MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2000 Regular Session

To: Wildlife and Fisheries

By: Senator(s) Posey

AN ACT TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 49-7-3, 49-7-17, 49-7-20, 49-7-21 AND 49-7-163 FOR REVISION TO ALLOW PURCHASE OF HUNTING LICENSES VIA THE INTERNET; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 49-7-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, brought forward as follows:

49-7-3. (1) Any resident of the State of Mississippi shall be entitled to receive a resident fishing license.

(2) Any person domiciled within the State of Mississippi shall be entitled to receive a resident hunting license provided in Section 49-7-5. The domicile of a person is that person's principal or primary home or place of abode. A "principal or primary home or place of abode" is that home or place in which a person's habitation is fixed and to which he, whenever absent, has the present intention of returning after a departure of absence therefrom, regardless of the duration of the absence. The burden of proving domicile shall be on the person claiming such status. The following evidence or other reliable evidence may be considered in establishing, but is not necessarily determinative of, domicile: driver's license, residence for income or other tax purposes, homestead exemption receipt, or any other means prescribed by the department. In the case of minors, domicile of the parents shall be used as evidence of the minor's domicile.

(3) A nondomiciliary of the state may be issued a resident hunting or fishing license or combination resident hunting fishing license upon providing the following:

(a) A current identification card from a Mississippi college or university; or

(b) A current military identification card showing that the person is an active member of the Armed Forces (excluding Reserves and the National Guard) and proof that the person is stationed on a military base in Mississippi.

(4) A holder of a resident or nonresident license is required to carry the license on his person while engaged in hunting, trapping or fishing. Any penalty for not carrying a license while engaged in hunting, trapping or fishing shall be waived if the person can verify purchase of a license prior to the date of the violation.

(5) Each application or filing made under this section shall include the social security number(s) of the applicant in accordance with Section 93-11-64, Mississippi Code of 1972.

SECTION 2. Section 49-7-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, brought forward as follows:

49-7-17. (1) The department may provide for the appointment of persons as license agents to sell license certificates for hunting, trapping or fishing as authorized under Section 49-7-21.

The department may, by administrative rule, establish qualifications, standards and regulations for such license agents.

(2) Each license agent shall be required to be covered under a surety bond. The department may establish, by administrative rule, the procedures for the bonding of its license agents, which procedures may include the implementation of a blanket bonding system. All premiums for surety bonds required under this section shall be at the expense of the license agents. Provided, however, that as an alternative to entering into a bond, as required by this section, any person who shall engage as a licensed agent to sell license certificates for hunting, trapping or fishing as authorized under Section 49-7-21 subject to the same conditions of conduct required for bonds, may deposit with the State Treasurer the equivalent amount of the bond required for that particular person in cash or securities. The only securities allowable for this purpose are those which may legally be purchased by a bank or for trust funds having a market value not less than that required bond. The commission shall file notice with the Treasurer for any violation of the conditions of the cash or security deposit.

(3) Any officer or person authorized to issue any hunting or fishing license or permit or any combination game and fish license under the laws of this state shall have the power and authority to collect and retain for the issuance of such license the sum of One Dollar ($1.00), in addition to the license fee provided by law, when such license or permit is sold to a resident of this state. The Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks is authorized, in its discretion, to contract with license agents for services rendered for an additional amount, not to exceed One Dollar ($1.00), in addition to the license fee provided by law.

SECTION 3. Section 49-7-20, Mississippi Code of 1972, brought forward as follows:

49-7-20. (1) It is unlawful for any person born on or after January 1, 1972, to procure any hunting license provided by the department unless the person has been issued certification of satisfactory completion of a hunter education course approved by the department.

(2) It is unlawful for any person to issue any license provided by the department to any person born on or after January 1, 1972, unless the purchaser has provided valid certification of satisfactory completion of a hunter education course approved by the department.

(3) It is unlawful for any person to fraudulently obtain a hunter education certification.

(4) The department may revoke any hunting license or hunter education certification upon determination that the holder was not entitled to issuance or obtained the license or certification by any fraudulent means.

SECTION 4. Section 49-7-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, brought forward as follows:

49-7-21. (1) (a) The licenses for hunting, trapping or fishing shall be issued on a form prepared by the executive director and supplied to the bonded agents authorized to issue licenses. The forms shall bear the name and social security number or driver's license number of the applicant. All licenses shall be valid from the date of its issuance to June 30 following its date. The license shall be countersigned by the licensee in the presence of the agent authorized to issue the same. The licenses shall be issued in the name of the commission and be countersigned by the bonded agent issuing same. The application for a license under this chapter shall be subscribed and sworn to by the applicant before an officer authorized to administer oaths in this state, and for this purpose the members of the commission, the executive director, sheriffs, conservation officers and bonded agents are hereby authorized to administer oaths, but no charge shall be made by any officer employed by the commission or sheriff for the administration of the oath.

(b) A person may purchase a license from the office of the department without appearing in person.

(2) Any person authorized to issue licenses for hunting, trapping or fishing in this state who attempts to issue a license on a form other than one as prescribed by this section, or attempts to prepare a license certificate in any manner other than on the form prescribed by this section, and furnished by the executive director, is guilty of a Class II violation, and shall be punished as provided in Section 49-7-143, Mississippi Code of 1972, and the person convicted shall be forever barred from issuing licenses in the State of Mississippi.

(3) Any resident or nonresident who hunts, takes or traps any wild animal, bird or fish must possess a valid license issued by the commission, unless specifically exempted under this chapter.

(4) Any nonresident, who hunts or traps without the required license is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in an amount not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) nor more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) for the first offense. The nonresident shall also be assessed by the court an administrative fee as prescribed under subsection (6) of this section. For the second or any subsequent offense a nonresident shall be fined in an amount of not less than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) nor more than One Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,500.00) or imprisoned in the county jail for not more than thirty (30) days, or both such fine and imprisonment. The nonresident shall also be assessed by the court an administrative fee as prescribed under subsection (6) of this section.

(5) Any nonresident who fishes without the required license is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined in an amount not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) for the first offense. For the second or any subsequent offense a nonresident shall be fined in an amount not less than Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) and that nonresident shall also be assessed by the court an administrative fee as prescribed under subsection (6) of this section.

(6) In addition to any other fines or penalties imposed under subsection (4) or (5) of this section, any person convicted for a violation of subsection (3) of this section shall be assessed by the court an administrative fee equal in amount to the cost of the hunting, trapping or fishing license fee that such person unlawfully failed to possess at the time of the violation, the amount of which license fee shall be entered upon the ticket or citation by the charging officer at the time the ticket or citation is issued. The clerk of the court in which conviction for a violation of subsection (3) of this section takes place, promptly shall collect all administrative fees imposed under this subsection and deposit them monthly with the State Treasurer, in the same manner and in accordance with the same procedure, as nearly as practicable, as required for the collection, receipt and deposit of state assessments under Section 99-19-73. However, all administrative fees collected under the provisions of this subsection shall be credited by the State Treasurer to the account of the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, and may be expended by the department upon appropriation by the Legislature.

(7) Any person who obtains a license under an assumed name or makes a materially false statement to obtain a license is guilty of a felony and shall be subject to a fine of Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) or may be imprisoned for a term not to exceed one (1) year or both.

SECTION 5. Section 49-7-163, Mississippi Code of 1972, brought forward as follows:

49-7-163. It is unlawful for any person sixteen (16) years of age or older to hunt or take any migratory waterfowl within this state without first procuring a state migratory waterfowl stamp and having the stamp in his possession while hunting or taking any migratory waterfowl. Any penalty for not having the stamp in possession while engaged in hunting or taking migratory waterfowl shall be waived if the person can verify purchase of a stamp prior to the date of the violation. Each stamp shall be validated by the signature of the licensee written across the face of the stamp. The commission shall determine the form of the stamp and shall furnish the stamps to bonded agents for issuance or sale in the same manner as other types of licenses.

SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2000.