Senate Bill No. 515
(By Senators Bailey, McCabe, Bowman, Minard, Edgell,
Hunter,
Helmick, Love, Guills, Green, Unger, Stollings, Plymale, Jenkins,
White and Deem)
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[Introduced; referred to the Committee on Natural Resources; and
then to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §20-2-7 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to permissive hunting on private
property; and injury liability.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §20-2-7 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. WILDLIFE RESOURCES.
§20-2-7. Hunting, trapping or fishing on lands of another; damages
and compensation.
(a) It is unlawful for any person to shoot, hunt, fish or trap
upon the fenced, enclosed or posted lands of another person; or to
peel trees or timber, build fires or do any other act in connection
with shooting, hunting, fishing or trapping on such lands without
written permission in his or her possession from the owner, tenant or agent of the owner.
(b) Any person who hunts, traps or fishes on land without the
permission of the owner, tenant or agent of the owner is guilty of
a misdemeanor and liable to the owner or person suffering damage
for all costs and damages for: (1) Killing or injuring any
domestic animal or fowl; (2) cutting, destroying or damaging any
bars, gates or fence or any part of the property; or (3) leaving
open any bars or gates resulting in damage to the property.
(c) A land owner, tenant or agent of a land owner is not
liable for injuries sustained by an individual who hunts, traps or
fishes on land with the written permission of the owner, tenant or
land owner's agent, where such written permission is granted
without charge.
(c) (d) The owner, tenant or agent of the owner may arrest a
person violating this section and immediately take him or her
before a magistrate. The owner, tenant or agent of the owner is
vested with the powers and rights of a conservation officer for
these purposes. The officers charged with the enforcement of the
provisions of this chapter shall enforce the provisions of this
section if requested to do so by the owner, tenant or agent of the
owner, but not otherwise.
(d) (e) The provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of this
section related to criminal penalties and being subject to arrest
are inapplicable to a person whose dog, without the person's direction or encouragement, travels onto the fenced, enclosed or
posted land of another in pursuit of an animal or wild bird:
Provided, That the pursuit does not result in the taking of game
from the fenced, enclosed or posted land and does not result in the
killing of domestic animals or fowl or other damage to or on the
fenced, enclosed or posted land.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to shield property owners
from liability for injuries sustained by hunters who are granted
written permission, without charge, to hunt on the owner's lands.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.