WEST virginia Legislature
2017 regular session
By
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to the Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources then Finance.
A BILL to amend and
reenact §20-2-28 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to
exempting all veterans of the Armed Forces or any Reserve component thereof
from having to obtain a hunting, trapping or fishing license.
Be it enacted by the
Legislature of West Virginia:
That §20-2-28 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. WILDLIFE RESOURCES.
§20-2-28. When licenses or permits not required.
Persons in the following categories are not required to
obtain licenses or permits as indicated:
(a) Bona fide resident landowners or their resident children,
or resident parents, or bona fide resident tenants of the land may hunt, trap
or fish on their own land during open season in accordance with the laws and
rules applying to hunting, trapping and fishing without obtaining a
license, unless the lands have been designated as a wildlife refuge or
preserve.
(b) Any bona fide resident of this state who is totally blind
may fish in this state without obtaining a fishing license. A written statement or certificate from a
duly licensed physician of this state showing the resident to be totally blind
shall serve in lieu of a fishing license and shall be carried on the person of
the resident at all times while he or she is fishing in this state.
(c) All residents of West Virginia on active duty in the Armed
Forces of the United States of America, while on leave or furlough, may hunt,
trap or fish in season in West Virginia without obtaining a license. Leave or
furlough papers shall serve in lieu of any license and shall be carried on the
person at all times while trapping, hunting or fishing.
(d) In accordance with the provisions of section twenty-seven
of this article, any resident sixty-five years of age or older before January
1, 2012, is not required to have a license to hunt, trap or fish during the
legal seasons in West Virginia, but in lieu of the license the person shall at
all times while hunting, trapping or fishing carry on his or her person a valid
West Virginia driver's license or nondriver
identification card issued by the Division of Motor Vehicles.
(e) Except as otherwise provided for in this section,
residents of states that share river borders with the State of West Virginia
who carry hunting or fishing licenses valid in that state may hunt or fish
without obtaining licenses, but the hunting or fishing shall be confined to the
fish and waterfowl of the river proper and not on its tributaries: Provided, That the state shall first
enter into a reciprocal agreement with the director extending a like privilege
of hunting and fishing to licensed residents of West Virginia without requiring
the residents to obtain that state's hunting and fishing
licenses.
(f) Residents of the state of Ohio who carry hunting or
fishing licenses valid in that state may hunt or fish on the Ohio River or from
the West Virginia banks of the river without obtaining licenses, but the
hunting or fishing shall be confined to fish and waterfowl of the river proper
and to points on West Virginia tributaries and embayments identified by the
director: Provided, That the
state of Ohio shall first enter into a reciprocal agreement with the director
extending a like privilege of hunting and fishing from the Ohio banks of the
river to licensed residents of West Virginia without requiring the residents to
obtain Ohio hunting and fishing licenses.
(g) Any resident of West Virginia who was honorably
discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States of America and who
receives a veteran's pension based on total permanent
service-connected disability as certified to by the Veterans Administration or any Reserve component thereof may hunt, trap or
fish in this state without obtaining a license. The director shall propose
rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article
three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code setting forth the procedure for the
certification of the veteran, manner of applying for and receiving the
certification and requirements as to identification while the veteran is
hunting, trapping or fishing.
(h) Any disabled veteran who is a resident of West Virginia
and who, as certified to by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, is eligible to
be exempt from the payment of any fee on account of registration of any motor
vehicle owned by the disabled veteran as provided in section eight, article
ten, chapter seventeen-a of this code shall be permitted to hunt, trap or fish
in this state without obtaining a license. The director shall propose rules for
legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code setting forth the procedure for the
certification of the disabled veteran, manner of applying for and receiving the
certification and requirements as to identification while the disabled veteran
is hunting, trapping or fishing.
(i) (h) Any resident or
inpatient in any state mental health, health or benevolent institution or
facility may fish in this state, under proper supervision of the institution
involved, without obtaining a fishing license. A written statement or
certificate signed by the superintendent of the mental health, health or
benevolent institution or facility in which the resident or inpatient, as the
case may be, is institutionalized shall serve in lieu of a fishing license and
shall be carried on the person of the resident or inpatient at all times while
he or she is fishing in this state.
(j) (i) Any resident who is
developmentally disabled, as certified by a physician and the Director of the
Division of Health, may fish in this state without obtaining a fishing license.
As used in this section, "developmentally disabled" means a person
with a severe, chronic disability which:
(1) Is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or a
combination of mental and physical impairments;
(2) Is manifested before the person attains age twenty-two;
(3) Results in substantial functional limitations in three or
more of the following areas of major life activity:
(A) Self-care;
(B) Receptive and expressive language;
(C) Learning;
(D) Mobility;
(E) Self-direction;
(F) Capacity for independent living; and
(G) Economic self-sufficiency; and
(4) Reflects the person's need for a
combination and sequence of care, treatment or supportive services which are of
lifelong or extended duration and are individually planned and coordinated.
(k) (j) A student eighteen
years of age or younger receiving instruction in fly fishing in a public,
private, parochial or Christian school in this state may fly fish in the state
for catch and release only without obtaining a fishing license while under the
supervision of an instructor authorized by the school.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt all
veterans of the Armed Forces or any reserve component thereof from having to
have hunting, trapping and fishing licenses.
Strike-throughs indicate language
that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring
indicates new language that would be added.