Bill Text: CA AB1162 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Wildlife: poaching.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)
Status: (Passed) 2012-09-26 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 590, Statutes of 2012. [AB1162 Detail]
Download: California-2011-AB1162-Amended.html
Bill Title: Wildlife: poaching.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)
Status: (Passed) 2012-09-26 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 590, Statutes of 2012. [AB1162 Detail]
Download: California-2011-AB1162-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1162 AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 11, 2011 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Chesbro (Coauthor: Senator Berryhill) FEBRUARY 18, 2011 An act to amend Sections 2583,2588,12000, and 12154 of, and to add Sections 12013.3 and 12013.5 to, the Fish and Game Code, relating to wildlife. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1162, as amended, Chesbro. Wildlife: poaching. (1) Existing law regulates the taking or possession of birds, mammals, fish, amphibians, and reptiles. Existing law relating to the control of illegally taken fish and wildlife authorizes the imposition of a civil penalty, not to exceed $10,000, on any person who violates the Fish and Game Code or any regulation adopted to carry out that code, and, with the exercise of due care, should have known that thebirds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, or fish, or the endangered or threatened species, or the fully protected birds, mammals, or fishspecified animals were taken, possessed, transported, imported, received, purchased, acquired, or sold in violation of, or in a manner unlawful under, existing law. Existing law requires those civil penalties to be deposited in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund. This bill would increase the maximum civil penalty for a violation of the above provisions from $10,000 to $40,000.The bill would require revenues from civil penalties that relate to certain game species or parts thereof to be deposited in specified accounts within the fund.(2) Existing law provides that, except as expressly provided otherwise in the Fish and Game Code, any violation of that code, or of any rule, regulation, or order made or adopted under that code, is a misdemeanor. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to that provision. (3) Existing law provides that any person who illegally takes, possesses, imports, exports, sells, purchases, barters, trades, or exchanges any amphibian, bird, fish, mammal, or reptile, or part thereof, for profit or personal gain, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $5,000, nor more than $40,000, or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment. Existing law authorizes the department, upon a conviction of certain violations , to suspend or permanently revoke a person's hunting or sport fishing license or permit privileges and authorizes the seizure or forfeiture of any device or apparatus, including a vessel, vehicle, or hunting or fishing gear,used in the commission of specified offenses. This bill would subject any person who knowingly and illegally takes a trophy deer, elk, antelope, wild turkey, or bighorn sheep in specified ways to a fine of not less than $5,000, nor more than $40,000, or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment. The bill would subject any person who uses a signal-emitting device, as defined, in conjunction with the take of bear for the purpose of selling or trafficking in bear parts to a fine of 10 times the market value of the bear parts, or $10,000, whichever is greater. The bill would require the Fish and Game Commission to adopt regulations to implement these provisions, and would require all revenue from fines imposed pursuant to these provisions to be deposited in the Big Game Management Account or the Upland Game Bird A ccount, based on the violation . The bill would include those offenses in those suspension, revocation, and forfeiture provisions. By creating new crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 2583 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read: 2583. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the department may impose a civil penalty in accordance with this chapter on any person who violates this code or any regulation adopted to carry out this code, and, with the exercise of due care, should have known that the birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, or fish, or the endangered or threatened species, or the fully protected birds, mammals, or fish were taken, possessed, transported, imported, received, purchased, acquired, or sold in violation of, or in a manner unlawful under, this code. The civil penalty imposed under this chapter by the department shall not be more than forty thousand dollars ($40,000) for each bird, mammal, amphibian, reptile, or fish, or for each endangered or threatened species, or each fully protected bird, mammal, or fish unlawfully taken, possessed, transported, imported, received, purchased, acquired, or sold. This civil penalty may be in addition to any other penalty, civil or criminal, provided in this code or otherwise by law. (b) A civil penalty shall not be imposed under this chapter until the guidelines for the imposition of the penalties are adopted by the commission pursuant to Section 500.SEC. 2.Section 2588 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read: 2588. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), civil penalties and revenues from forfeitures collected pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund. (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, all civil penalties and other revenues pursuant to this chapter that relate to the following game species or parts thereof shall be deposited as follows: (1) For waterfowl violations, revenues shall be deposited in the Duck Stamp Account established in Section 3701. (2) For upland game violations, revenues shall be deposited in the Upland Game Bird Account established in Section 3684. (3) For big game violations, revenues shall be deposited in the Big Game Management Account established in Section 3953.SEC. 3.SEC. 2. Section 12000 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read: 12000. (a) Except as otherwise expressly provided in this code, any violation of this code, or of any rule, regulation, or order made or adopted under this code, is a misdemeanor. (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), any person who violates any of the following statutes or regulations is guilty of an infraction punishable by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) and not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or of a misdemeanor: (1) Section 2009. (2) Subdivision (a) of Section 6596. (3) Section 7149.8. (4) Section 7360. (5) Sections 1.14, 1.17, 1.18, 1.62, 1.63, and 1.74 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. (6) Sections 2.00 to 5.95, inclusive, and 7.00 to 8.00, inclusive, of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. (7) Sections 27.56 to 30.10, inclusive, of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. (8) Sections 40 to 43, inclusive, of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. (9) Sections 307, 308, and 311 to 313, inclusive, of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. (10) Sections 505, 507 to 510, inclusive, and 550 to 553, inclusive, of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. (11) Sections 630 to 630.5, inclusive, of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.SEC. 4.SEC. 3. Section 12013.3 is added to the Fish and Game Code, to read: 12013.3. (a) Any person who knowingly and illegally takes a trophy deer, elk, antelope,or bighorn sheepbighorn sheep, or wild turkey in any of the following ways shall be subject to a fine of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000), nor more than forty thousand dollars ($40,000), or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or both that fine and imprisonment: (1) Outside the legal season. (2) With the aid of artificial light. (3) With the aid of bait. (4) Results in unnecessary and wanton waste of game. (b) The commission shall adopt regulations to implement this section, including establishing a trophy designation and monetary value based on the size or related characteristics of deer, elk, antelope,and bighorn sheepbighorn sheep, and wild turkeys or parts thereof. (c) All revenue from fines imposed pursuant to this section for deer, elk, antelope, and bighorn sheep violations shall be deposited in the Big Game Management Account established in Section 3953 and shall be used for the big game management purposes described in that section . (d) All revenue from fines imposed pursuant to this section for wild turkey violations shall be deposited in the Upland Game Bird Account established in Section 3684 and shall be used for the upland game bird conservation purposes described in that section. (e) Moneys equivalent to 50 percent of the revenue from any fine collected pursuant to this section shall be paid to the county in which the offense was committed, pursuant to Section 13003. The county board of supervisors shall first use revenues pursuant to this subdivision to reimburse the costs incurred by the district attorney or city attorney in investigating and prosecuting the violation. Any excess revenues may be expended in accordance with Section 13103.SEC. 5.SEC. 4. Section 12013.5 is added to the Fish and Game Code, to read: 12013.5. (a) Any person who uses a signal-emitting device in conjunction with the take of bear for the purpose of selling or trafficking in bear parts shall be subject to a fine of ten times the market value of the bear parts, or ten thousand dollars ($10,000), whichever is greater. For purposes of this section, a "signal-emitting device" means any device capable of generating radio, cellular, satellite, or other signal transmission for purposes of providing communication or location information. (b) The commission shall adopt regulations to implement this section, including, but not limited to, establishing a market value for bear parts. (c) All revenue from fines imposed pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the Big Game Management Account established in Section 3953 and shall be used for the big game management purposes described in that section . (d) Moneys equivalent to 50 percent of the revenue from any fine collected pursuant to this section shall be paid to the county in which the offense was committed, pursuant to Section 13003. The county board of supervisors shall first use revenues pursuant to this subdivision to reimburse the costs incurred by the district attorney or city attorney in investigating and prosecuting the violation. Any excess revenues may be expended in accordance with Section 13103.SEC. 6.SEC. 5. Section 12154 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read: 12154. (a) Upon a conviction of a violation of Section 12012, 12013, 12013.3, or 12013.5, the department may suspend or permanently revoke a person's hunting or sport fishing license or permit privileges. Any person whose privileges are suspended or revoked pursuant to this section may appeal the suspension or revocation to the commission. The commission shall initiate the appeal process within 12 months of the violator's appeal request. The department may adopt regulations to implement this subdivision. (b) Pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 12157, a judge may order the seizure or forfeiture of any device or apparatus, including a vessel, vehicle, or hunting or fishing gear, that is used in committing an offense punishable under Section 12012, 12013, 12013.3, or 12013.5.SEC. 7.SEC. 6. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.