ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 500
(Senator Fanning, original sponsor, By Request)
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[Passed March 4, 2004; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT 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
generally to the issuance of hunting and fishing licenses;
disposition of duplicate license fees; increasing fees;
promulgation of legislative rules; 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 commission in each county and other
persons designated by the director shall be license-issuing
authorities. Each license-issuing authority shall issue a license
to a license applicant if, in the opinion of the authority, the
license applicant is legally entitled to obtain the license applied for and pays the proper fee.
All materials and supplies necessary for the issuance of
licenses shall be furnished by the director to each person
authorized to issue licenses.
Each license shall bear a serial number and shall be signed by
the 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 a lost, destroyed or damaged license, upon receipt of a
verified application duly executed by the original license holder
and the payment to the issuing authority of a duplicate license fee
of one dollar.
§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 licenses for the purpose of resale.
(b) Except when a license is purchased from a state official,
every person making application for a license shall pay, in
addition to the license fee prescribed in this article, an
additional fee of 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 three dollars
as compensation: Provided, That only one issuing fee of 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 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. The form and content of
the sales report shall be prescribed by the director.
(b) Except where other provisions of this chapter specifically
require 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.
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 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 subaccount designated
"hunters helping the hungry fund".
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