§ 70-2-104 — Persons entitled to license without fee or at reduced fee - Designation of assistant - Penalty for false information - Imposition of fee

(a) The wildlife resources director and the director's agents, through the county clerks or other legally designated license sales agents, have the power to issue a: (1) Sport fishing license without the payment of a license fee to those residents of Tennessee who are certified to be blind, having a visual acuity, with maximum correction, not exceeding 20/200 in the better eye or having a visual acuity exceeding 20/200 but accompanied by a limitation in the field of vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than twenty degrees (20°). The director shall accept as evidence, for the purposes of this title, a certificate from the department of human services or from a physician licensed to practice medicine in this state and who is actively engaged in the treatment of diseases of the human eye, or a licensed, registered optometrist, certifying that such person meets the requirements of this section with reference to the degree of blindness as defined in this subdivision (a)(1); (2) Sport fishing and hunting license without the payment of a fee to residents of Tennessee who by reason of service in any war are thirty percent (30%) or more disabled. The director shall accept as evidence of service-connected disability for the purposes of this section a certification from the veterans' administration; (3) (A) Hunting license to persons with intellectual disabilities who reside in this state and who are over ten (10) years of age. The director shall accept as evidence for the purposes of this subdivision (a)(3) a certificate from a physician licensed to practice medicine in this state certifying that the applicant meets the requirements of this section with reference to such disability. The person must be accompanied by an adult at least twenty-five (25) years of age or older, who is hunter-education-certified and licensed to hunt. The person shall be required to complete the hunter education course as provided in § 70-2-108 in the presence of a licensed adult, but shall not be required to attain a particular score on the course examination or take the course more than once; (B) As used in this subdivision (a)(3), unless the context otherwise requires: (i) "Accompanied" means the licensed adult shall supervise no more than one (1) person with intellectual disabilities at any one (1) time and shall be able to take immediate control of the hunting device; (ii) "Persons with intellectual disabilities" means persons who possess an intellectual disability, as defined by § 33-1-101 ; (C) The commission shall promulgate rules and regulations in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, to effectuate the purposes of subdivision (a)(3)(A), including, but not limited to, rules and regulations to specifically denote on the license that the person issued the license is a person with intellectual disabilities, and to create a one-time-only fee in an amount sufficient to cover the costs of implementing subdivision (a)(3)(A); and (4) (A) Permanent sport combination hunting and fishing license upon payment of a one-time ten-dollar fee to those residents of this state who are permanently restricted to wheelchairs or who have suffered an amputation of seventy-five percent (75%) or more of a lower limb. The director shall accept as evidence for the purposes of this section a certificate from a physician licensed to practice medicine in this state certifying that the applicant meets the requirements of this section with reference to permanent restriction to a wheelchair or having suffered an amputation of seventy-five percent (75%) or more of a lower limb; or (B) Permanent sport combination hunting and fishing license upon payment of a one-time ten-dollar fee to those residents of Tennessee who are one hundred percent (100%) permanently and totally service connected disabled veterans who apply for such discounts and exemptions prior to or after May 24, 2000. The agency shall accept as evidence of service-connected disability for the purposes of this subdivision (a)(4)(B) a certification from the veterans' administration. (b) (1) The fish and wildlife commission shall by proclamation designate one (1) week of each year when any person who receives social security benefits due to intellectual disability may engage in all forms of sport fishing, and all sport fishing license requirements shall be suspended during such week for such persons. The agency may accept as evidence for purposes of this section a certificate from the social security administration or any other evidence acceptable to the executive director. (2) A resident of Tennessee who receives social security benefits due to intellectual disability is entitled to the privilege of sport fishing upon presentation of evidence of such disability satisfactory to the agency. Such resident shall be issued a permanent license for sport fishing. (c) The giving of false information as to name, age, degree of blindness, percentage of disability, permanent restriction to a wheelchair, address, residence or nonresidence by any applicant for any license provided for in this chapter, or altering any license or permit or any application for any license or permit, is a Class C misdemeanor. (d) (1) The license fee discounts and exemptions provided in subsections (a) and (b) shall apply to qualified residents of Tennessee who apply for such discounts or exemptions prior to May 24, 2000. (2) For qualified residents of Tennessee who have not applied for such discounts or exemptions prior to May 24, 2000, there shall be imposed a one-time ten-dollar fee for such license; provided, that such fee shall not apply to the exemption granted in subdivision (b)(1). (3) Any qualified resident of Tennessee who has applied for such discount or exemption prior to May 24, 2000, may nevertheless make a voluntary payment of the one-time ten-dollar fee and upon making such payment shall be issued a license in accordance with this section. (e) (1) This subsection (e) shall be known and may be cited as the "Hunter Wright Hunting and Fishing Act." (2) Notwithstanding this section to the contrary, the wildlife resources director and the director's agents, through the county clerks or other legally designated license sales agents, have the power to issue an annual sport combination hunting and fishing license upon payment of a five-dollar fee to residents who are under eighteen (18) years of age and who are disabled. (3) As used in this subsection (e), "disabled" means the inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment that is certified by a licensed physician. This means that the condition must be both totally and permanently disabling. The director shall accept as evidence for the purposes of this subsection (e) a certificate from a physician licensed to practice medicine in this state certifying that the applicant meets the requirements of this subsection (e) with reference to being disabled. (4) The commission shall promulgate rules and regulations in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, to specifically denote on the license that the person is disabled. (f) (1) (A) The agency shall be reimbursed for lost revenue resulting from the issuance of free or partially discounted combination hunting and fishing licenses created by statute on or after January 1, 2017, in an amount equal to the discounts received. (B) Subdivision (f)(1)(A) shall also apply to lost revenue resulting from exemptions to licensure requirements created by statute on or after January 1, 2017, in an amount equal to the amount of lost revenue from such exemptions. (2) (A) The agency shall maintain an accounting of lost revenue, as described in subdivision (f)(1), and shall submit the accounting to the department of finance and administration for the payment of moneys in an amount equal to such lost revenue out of the general fund on or before June 30 of each fiscal year. (B) Within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the accounting from the agency, the department of finance and administration must pay the actual amount of lost revenue for the fiscal year into the wildlife resources fund established in § 70-1-401 . (C) The accounting maintained pursuant to subdivision (f)(2)(A) and any other records relating to the accounting shall be subject to audit by the comptroller of the treasury. (3) Any reimbursement to the agency for lost revenue pursuant to subdivision (f)(1)(A) shall be made from the general fund, subject to an appropriation by the general assembly in the annual general appropriations act. (g) A person may assist a resident of this state who obtains a license under subdivision (a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(4), or (b)(2), or subsection (e), or who is exempt from licensure under subdivision (b)(1), without the necessity of procuring a license, if: (1) The person who qualifies for a license under subdivision (a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(4), or (b)(2), or subsection (e), or who is exempt from licensure under subdivision (b)(1), completes and retains a form that designates one (1) person as an assistant and identifies the assistant by driver license number or by some other unique identifying number that appears on a form of identification issued to the assistant by a governmental entity. A person may only designate one (1) person as an assistant for hunting or fishing purposes each calendar year, except in the case of the death of the designated assistant. The agency shall develop a form that may be used to satisfy the requirements of this subdivision (g)(1), and make the form available to the public on the agency's website; (2) The person providing assistance is not hunting or fishing on the person's own behalf. No extra bag limit or creel limit is permitted for an assistant who is not licensed to hunt or fish in this state, as applicable; and (3) The assistant does not possess: (A) A fishing pole, unless the assistant has a valid license to fish in this state; (B) A firearm, unless the assistant has a valid license to hunt in this state, a concealed handgun carry permit, or an enhanced handgun carry permit; or (C) Any weapon other than a firearm that the agency has authorized by proclamation to be used for the taking of game, unless the assistant has a valid license to hunt in this state.

Legislative History

Amended by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 385, s 1, eff. 5/11/2021. Amended by 2020 Tenn. Acts, ch. 737, s 1, eff. 6/22/2020. Amended by 2017 Tenn. Acts, ch. 330, s 1, eff. 5/9/2017. Acts 1951, ch. 115, § 10 (Williams, § 5178.39); 1955, ch. 62, § 1; impl. am. Acts 1974, ch. 481, §§ 16-21; impl. am. Acts 1975, ch. 219, § 1; Acts 1976, ch. 682, § 2; impl. am. Acts 1978, ch. 934, §§ 22, 36; Acts 1982, ch. 738, § 3; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), §§ 51-208, 51-209; Acts 1989, ch. 309, § 1; 1990, ch. 981, § 4; 1993, ch. 54, §§ 1, 2; 1995, ch. 147, §§ 1, 2; 1998, ch. 603, § 1; 2000, ch. 837, § 4; 2004, ch. 829, § 1; 2011 , ch. 197, § 1; 2012 , ch. 713, §§ 1, 2; 2012 , ch. 954, § 1; 2012 , ch. 993, § 13.