MINUTES OF MEETING
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES, AGRICULTURE AND MINING
Sixty-seventh Session
June 25, 1993
The Assembly Committee on Natural Resources, Agriculture and Mining was called to order by Chairman Vivian L. Freeman at 2:15 p.m., June 25, 1993, in Room 321 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada. Exhibit A is the Meeting Agenda, Exhibit B is the Attendance Roster.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:
Mrs. Vivian L. Freeman, Chairman
Mr. John B. Regan, Vice Chairman
Mr. Douglas A. Bache
Ms. Marcia de Braga
Mr. Peter G. Ernaut
Mr. James A. Gibbons
Mr. Roy Neighbors
Mr. Robert M. Sader
Mr. Michael A. Schneider
Ms. Stephanie Smith
COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT:
Mr. John C. Carpenter
GUEST LEGISLATORS PRESENT:
None
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:
Mr. Fred Welden, Chief Deputy Research Director
OTHERS PRESENT:
Ms. Cathy Barcomb, Executive Director, Wildhorse Commission.
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Freeman to discuss the amendments to S.B. 378.
SENATE BILL 378:
Imposes penalty for unauthorized, intentional killing of wild burro and increases penalty for killing wild horse.
Mr. Fred Welden said the committee had asked Ms. Barcomb and Mr. Welden to prepare amendments discussed by the committee which would be acceptable to the commission (Exhibit B). In the amendment before the committee Section 1 of the bill dealt with the administrative fine and the civil penalty. There was a question about it being a double jeopardy type law. Mr. Welden said they went to the environmental laws to see what they had in the area and there was an example in the environmental laws they picked up on. This type of language would be an automatic civil penalty if there was a criminal conviction. It would divert some of the penalty money somewhere other than the general fund or school district fund and put the money in the commission.
Section 2 would change the penalty and for the first offense there would be a fine of $2,000 per animal killed and the possibility of punishment and jail and imprisonment of not more than one year per conviction regardless of number of animals killed. For a second and subsequent offense there would be required imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year per conviction and a fine of $2,000 per animal killed. Mr. Welden said his statements were for the technical background on the amendments.
Ms. Cathy Barcomb stated the felony bill was not as important as having the killings stopped. With the intent of the revision the Wildhorse Commission's objectives would be met. It made the penalty a mandatory penalty instead of at the discretion of the court of up to a $2,000 fine which over the past twenty years had not worked.
Mr. Ernaut said his problem was still with the fine going to the commission and the $2,000 per animal killed. The fine should go to the court and not the commission. Mr. Ernaut's intention when they spoke on the bill previously was for $2,000 per conviction. Ms. Barcomb did not think it was fair to only charge $2,000 per conviction when someone could go out and shoot a whole herd and only have to pay $2,000. Ms. Barcomb asked if the fine would make it a deterrent to killing when a charge of $2,000 per animal was in law. He said he had more problem with the fine going to the commission and generating revenue. Ms. Barcomb said the intent was to put some of the money back into the program as they did not receive any state money even though they were a state agency and did the job for the state. The funds for the commission were through the Heil Trust which currently stands at $1.1 million and operates off of the interest.
Mrs. Freeman asked what the goal was, to deter people from killing wild horses, fund administrative costs or to punish the
perpetrator.
Ms. Barcomb said the sole intent was to stop the killings, not to fund the agency.
Mr. Neighbors echoed Mr. Ernaut's concerns. Why was a horse more valuable than any other animal.
Mr. Sader asked if the felony was eliminated, would the bill be a simple misdemeanor. Ms. Barcomb said a gross misdemeanor and the bill would stay that way. The amendment would specify a base fine of $2,000 per animal and then on top of the $2,000 a civil penalty of between $250 and $2,000 per conviction, said Mr. Sader. He said the bill stated "...the court shall order the defendant to pay a civil penalty.." The monetary fine to a defendant on a conviction would be $2,250 minimum and $4,000 maximum. Mr. Welden said it would depend on how many animals were killed. The civil penalty would be $250 to $2,000 per conviction and the criminal penalty would be $2,000 per animal killed. Mr. Sader said normally the prosecutor would plead as many counts as there were dead animals because each one was a violation. Mr. Welden said when he talked to Kim Morgan, the bill drafter, she thought using the term "conviction" would cover how many counts were in a specific conviction, there could be five counts within a conviction, but if there was a problem she would find another way to put the language in.
Mrs. Freeman asked about the amendment and if the committee could agree. Mr. Sader said he did not support the administrative penalty on top of the conviction and did not support the $2,000 minimum. Mr. Sader said his objection was to most of what was in the bill and the amendment. Mr. Sader explained how big minimum fines work out quite differently than were intended. Mr. Sader did not think the penalty would deter the action of killing wild horses.
Mr. Gibbons said the committee had heard a lot about a felony for killing an estray. An estray falls under the Nevada Revised Statute 235 which makes it a grand larceny of property to kill an estray. He said the crime requires a specific intent to deprive a person of the property, and constitutes a felony.
Mrs. Freeman said they were all sympathetic to Ms. Barcomb's concern.
ASSEMBLYMAN GIBBONS MADE A MOTION TO INDEFINITELY POSTPONE S.B. 378.
ASSEMBLYMAN REGAN SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED. (ASSEMBLYMEN BACHE AND SMITH VOTED NO. ASSEMBLYMAN CARPENTER WAS ABSENT AT THE TIME OF THE VOTE.)
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There being no further business to come before committee, the meeting was adjourned at 2:45 p.m.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
PAT MENATH
Committee Secretary
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Assembly Committee on Natural Resources, Agriculture and Mining
June 25, 1993
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