§ 20-120 — Designation of agents; liability; bond

The Department of Natural Resources has the authority to designate agents to sell licenses, stamps, and permits on behalf of the Department. Any person receiving licenses from the Department for sale as provided in this Section (i) shall execute and deliver receipts for the licenses; (ii) shall, on dates specified by the Department, report in writing to the Department the number and kinds of licenses sold; and (iii) shall, with the report, make remittance to the Department covering the amounts due it from the sales. Failure on the part of any clerk or agent to fully comply with the provisions of this Code, including administrative rules, shall be justification for the Department to cancel or withdraw the issuance of licenses through that clerk or agent. A salmon stamp shall be deemed a license for the purposes of this Section. (a) Any person appointed or designated by the Department including any county, city, village, township, or incorporated town clerk issuing licenses provided for in this Code may add the fees provided in paragraph (b) as the fee for issuing the licenses. These clerks, however, shall remit to the treasurer of the political subdivision of which he or she is an officer or employee, the added fees or any portion of the added fees he or she collects provided in paragraph (b). Issuing fees may be divided between the clerks and their appointed subagents other than employees of the clerk's office, but in no case may any clerk or subagent charge an issuing fee or fees totaling more than the issuing fee set out in this Section. (b) Any person authorized to issue licenses under subsection (a) may add to the license fee a fee of $.75 in the case of Sportsmen's Combination Licenses or nonresident hunting licenses, and $.50 in the case of all other licenses, permits, and stamps. (c) No person or subagent of any county, city, village, township, or incorporated town clerk may charge a service fee for issuing licenses provided for in this Code, and the charging of fees for issuing licenses in excess of the fees authorized is a petty offense. Any person authorized to issue licenses by telephone and electronic transmission or incurring costs for customer convenience may charge in addition to the "issuing fee" authorized by this Section a fee not to exceed an amount set by the Department, by administrative rule, to cover the transaction cost. (d) All fees, less issuing fees, collected from the sale of licenses and permits and not remitted to the Department as provided in this Section shall be deemed to have been embezzled and the person or officer responsible for the remittance is subject to prosecution. No person handling or selling licenses is required to remit for any license now or hereafter stolen, by means of forcible entry, or destroyed by a fire in the premises where the licenses are kept, if he or she submits an affidavit to the Department describing the circumstances of the theft or cause of the destruction and listing in the affidavit the type and numbers of the licenses so stolen or destroyed. (e) Within 30 days after the expiration of the time in which any class of license is usable, payment for licenses sold shall be made in full to the Department and persons possessing unused license forms shall return them to the Department prepaid. (f) No person is permitted to make deductions from remittances sent to the Department for postage or for the cost of, or fees for, drafts or money orders. (g) Any county, city, village, township, or incorporated town clerk handling or selling licenses as provided in this Section is liable to the State personally. All other persons designated or appointed by the Department to handle or sell licenses as provided in this Section shall, before receiving any licenses for sale, file with the Department a bond in an amount specified by the Department on a form to be approved by and with a surety or sureties satisfactory to the Department conditioned upon the person or persons paying to the State of Illinois all monies becoming due by reason of the sale of the licenses. (h) No person shall falsify, alter, or change in any manner, or loan or transfer to another, any license, permit, or tag issued under this Section or falsify any records required by this Code or counterfeit or duplicate any form of license, permit, or tag provided for by this Code. Any person who violates this subsection shall be subject to the penalty provisions of Section 20-35 of this Code.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 89-445, eff. 2-7-96; 90-225, eff. 7-25-97; 90-743, eff. 1-1-99.)