HB0151eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB0151 Engrossed LRB095 03963 CMK 23996 b

AN ACT concerning wildlife.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Wildlife Code is amended by changing Section 3.2 as follows:

(520 ILCS 5/3.2) (from Ch. 61, par. 3.2)

Sec. 3.2. Hunting license; application; instruction. Before the Department or any county, city, village, township, incorporated town clerk or his duly designated agent or any other person authorized or designated by the Department to issue hunting licenses shall issue a hunting license to any person, the person shall file his application with the Department or other party authorized to issue licenses on a form provided by the Department and further give definite proof of identity and place of legal residence. Each clerk designating agents to issue licenses and stamps shall furnish the Department, within 10 days following the appointment, the names and mailing addresses of the agents. Each clerk or his duly designated agent shall be authorized to sell licenses and stamps only within the territorial area for which he was elected or appointed. No duly designated agent is authorized to furnish licenses or stamps for issuance by any other business establishment. Each application shall be executed and sworn to and shall set forth the name and description of the applicant and place of residence.

No hunting license shall be issued to any person born on or after January 1, 1980 unless he presents the person authorized to issue the license evidence that he has held a hunting license issued by the State of Illinois or another state in a prior year, or a certificate of competency as provided in this Section. Persons under 16 years of age may be issued a Lifetime Hunting or Sportsmen's Combination License as provided under Section 20-45 of the Fish and Aquatic Life Code but shall not be entitled to hunt unless they have a certificate of competency as provided in this Section and they shall have the certificate in their possession while hunting.

The Department of Natural Resources shall authorize personnel of the Department or certified volunteer instructors to conduct courses, of not less than 10 hours in length, in firearms and hunter safety, which may include training in bow and arrow safety, at regularly specified intervals throughout the State. Persons successfully completing the course shall receive a certificate of competency. The Department of Natural Resources may further cooperate with any reputable association or organization in establishing courses if the organization has as one of its objectives the promotion of safety in the handling of firearms or bow and arrow.

The Department of Natural Resources shall designate any person found by it to be competent to give instruction in the handling of firearms, hunter safety, and bow and arrow. The persons so appointed shall give the course of instruction and upon the successful completion shall issue to the person instructed a certificate of competency in the safe handling of firearms, hunter safety, and bow and arrow. No charge shall be made for any course of instruction except for materials or ammunition consumed. The Department of Natural Resources shall furnish information on the requirements of hunter safety education programs to be distributed free of charge to applicants for hunting licenses by the persons appointed and authorized to issue licenses. Funds for the conducting of firearms and hunter safety courses shall be taken from the fee charged for the Firearm Owners Identification Card.

The fee for a hunting license to hunt all species for a resident of Illinois is $7. For residents age 65 or older, the fee is one-half of the fee charged for a hunting license to hunt all species for a resident of Illinois. Nonresidents shall be charged $50 for a hunting license.

If any person who is currently serving on active-duty as a member of the Armed Forces of the United States or any reserve component of the Armed Forces of the Unites States has a valid Firearm Owner's Identification Card, or the equivalent issued by another state, issued in his or her name, then there is no fee for a hunting license to hunt all species for that person. The Department shall establish standards for the verification of active-duty service under this paragraph. The active-duty military member shall provide verification of active-duty service to the Department at the Department's office in Springfield.

Nonresidents may be issued a nonresident hunting license for a period not to exceed 10 consecutive days' hunting in the State and shall be charged a fee of $28.

A special nonresident hunting license authorizing a nonresident to take game birds by hunting on a game breeding and hunting preserve area only, established under Section 3.27, shall be issued upon proper application being made and payment of a fee equal to that for a resident hunting license. The expiration date of this license shall be on the same date each year that game breeding and hunting preserve area licenses expire.

Each applicant for a State Migratory Waterfowl Stamp, regardless of his residence or other condition, shall pay a fee of $10 and shall receive a stamp. Except as provided under Section 20-45 of the Fish and Aquatic Life Code, the stamp shall be signed by the person or affixed to his license or permit in a space designated by the Department for that purpose.

Each applicant for a State Habitat Stamp, regardless of his residence or other condition, shall pay a fee of $5 and shall receive a stamp. Except as provided under Section 20-45 of the Fish and Aquatic Life Code, the stamp shall be signed by the person or affixed to his license or permit in a space designated by the Department for that purpose.

Nothing in this Section shall be construed as to require the purchase of more than one State Habitat Stamp by any person in any one license year.

The Department shall furnish the holders of hunting licenses and stamps with an insignia as evidence of possession of license, or license and stamp, as the Department may consider advisable. The insignia shall be exhibited and used as the Department may order.

All other hunting licenses and all State stamps shall expire upon March 31 of each year.

Every person holding any license, permit, or stamp issued under the provisions of this Act shall have it in his possession for immediate presentation for inspection to the officers and authorized employees of the Department, any sheriff, deputy sheriff, or any other peace officer making a demand for it. This provision shall not apply to Department owned or managed sites where it is required that all hunters deposit their license, permit, or Firearm Owner's Identification Card at the check station upon entering the hunting areas.

(Source: P.A. 93-554, eff. 8-20-03.)