antlers, tusks, gallbladder or teeth, or some of these parts, from the carcass of a game animal;

(2) To detach or remove only the feathers, fan, beard or spurs, or some of these parts, from a game bird;

(3) To intentionally dispose of a game fish, or a portion of a game fish, suitable for human consumption in the fields, woods or streams;

(4) To leave a wounded or killed game animal or game bird in the fields or woods without making a reasonable effort to retrieve it for human consumption or other use.  However, a person is not required to retrieve a wounded game animal or game bird if the retrieval would violate other provisions of this article; or

(5) To transport, store or hang the carcass of a game animal, game bird or game fish in a manner that renders it unfit for human consumption.

(c) Any person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be subject to the following penalties:

(1) With respect to big game as defined in section two, article one of this chapter, a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $2,500, or confined in jail not less than ten days nor more than one hundred days, or both fined and confined.  Additionally, the person shall be subject to the applicable forfeiture provisions set forth in section five-a of this article.  Further, the person’s hunting and fishing licenses shall be suspended for five years.

(2) With respect to all other game animal, game birds or game fish, a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000, or confined in jail not less than ten days nor more than one hundred days, or both fined and confined.


 

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit the wanton waste of game animals, game birds or game fish.

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

 

 

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