Committee advances bill to bar license sales to hunters owing Fish and Game restitution

The Resources and Conservation Committee voted to send Senate Bill 1003 to the House with a due-pass recommendation after sponsors and witnesses described the measure as an enforcement tool to collect outstanding Fish and Game restitution.

Representative Petzke said the bill would prevent people who are behind on restitution payments for Fish and Game violations from buying hunting and fishing licenses “until they get caught up on those fines.” He told the committee there are roughly 185 people owing restitution totaling $282,622, which he said averages to “about $1,500 a person.” He also said about half of those debtors still had active hunting licenses.

Greg Wooten, chief of enforcement for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, explained the current enforcement posture: “Not all of our fines carry a mandatory revocation,” and magistrates can impose up to three-year revocations on misdemeanor violations; Fish and Game follows a 120-day collection and notification process before sending accounts to collections. Wooten told the committee that county practices vary and that Fish and Game receives dispositions from courts but has not often seen courts request revocations after 90 days past due.

Two conservation groups testified in favor. Ellery Tucker Williams, speaking for the Fish and Game Commission, said the commission is supportive and brought Chief Wooten to answer technical questions. Nick Fasiano, executive director of the Idaho Wildlife Federation, said his organization supports the bill as a “straightforward enforcement mechanism” and said he believed appeals would not prevent participation in draws or licenses while appeals proceed.

One public witness, Colton Bennett, opposed the bill on constitutional and due-process grounds, saying it would transfer authority from judges to the agency, create “more power for an unelected bureaucratic agency,” and disadvantage appellants by pressuring them to pay to avoid losing hunting access.

Committee members asked about fine sizes, collection mechanisms, appeals timelines and payment plans; Wooten said the collection system includes invoices, a deputy attorney-general letter, referral to collections and a 20-year statute of limitations. He said there is a 45-day appeal window after conviction for misdemeanors and that payment plans can be accommodated; he noted the bill exempts violators on approved time-payment plans that are not at least 90 days in arrears (transcript cites language on the bill’s final page, line 45).

The committee adopted a motion to advance Senate Bill 1003 by voice; the transcript records some negative votes by name (one recorded “Tanner was no”). The bill will proceed to the House for additional consideration.