Senate Bill 2794

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 49-7-58.1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REMOVE DATED REQUIREMENT ON HUNTING ENCLOSURES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 49-7-58.1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

49-7-58.1. (1) The owner of any enclosure containing white-tailed deer that prevents the free egress of white-tailed deer from the enclosed area shall notify and register with the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. The person shall give his name, the location of the enclosure, the acreage within the enclosure, and whether any deer have been imported into the state and placed in the enclosure, and any other information required by the Commissioner on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

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(2) The owner of such an enclosure shall comply with any testing of white-tailed deer harvested within the enclosure as may be required by the department. If chronic wasting disease is diagnosed within five (5) miles of the enclosure, the owner of such enclosure shall allow department personnel to enter the enclosure to utilize lethal collection methods to obtain tissue samples for testing. If chronic wasting disease is diagnosed within the enclosure, the owner shall allow department personnel to enter the enclosure and depopulate the white-tailed deer within the enclosure.

(3) A violation of this section is a Class II violation and is punishable as provided in Section 49-7-143. A second or subsequent violation of this section is a Class I violation and is punishable as provided in Section 49-7-141.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.