Chap. 295.—An ACT to repeal sections 3307, 3308, 3309, 3310, 3311, 3312,
3313, 3314, 3315, 3321, 3324, 3325 and 3343 of the Code of Virginia in
relation to the department of game and inland fisheries, and to amend and
re-enact section 3306 of the Code of Virginia in relation to said department,
and to provide for a commission of game and inland fisheries. [S B 198]

Approved March 24, 1926.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
sections thirty-three hundred and seven, thirty-three hundred and
eight, thirty-three hundred and nine, thirty-three hundred and ten,
thirty-three hundred and eleven, thirty-three hundred and twelve,
thirty-three hundred and thirteen, thirty-three hundred and fourteen,
thirty-three hundred and fifteen, thirty-three hundred and twenty-
one, thirty-three hundred and twenty-four, thirty-three hundred and
twenty-five and thirty-three hundred and forty-three of the Code of
Virginia, be and the same are hereby repealed, and section thirty-
three hundred and six of the Code of Virginia, be amended and re-
enacted so as to read as follows:

Section 3306. Organization of the commission of game and
inland fisheries; its powers and duties, etcetera.

First. The State department of game and inland fisheries here-
tofore established is hereby continued, subject to the provisions of
this act. Such department shall be in charge of a commission of
game and inland fisheries, hereinafter called the commission. Said
commission shall consist of five members, to be appointed by the
governor, subject to confirmation by the senate, and who may be
removable from office during their respective terms by the governor.
Appointments under this act shall be made to take effect on the first
day of July, nineteen hundred and twenty-six, and shall be for terms
as follows: One of the members shall be appointed for a term of
four years and designated by the governor as chairman; the other
members shall be appointed for one, two, three and five years. Sub-
sequent appointments shall be for terms of five years. Vacancies
may be filled by the governor, subject to confirmation by the senate.
The chairman shall be the administrative head of the department
and he shall, subject to the approval of the governor, appoint, or
remove, an executive secretary, who shall be selected with regard to
the duties he is required to perform under this act. In addition
thereto, he shall, at salaries provided by appropriation or, if not so
provided, approved by the governor, employ, or authorize the execu-
tive secretary to employ, subject to his approval, sufficient force to
care for the clerical and other work and activities of the department
and designate the official position and duties of each. The chairman
shall subject to approval or ratification by the commission appoint
game wardens as provided by section thirty-three hundred and nine-
teen of the Code of Virginia, under certificates bearing his signature
and countersigned by the executive secretary, but he may require the
executive secretary to receive applications from persons desiring
appointments as game wardens, conduct correspondence in connec-
tion therewith and execute the details of appointments. Such game
wardens shall be employed for such time and receive such salaries as
the commission shall fix upon. Each game warden shall report
monthly to the commission the exact time during which he has been
employed in the performance of his duty. There shall not be more
than one regular monthly salaried game warden in each county and
city, except that in the counties of Augusta, Bedford, Buckingham,
Halifax, Henrico, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Pittsylvania, Princess
Anne and Rockingham there may be two, and not more than ten
supervising game wardens shall be appointed in the State. Special
game wardens when actually employed may be paid not exceeding
four dollars per day. The commission may authorize the chairman
to enlarge, curtail or discontinue any activities of the department or
to establish new activities; to cause the propagation of game birds
and animals and game fish; to purchase breeding stock and specimens
of game birds and animals and game fish; to erect buildings and
enclosures, if necessary, and to rent or purchase lands; to adopt such
other means as may be necessary to restock any depleted species of
game birds or animals or game fish; to introduce any new species of
game birds or animals and game fish; to employ lecturer to hold
exhibits and show motion pictures pertaining to wild life, especially
for the benefit of school children, agriculturalists and sportsmen,
and to do such other acts as it may deem advisable to foster the
conservation and propagation of game birds or animals or game fish.
All acts of the commission and all employees and appointees thereof
shall be subject to the review and approval of the governor.

Second. The chairman shall enforce, or cause to be enforced,
all laws for the protection, propagation and preservation of game
birds and animals, and all laws relating to game fish in all waters of
of the State above tidewater and in the fresh water streams and
ponds in the tidewater section, and all dog laws; he shall prosecute
all persons who violate such laws; and he shall seize any and all
game birds or animals and game fish that have been killed, caught,
transported or shipped contrary to law. The chairman shall require
all wardens receiving pay to file weekly and monthly reports to the
executive secretary on forms furnished by the department, on which
they shall record the number of miles traveled each day on duty and
where they went, the number of hunting and angling licenses in-
spected, dog tags and receipt cards inspected, dogs killed by them,
number of arrests, convictions and dismissals and the amount of
fines and costs, cases appealed and such other information as may
be desirable. No salary check shall be sent to any game warden
until such report is received.

Third. The commission shall meet once every three months for
the transaction of such business as the chairman may .bring before
it, but the chairman may call other meetings if the same be necessary.
The chairman and two other members, or, in the absence of the
chairman, the four other members shall constitute a quorum. Meetings
shall be held in the main office of the department in Richmond, Vir-
ginia, or at such places within the State as may be expedient. The
chairman shall designate a competent member of the department
regular office force to record the minutes of said commission. The
minute books and other records of the commission shall be open to
inspection by the State accountant, the governor, and their represent-
atives, at any and all times. The accounts of the department shall
be audited in the manner provided for the audit of other State de-
partments. The members of the commission shall be paid ten dollars
per day for such time as they actually serve, not to exceed, however,
two hundred and forty dollars in any one year, and when required
to be absent from their homes on business for the department, such
members shall be reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses
incurred in the performance of such duties. The salary of the execu-
tive secretary shall be four thousand and two hundred dollars per
annum, payable in semi-monthly installments, and he shall be re-
imbursed for necessary traveling expenses while away from the
main office upon business pertaining to the work of the department.

Fourth. Each member of the commission, before entering upon
the discharge of his duties, shall be sworn into office in the presence
of the secretary of the Commonwealth, who shall thereupon issue
to each of them a certificate designating each as a member of the
commission of game and inland fisheries, and also designating the
chairman, each certificate to bear the signature of the governor and
be countersigned by the secretary of the Commonwealth. The
executive secretary shall be sworn into office in a similar manner and
a certificate issued to him under the signature of the chairman.
Before entering upon the discharge of their duties the chairman and
executive secretary shall also execute bonds, payable to the Com-
monwealth, in the sum of five thousand dollars each, conditioned
for the faithful performance of their duties, which bonds shall be
filed in the office of the secretary of the Commonwealth. The
premium on said bonds shall be paid out of the game protection fund.
The chairman and executive secretary shall each have the power
conferred by law upon sheriffs and constables in prosecuting viola-
tions of the game, inland fish and dog laws.

Fifth. The commission shall make an annual report to the
governor as of June thirtieth each year, giving an account of its acts
and doings and recommendations for legislation or such other matters
as it may desire to bring to the attention of the governor and the
general assembly. There shall be attached to each such report a
detailed statement by the executive secretary, containing an itemized
account of all collections and the sources from which received and
all expenditures and for what purpose. The executive secretary is
specially charged with the duty of seeing that the fiscal affairs of
the department are in order; that the vouchers and accounts are kept
in accordance with regulations of the State accountant and that
remittances are made to the auditor of public accounts for amounts
due the game protection fund. He shall supervise the work of all
employes and require them to perform their duties.

Sixth. All expenditure shall be paid out of the game protection
fund, on individual warrants, to the parties entitled thereto, drawn
by the auditor of public accounts on the treasurer of Virginia. The
regular fixed salary payroll of the department shall be certified to
the auditor of public accounts for payment monthly or semi-monthly,
as may be otherwise provided by law, by the executive secretary,
but no other obligations of any kind that may be incurred in the
discharge of the duties of the commission shall be so certified until
passed upon by the chairman and ordered paid. When so passed,
and not contrary to law, such obligations shall be certified on regular
payroll form, as above provided, to the auditor of public accounts,
who shall thereupon draw his warrant on the State treasurer for such
amount. The fund known as the fifteen per centum dog fund shall
hereafter be transferred to the credit of the game protection fund and
all such moneys received into the State treasury after the thirtieth
day of June, nineteen hundred and twenty-six, shall be placed to
the credit of the game protection fund, including any balance on
hand on that date. ,

Seventh. All the powers heretofore conferred and all the duties
heretofore imposed upon the ex-officio commissioner of game and
inland fisheries, or the department of game and inland fisheries, not
inconsistent with the provisions of this act, are hereby conferred and
imposed upon the chairman, except that when the chairman is absent
he may confer authority upon the executive secretary to do such
acts as shall be necessary or convenient to carry out the provisions
of this act, and whenever the words commissioner of game and inland
fisheries, or words denoting that officer, appear in any statute enacted
prior to the first day of July, nineteen hundred and twenty-six, and
not repealed, including statutes in relation to inland fish and dogs,
the same shall be construed to mean the commission of game and
inland fisheries, created by this act, and wherever the words depart-
ment of game and inland fisheries, or words denoting that depart-
ment, appear in any statute, the same shall be construed to mean the
department of game and inland fisheries continued by this act.
Provided, further, that in the event of vacancy in the chairmanship
or in the absence of the chairman, because of illness or for other
reasons, the governor shall have authority to designate any member
of the commission or the executive secretary to act in place of said
chairman. The certificate of appointment of all game wardens who
may be in the employ of the department on the day this act takes
effect shall expire July thirty-first, nineteen hundred and twenty-six.

Eight. The fifteen per centum dog fund and the proceeds from
the sale of hunters, anglers and breeders licenses in this State, after
paying the clerk’s fees otherwise provided, shall be set aside by the
State treasurer, and shall constitute a fund to be known as the game
protection fund to be used for the payment of the salaries and ex-
penses of the department and other purposes as provided by law.
The game protection fund, including any surplus that may remain at
the termination of any appropriation year, shall remain a separate
fund in the State treasury, but said fund shall be subject to the
recommendation of the State budget commission; and no money
shall be paid out of said fund except in accordance with appropria-
tions made by the general assembly or approved by the governor.
The salaries and other expenses shall be limited to the amount of
money in the game protection fund and in no event shall the State
pay any such salaries or expenses, or be liable therefor, except to the
extent of such game protection fund, and the executive secretary
shall not issue any voucher, nor shall the auditor of public accounts
approve any voucher, if issued by the said executive secretary, unless
the money shall be on hand in the State treasury at the time to
the credit of the game protection fund. The auditor of public ac-
counts shall furnish the department, not later than the tenth of the
month following receipt, an itemized list of the amounts of money,
the date, sources and names of parties from which received, which
came into his hands during the previous month for credit to the
game protection fund and the executive secretary shall promptly
cause the same to be entered upon the books of the department to
the credit of the accounts of the persons paying the same; provided
that nothing herein contained shall be construed as repealing an
act of the general assembly of Virginia, approved March fifth,
eighteen hundred and ninety-four, entitled an act to incorporate the
Eastern Shore of Virginia Game Protective Association of Virginia.

2. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of
this act are hereby repealed.