2023 House Bill 1186 - SD Legislature require restitution for landowners following an unauthorized entry to hunt, fish, or trap.

2023 South Dakota Legislature

House Bill 1186

An Act to require restitution for landowners following an unauthorized entry to hunt, fish, or trap.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of South Dakota:

Section 1. That   41-9-8 be AMENDED:

41-9-8. If a person violates    41-9-1 or 41-9-2, a court may, upon a finding of guilt or upon a conviction, order the revocation of the person's hunting, fishing, or trapping privileges for one year. The court shall, upon a finding of guilt or upon a conviction of unknowing trespass, order the person to pay restitution to the landowner in the amount of one hundred and fifty dollars.

If a person knowingly enters or remains on private property for the purpose of hunting, fishing, or trapping, in violation of    41-9-1 or 41-9-2, a court, upon a finding of guilt or upon a conviction, shall impose a fine upon the person shall be finedin the amount of five hundred dollars, and shall lose; order the revocation of the person's hunting, trapping, or fishing privileges for one year following a finding of guilt or a conviction; and order the person to pay restitution to the landowner in the amount of five hundred dollars.

A court shall revoke a person's hunting, fishing, or trapping privilegesshall be revoked, for two years, following a second or subsequent finding of guilt or a second or subsequent conviction, under    41-9-1 or  41-9-2, within ten years.

The court may order that any revocation of hunting, fishing, or trapping privileges, authorized by this section, be served consecutively with any other revocation of a person's hunting, fishing, or trapping privileges imposed for a violation for which the person is convicted and for which revocation of the privileges is authorized under this title.

If the person is the holder of a license to hunt, trap, or fish, the court shall require that the license holder surrender and deliver the license to the court, to be returned to the Department of Game, Fish and Parks.

Unarmed retrieval of lawfully taken small game from private land, land controlled by the Department of Game, Fish and Parks, or other public lands, is not a crime or petty offense, if the retrieval of the small game does not involve the use of a motor vehicle.

It is a Class 2 misdemeanor for any person, while engaged in the retrieval of small game from private land, without permission of the owner or lessee of the land, to intentionally drive or flush any small game located on the land toward other hunters of the retriever's same hunting group, located on other parcels of land or rights-of-way.

It is a Class 2 misdemeanor for any person, who is a member of the same hunting group as the person performing the retrieval without the permission of the owner or lessee of the land, to intentionally discharge a firearm at small game, except waterfowl, that originates from the private land during the retrieval.

This section does not limit any civil remedies available to a landowner.

Statutes affected:
Introduced, 01/30/2023: 41-9-8
House Agriculture and Natural Resources Engrossed, 02/07/2023: 41-9-8