95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
HB0151

 

Introduced 1/19/2007, by Rep. Mike Bost

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
520 ILCS 5/3.2   from Ch. 61, par. 3.2

    Amends the Wildlife Code. Eliminates the hunting license fee for veterans and active-duty military members who hold a Firearm Owner's Identification Card.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1     AN ACT concerning wildlife.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The Wildlife Code is amended by changing Section
5 3.2 as follows:
 
6     (520 ILCS 5/3.2)  (from Ch. 61, par. 3.2)
7     Sec. 3.2. Hunting license; application; instruction.
8 Before the Department or any county, city, village, township,
9 incorporated town clerk or his duly designated agent or any
10 other person authorized or designated by the Department to
11 issue hunting licenses shall issue a hunting license to any
12 person, the person shall file his application with the
13 Department or other party authorized to issue licenses on a
14 form provided by the Department and further give definite proof
15 of identity and place of legal residence. Each clerk
16 designating agents to issue licenses and stamps shall furnish
17 the Department, within 10 days following the appointment, the
18 names and mailing addresses of the agents. Each clerk or his
19 duly designated agent shall be authorized to sell licenses and
20 stamps only within the territorial area for which he was
21 elected or appointed. No duly designated agent is authorized to
22 furnish licenses or stamps for issuance by any other business
23 establishment. Each application shall be executed and sworn to

 

 

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1 and shall set forth the name and description of the applicant
2 and place of residence.
3     No hunting license shall be issued to any person born on or
4 after January 1, 1980 unless he presents the person authorized
5 to issue the license evidence that he has held a hunting
6 license issued by the State of Illinois or another state in a
7 prior year, or a certificate of competency as provided in this
8 Section. Persons under 16 years of age may be issued a Lifetime
9 Hunting or Sportsmen's Combination License as provided under
10 Section 20-45 of the Fish and Aquatic Life Code but shall not
11 be entitled to hunt unless they have a certificate of
12 competency as provided in this Section and they shall have the
13 certificate in their possession while hunting.
14     The Department of Natural Resources shall authorize
15 personnel of the Department or certified volunteer instructors
16 to conduct courses, of not less than 10 hours in length, in
17 firearms and hunter safety, which may include training in bow
18 and arrow safety, at regularly specified intervals throughout
19 the State. Persons successfully completing the course shall
20 receive a certificate of competency. The Department of Natural
21 Resources may further cooperate with any reputable association
22 or organization in establishing courses if the organization has
23 as one of its objectives the promotion of safety in the
24 handling of firearms or bow and arrow.
25     The Department of Natural Resources shall designate any
26 person found by it to be competent to give instruction in the

 

 

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1 handling of firearms, hunter safety, and bow and arrow. The
2 persons so appointed shall give the course of instruction and
3 upon the successful completion shall issue to the person
4 instructed a certificate of competency in the safe handling of
5 firearms, hunter safety, and bow and arrow. No charge shall be
6 made for any course of instruction except for materials or
7 ammunition consumed. The Department of Natural Resources shall
8 furnish information on the requirements of hunter safety
9 education programs to be distributed free of charge to
10 applicants for hunting licenses by the persons appointed and
11 authorized to issue licenses. Funds for the conducting of
12 firearms and hunter safety courses shall be taken from the fee
13 charged for the Firearm Owners Identification Card.
14     The fee for a hunting license to hunt all species for a
15 resident of Illinois is $7. For residents age 65 or older, the
16 fee is one-half of the fee charged for a hunting license to
17 hunt all species for a resident of Illinois. Nonresidents shall
18 be charged $50 for a hunting license.
19     If a veteran or active-duty military member has a valid
20 Firearm Owner's Identification Card, or the equivalent issued
21 by another state, issued in his or her name, then there is no
22 fee for a hunting license to hunt all species. In this Section:
23 "veteran" means a person who: (i) was a member of the Armed
24 Forces of the United States, a member of the Illinois National
25 Guard, or a member of any reserve component of the Armed Forces
26 of the United States; (ii) served on active duty; and (iii) was

 

 

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1 honorably discharged; and "active-duty military member" means
2 a person who is currently serving on active duty as a member of
3 the Armed Forces of the United States, the Illinois National
4 Guard, or any reserve component of the Armed Forces of the
5 United States.
6     Nonresidents may be issued a nonresident hunting license
7 for a period not to exceed 10 consecutive days' hunting in the
8 State and shall be charged a fee of $28.
9     A special nonresident hunting license authorizing a
10 nonresident to take game birds by hunting on a game breeding
11 and hunting preserve area only, established under Section 3.27,
12 shall be issued upon proper application being made and payment
13 of a fee equal to that for a resident hunting license. The
14 expiration date of this license shall be on the same date each
15 year that game breeding and hunting preserve area licenses
16 expire.
17     Each applicant for a State Migratory Waterfowl Stamp,
18 regardless of his residence or other condition, shall pay a fee
19 of $10 and shall receive a stamp. Except as provided under
20 Section 20-45 of the Fish and Aquatic Life Code, the stamp
21 shall be signed by the person or affixed to his license or
22 permit in a space designated by the Department for that
23 purpose.
24     Each applicant for a State Habitat Stamp, regardless of his
25 residence or other condition, shall pay a fee of $5 and shall
26 receive a stamp. Except as provided under Section 20-45 of the

 

 

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1 Fish and Aquatic Life Code, the stamp shall be signed by the
2 person or affixed to his license or permit in a space
3 designated by the Department for that purpose.
4     Nothing in this Section shall be construed as to require
5 the purchase of more than one State Habitat Stamp by any person
6 in any one license year.
7     The Department shall furnish the holders of hunting
8 licenses and stamps with an insignia as evidence of possession
9 of license, or license and stamp, as the Department may
10 consider advisable. The insignia shall be exhibited and used as
11 the Department may order.
12     All other hunting licenses and all State stamps shall
13 expire upon March 31 of each year.
14     Every person holding any license, permit, or stamp issued
15 under the provisions of this Act shall have it in his
16 possession for immediate presentation for inspection to the
17 officers and authorized employees of the Department, any
18 sheriff, deputy sheriff, or any other peace officer making a
19 demand for it. This provision shall not apply to Department
20 owned or managed sites where it is required that all hunters
21 deposit their license, permit, or Firearm Owner's
22 Identification Card at the check station upon entering the
23 hunting areas.
24 (Source: P.A. 93-554, eff. 8-20-03.)