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Current Status Bill Number:View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.36 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:Senate Introduced Date:20010110 Primary Sponsor:Ravenel All Sponsors:Ravenel, Leventis, McConnell, Drummond, Giese, Branton Drafted Document Number:l:\council\bills\nbd\11018ac01.doc Residing Body:Senate Current Committee:Fish, Game and Forestry Committee 07 SFGF Subject:Deer, hunting with weapons when inside enclosure impeding free range of prohibited; Fish and Game, Animals History Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved ______ ________ ______________________________________ _______ ____________ Senate 20010110 Introduced, read first time, 07 SFGF referred to Committee Versions of This Bill
TO AMEND SECTION 50-11-100, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO PROHIBITING THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW ENCLOSURE WHICH PREVENTS OR MATERIALLY IMPEDES THE FREE RANGE OF DEER BEING HUNTED, SO AS TO PROHIBIT DEER HUNTING WITH A WEAPON INSIDE AN ENCLOSURE WHICH PREVENTS OR IMPEDES THE FREE RANGE OF THE DEER AND TO DEFINE "PREVENTS OR MATERIALLY IMPEDES" AS AN ENCLOSURE WITH A FENCE IN EXCESS OF SIX FEET IN HEIGHT.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 50-11-100 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 353 of 2000, is amended to read:
"Section 50-11-100. (A) It is unlawful to construct a new hunt deer with a weapon inside an enclosure which prevents or materially impedes the free range of the deer being hunted. For purposes of the definitions herein this section, 'prevents or materially impedes' means erecting an enclosure having a fence in excess of six feet in height from ground level for the express purpose of corralling wild game for hunting purposes.
(B) A person who violates a provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than one thousand dollars nor more than two thousand five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not less than one year nor more than three years, or both. The hunting and fishing privileges of a person convicted under the provisions of this section must also be suspended for two years. In addition, the court in which a person violating this section is convicted may order that restitution be paid to the department of not less than one thousand five hundred dollars for each animal taken in violation of this section and shall be ordered to remove the enclosure.
(C)(1) All owners or lessees of property which have enclosures which prevent or materially impede the free range of the deer being hunted must register with the department within thirty days after the effective date of this section, provided, the enclosure is an existing, completed enclosure in that the construction of the enclosure is wholly complete in every respect and requires no further labor or material to erect or complete the construction of the enclosure thirty days after the effective date of this section.
(2) Except as provided in item (3), after an enclosure is registered with the department, the owner may expand but may not decrease the enclosed area. The owner may make repairs necessary for the care and maintenance of the enclosure.
(3) Expansion of a registered enclosure of less than seven hundred acres is limited to an aggregate of up to fifteen percent of the area of the enclosure as of the time the enclosure was registered. Expansion of a registered enclosure of seven hundred acres or more may not exceed an aggregate of four hundred acres.
(D) It is unlawful to hunt deer with dogs in an enclosure registered with the department pursuant to Section 50-11-100(C)(1).
(E) It is unlawful to construct any mound, platform, or other device designed to allow animals into an enclosed area.
(F) If any term or provision of this section is declared unconstitutional, illegal, or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of this section is severable and remains in full force and effect."
SECTION 2. If any section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this act is for any reason held to be unconstitutional or invalid, such holding shall not affect the constitutionality or validity of the remaining portions of this act, the General Assembly hereby declaring that it would have passed this act, and each and every section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, and word thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more other sections, subsections, paragraphs, subparagraphs, sentences, clauses, phrases, or words hereof may be declared to be unconstitutional, invalid, or otherwise ineffective.
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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