2011-2012 Bill 4943: Coyotes, Armadillos and Feral Hogs - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 119th Session, 2011-2012 3 4 H. 4943 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Reps. Lowe, Crawford, Erickson, Patrick, Brannon, Ott, Bowers, G.A. Brown, Clemmons, 10 Cole, Frye, Merrill, Pitts, Spires, Tallon, White, Knight and G.M. Smith 11 Document Path: l:\council\bills\swb\5179cm12.docx 12 13 Introduced in the House on March 1, 2012 14 Introduced in the Senate on April 25, 2012 15 Last Amended on June 6, 2012 16 Currently residing in the Senate 17 18 Summary: Coyotes, armadillos and feral hogs 19 20 21 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 22 23 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 24 3/1/2012 House Introduced and read first time ( House Journalpage 75) 25 3/1/2012 House Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental 26 Affairs ( House Journalpage 75) 27 3/22/2012 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Knight, G.M.Smith 28 3/28/2012 House Committee report: Favorable with amendment Agriculture, Natural Resources 29 and Environmental Affairs ( House Journalpage 42) 30 4/19/2012 House Amended ( House Journalpage 82) 31 4/19/2012 House Debate adjourned until Tues., 042412 ( House Journalpage 82) 32 4/24/2012 House Read second time ( House Journalpage 28) 33 4/24/2012 House Roll call Yeas97 Nays1 ( House Journalpage 29) 34 4/25/2012 Scrivener's error corrected 35 4/25/2012 House Read third time and sent to Senate ( House Journalpage 12) 36 4/25/2012 Senate Introduced and read first time ( Senate Journalpage 9) 37 4/25/2012 Senate Referred to Committee on Fish, Game and Forestry ( Senate Journalpage 9) 38 6/5/2012 Senate Committee report: Favorable with amendment Fish, Game and Forestry (Senate 39 Journalpage 21) 40 6/6/2012 Scrivener's error corrected 41 6/6/2012 Senate Committee Amendment Amended and Adopted ( Senate Journalpage 21) 42 6/6/2012 Senate Read second time ( Senate Journalpage 21) 43 6/6/2012 Senate Roll call Ayes41 Nays0 ( Senate Journalpage 21) 44 6/7/2012 Scrivener's error corrected 45 46 47 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 48 49 3/1/2012 50 3/28/2012 51 4/19/2012 52 4/24/2012 53 4/25/2012 54 6/5/2012 1 6/6/2012 2 6/6/2012-A 3 6/7/2012 4 1 Indicates Matter Stricken 2 Indicates New Matter 3 4 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT AMENDED AND ADOPTED 5 June 6, 2012 6 7 H. 4943 8 9 Introduced by Reps. Lowe, Crawford, Erickson, Patrick, Brannon, 10 Ott, Bowers, G.A. Brown, Clemmons, Cole, Frye, Merrill, Pitts, 11 Spires, Tallon, White, Knight and G.M. Smith 12 13 S. Printed 6/6/12--S. [SEC 6/7/12 4:38 PM] 14 Read the first time April 25, 2012. 15

[4943-3] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 12 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 5011715 SO AS TO PROVIDE 13 FOR THE HUNTING OF COYOTES, ARMADILLOS, AND 14 FERAL HOGS ON PRIVATE PROPERTY DURING 15 NIGHTTIME HOURS. 16 Amend Title To Conform 17 18 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 19 Carolina: 20 21 SECTION 1. Section 50-11-710 of the 1976 Code is amended to 22 read: 23 24 “Section 50-11-710. (A) Night hunting in this State is 25 unlawful except that: 26 (1) raccoons, opossums, foxes, coyotes, mink, and skunk 27 may be hunted at night; however, they may not be hunted with 28 artificial lights except when treed or cornered with dogs, or and 29 may not be hunted with buckshot or any shot larger than a number 30 four, or any rifle ammunition larger than a twentytwo rimfire.; and 31 (2) Feral hogs may be hunted at night with an artificial light 32 that is carried on the hunter's person attached to a helmet or hat, or 33 part of a belt system worn by the hunter and with a sidearm that 34 has iron sites, and barrel length not exceeding nine inches with or 35 without the aid of bait, electronic calls, artificial light, or night 36 vison devices:. The sidearm may not be equipped with a buttstock, 37 scope, laser site, or light emitting or light enhancing device. 38 However, hogs may not be hunted at night from a vehicle, or with 39 a centerfire rifle or shotgun, unless specifically permitted by the 40 department. A person that violates this item is guilty of a 41 misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than

[4943] 4 1 five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or 2 both. 3 (a) during any time of the year with a bow and arrow 4 other than a crossbow, or pistol having iron sights, a barrel length 5 not exceeding nine inches, and which is not equipped with a butt- 6 stock, scope, or laser sight; 7 (b) from the last day of February to the first day of July of 8 that same year with any legal firearm, bow and arrow, or crossbow 9 when notice is given to the department pursuant to subsection (D). 10 When hunting at night with a center fire rifle pursuant to this item, 11 a hunter must be at an elevated position at least ten feet from the 12 ground; and 13 (c) at any time of the year under authority of and pursuant 14 to the conditions contained in a depredation permit issued by the 15 department pursuant to Section 50-11-2570. 16 (3) coyotes Coyotes and armadillos may be hunted at night 17 with an artificial light that is carried on the hunter's person 18 attached to a helmet or hat, or part of a belt system worn by the 19 hunter or without the aid of bait, electronic calls, artificial light, or 20 night vision devices:. Coyotes and armadillos may be hunted with 21 a rifle or sidearm no larger than .22 caliber rimfire, a shotgun with 22 a shot size no larger than a BB, or a sidearm of any caliber that has 23 iron sites and a barrel length not exceeding nine inches. Any 24 weapon used to hunt coyotes or armadillos may not be equipped 25 with a buttstock, scope, laser site, or light emitting or light 26 enhancing device. It is unlawful to have in one's possession any 27 shot size larger than a BB while legally hunting coyotes and 28 armadillos at night with a shotgun, and coyotes and armadillos 29 may not be hunted at night from a vehicle, unless specifically 30 permitted by the department. A person who violates this item is 31 guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not 32 more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than 33 thirty days, or both. 34 (a) during any time of the year with a bow and arrow 35 other than a crossbow, a rimfire rifle, a shotgun with shot size no 36 larger than a BB, or a pistol of any caliber having iron sights, a 37 barrel length not exceeding nine inches, and which is not equipped 38 with a butt-stock, scope, or laser sight; 39 (b) from the last day of February to the first day of July of 40 that same year with any legal firearm, bow and arrow, or crossbow 41 when notice is given to the department pursuant to subsection (D). 42 When hunting at night with a center fire rifle pursuant to this item,

[4943] 5 1 a hunter must be at an elevated position at least ten feet from the 2 ground; and 3 (c) at any time of the year under authority of and pursuant 4 to the conditions contained in a depredation permit issued by the 5 department pursuant to Section 50-11-2570. 6 (B) The provisions contained in items (2)(b) and (3)(b) do not 7 apply to a person who has violated any provision contained in 8 Article 4, Chapter 11, Title 50, except Section 50-11-708 and 9 Section 50-11-750, during the previous five years. 10 (B)(C) For the purposes of this section, ‘night’ means that 11 period of time between one hour after official sundown of a day 12 and one hour before official sunrise of the following day. 13 (D) For the purposes of this section, ‘notice to the department’ 14 means that the landowner upon which the animals will be taken 15 has either called the department at least forty-eight hours prior to 16 hunting or registered the property as otherwise prescribed by the 17 department. The notice must include the name of each person 18 participating in the hunt, the hunting license number of each 19 person participating in the hunt, and the location of the hunt. 20 Property must only be registered one time during each season, or 21 annually for year-round hunts. 22 (C)(E) Any person violating the provisions of this section, upon 23 conviction, must be fined for the first offense not more than one 24 thousand dollars, or be imprisoned for not more than one year, or 25 both; for the second offense within two years from the date of 26 conviction for the first offense, not more than two thousand dollars 27 nor less than four hundred dollars, or be imprisoned for not more 28 than one year nor for less than ninety days, or both; for a third or 29 subsequent offense within two years of the date of conviction for 30 the last previous offense, not more than three thousand dollars nor 31 less than five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned for not more than 32 one year nor for less than one hundred twenty days, or both. Any 33 person convicted under this section after more than two years have 34 elapsed since his last conviction must be sentenced as for a first 35 offense. 36 (D)(F)(1) A person who violates items (2) and (3) of subsection 37 (A) is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined 38 not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than 39 thirty days, or both. 40 (2) In addition to any other penalty, any person convicted for 41 a second or subsequent offense under this section within three 42 years of the date of conviction for a first offense shall have his 43 privilege to hunt in this State suspended for a period of two years.

[4943] 6 1 No hunting license may be issued to an individual while his 2 privilege is suspended, and any license mistakenly issued is 3 invalid. The penalty for hunting in this State during the period of 4 suspension, upon conviction, must be imprisonment for not more 5 than one year nor less than ninety days. 6 (E)(G) The provisions of this section may not be construed to 7 prevent any owner of property from protecting the property from 8 destruction by wild game as provided by law. 9 (F)(H) It is unlawful for a person to use artificial lights at night, 10 except vehicle headlights while traveling in a normal manner on a 11 public road or highway, while in possession of or with immediate 12 access to both ammunition of a type prohibited for use at night by 13 the first paragraph of this section and a weapon capable of firing 14 the ammunition. A violation of this paragraph is punishable as 15 provided by Section 5011720.” 16 17 SECTION 2. The first three paragraphs of Section 50-11-740 of 18 the 1976 Code are amended to read: 19 20 “Section 50-11-740. Every vehicle, boat, trailer, other means of 21 conveyance, animal, and firearm used in the hunting of deer or 22 bear at night, or used in connection with a violation of Section 23 5011710, is forfeited to the State and must be confiscated by any 24 peace officer who shall forthwith deliver it to the department. 25 26 ‘Hunting’ as used in this section in reference to a vehicle, or 27 boat, or other means of conveyance includes the transportation of a 28 hunter to or from the place of hunting or the transportation of the 29 carcass, or any part of the carcass, of a deer, or bear, coyote, 30 armadillo, or feral hog which has been unlawfully killed at night. 31 32 For purposes of this section, a conviction for unlawfully hunting 33 deer, or bear, coyote, armadillo, or feral hog at night is conclusive 34 as against any convicted owner of the abovementioned property.” 35 36 SECTION 3. Section 50-16-70 of the 1976 Code is amended to 37 read: 38 39 “Section 50-16-70. (A) A person violating the provisions of this 40 chapter, or any condition of a permit issued pursuant to this 41 chapter, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be 42 fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more 43 than six months, or both. The department must suspend the

[4943] 7 1 hunting privileges of a person convicted of violating this chapter 2 for one year from the date of the conviction. 3 (B) In addition to any other penalties provided by law, a person 4 convicted of a violation of subsection (A) is also subject to the 5 confiscation, forefeiture, and sale provisions contained in Section 6 50-11-740 for any property, vehicle, trailer, or other means of 7 conveyance utilized to import, possess, or transport the animal. 8 (C) For the purposes of this section, each animal imported in 9 violation of subsection (A) constitutes a separate offense. 10 (D) Notwithstanding Chapter 3, Title 22, magistrates court shall 11 have jurisdiction over actions arising under this section. ” 12 13 SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the 14 Governor. 15 XX 16

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