Chapter 130
2016 -- S 2799 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 06/24/2016

A N   A C T
RELATING TO FISH AND WILDLIFE - LICENSES

Introduced By: Senators Coyne, Conley, Cote, Satchell, and Archambault
Date Introduced: March 23, 2016

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
     SECTION 1. Sections 20-2-2 and 20-2-4 of the General Laws in Chapter 20-2 entitled
"Licensing" are hereby amended to read as follows:
     20-2-2. Issuance of licenses. -- The clerk authorized agent of any city or town and any
person or corporation appointed by the director as provided in section 20-2-1 shall, upon the
application of any person entitled to receive a license under this chapter and upon payment of the
specified license fee, register and issue to that person a license, certificate in the form prescribed
and upon a blank to be furnished by the department either printed or displayed electronically on a
mobile device, so long as the certificate provides all of the information requested in the data
fields identified by the department. The certificate shall bear the name, age, occupation, place of
residence, signature, and identifying description of the registrant and shall authorize the registrant
to fish, or shellfish, or to pursue, hunt, and kill game in the state of Rhode Island during those
seasons, and in those manners, and according to those conditions, as shall be provided by law;
provided, however, that these clerks or appointees authorized agents shall not have authority to
issue lobster, commercial shellfish, or commercial fishing licenses of any kind.
     20-2-4. Clerk's fee. –Authorized agents fee. -- Out of the fees paid under the provisions
of this chapter for issuance of hunting, other than deer permits pursuant to § 20-2-18, fishing,
combination, and non-resident shellfishing licenses, the sum of one dollar ($1.00) shall be
retained by the clerk or authorized agent issuing each license, if this is the case. Out of the fees
paid for issuance of deer permits, the sum of fifty cents ($.50) shall be retained by the clerk or
authorized agent. Authorized agents are any persons, including a municipality, who have
currently been granted authority by the director to sell hunting and fishing licenses pursuant to
chapter 2 of title 20, in compliance with the governing regulations that have been duly
promulgated by the director.
     SECTION 2. Section 20-13-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 20-13 entitled "Hunting
and Hunting Safety" is hereby amended to read as follows:
     20-13-5. Issuance of licenses. -- (a) The clerk of every town or city, or a special agent
Authorized licensing agents, shall, upon the application of any eligible person and the payment of
the license fee, issue to that person a license to pursue, hunt, and kill game in the state during the
open season with firearms or by bow and arrow with an archer's permit; provided, however, that
no license shall be granted to or possessed by:
      (1) Any person under fifteen (15) years of age; provided, however, a junior hunting
license may be obtained for persons age twelve (12) to fourteen (14) years of age upon the
completion of a basic hunter's safety course; and further provided, that they shall hunt only in the
immediate company of a qualified licensed adult twenty-one (21) years of age or over;
      (2) Any person who has been convicted of a crime of violence or who is a fugitive from
justice, as defined in § 11-47-2 of the Firearms Act; or
      (3) Any person who is under guardianship, treatment, or confinement by virtue of being
a mental incompetent, or who has been adjudicated or is under treatment or confinement as a drug
addict, or who has been adjudicated or is under treatment or confinement as a habitual drunkard.
      (b) Any person affected by the provisions of subsection (a)(3), other than a person who
has been pronounced criminally insane by a competent medical authority, after a lapse of a period
of five (5) years from the date of being pronounced cured by a competent medical authority, may
obtain a license upon the presentation of an affidavit issued by a competent medical authority to
the effect that that person is a mentally stable person and a proper person to possess a hunting
license. If that person has no other disqualifying record, he or she will be allowed to purchase and
possess a hunting license.
      (c) Every hunting license shall be printed or stamped upon some durable material and
shall bear the name, age, occupation, place of residence, and an identifying description of the
licensee, and shall expire on the last day of February next succeeding the date of issue, and may
be revoked within the discretion of the director of environmental management. Every hunting
license shall plainly and conspicuously indicate upon its face the year of issuance and shall be in
the form prescribed by the director.
     SECTION 3. Chapter 20-2 of the General Laws entitled "Licensing" is hereby amended
by adding thereto the following section:
     20-2-4.1. Authorized internet agent. -- The director is authorized and directed to engage
the contractual services of a state-approved vendor to develop and implement a web-based system
that will serve as a means for obtaining licenses pursuant to this chapter. The vendor's
responsibilities shall include, but not be limited to:
     (1) Development of the web-based application;
     (2) Creation and servicing of authorized licensing agents who will be able to vend
licenses at their establishments;
     (3) Collection and transmittal of license fee revenues;
     (4) Storage and transmittal of the license holder database; and
     (5) Authority to sell hunting and fishing licenses.
     SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC005097/SUB A
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