It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows
SECTION 1. Section 20-15-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 20-15 entitled "Deer Hunting" is hereby amended to read as follows:
20-15-3. Permit to landowner to protect property. --
{ADD (a) ADD} Any person owning or occupying any property and any person in
his or her employ, while on his or her own premises or the premises of
his or her employer may kill any deer which shall be found destroying any
crops, vegetables, or fruit trees, or otherwise causing damage to the
property belonging to that person or his or her employer, provided,
however, that no such person shall {DEL shoot DEL} {ADD kill ADD} any deer unless
he or she has obtained a permit from the director to do so. The
director, on application, may issue the permit to any responsible
owner or his or her employee, provided that no such permit shall be
issued until the director has {DEL investigated to determine DEL}
{ADD determined ADD} that actual damage has been done to crops, vegetables,
fruit trees, or other property by any deer, and that no practical
alternative to the shooting of the deer is available. {DEL Any DEL}
{ADD This ADD} permit {DEL so issued shall expire within such time periods as
the director may by regulation prescribe DEL} {ADD shall be issued on an
annual basis ADD} . Any person taking or wounding a deer under the permit
shall report the taking or wounding to a conservation officer or other
designee of the director within twenty-four (24) hours of the taking
or wounding.
{ADD (b) Hunting shall only be permitted from one half (1/2) hour before sunrise to one half (1/2) hour after sunset; provided that the director, subject to terms and conditions to be set forth by regulation, may authorize hunting at other times on farmlands and further provided that such farms shall have experienced severe deer damage to a cash crop or crops, and shall have attempted unsuccessfully other reasonable means of controlling such damage, including daylight hunting. Provided further that the director shall determine whether said farmlands are of sufficient size to support night hunting without endangering the public safety. ADD}
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
