Kentucky Administrative Regulations
Title 301 - TOURISM, ARTS AND HERITAGE CABINET - DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE RESOURCES
Chapter 2 - Game
Section 301 KAR 2:030 - Commercial guide license
Universal Citation: 301 KY Admin Regs Service 2:030
Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, March 1, 2024
RELATES TO: KRS 150.170, 150.412, 164.772
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 150.025 authorizes the department to promulgate administrative regulations to establish open seasons for the taking of wildlife, to regulate bag limits and methods of take, and to make these requirements apply statewide or to a limited area. KRS 150.175(11) authorizes the department to issue a commercial guide license, which authorizes the holder to guide hunting and fishing parties. KRS 150.190 authorizes the department to ensure that an applicant for a commercial guide license is qualified to act as a commercial guide. This administrative regulation establishes the requirements for a commercial guide license.
Section 1. Definitions.
(1) "Commercial guide" means a person who
advertises, or offers their services for profit, to aid others in the take of
fish or wildlife, excluding land leasing for hunting access, tracking of
wounded wildlife, club memberships, classroom instruction or
seminars.
(2) "Fishing guide
helper" means a person who assists a commercial guide and is in the same boat
or is directly alongside of the commercial guide if standing on a stream or
river bank and while guiding others in the taking of fish.
Section 2. Commercial Guide License Requirements and Application.
(1) A person
shall possess a valid Kentucky commercial guide license in order to
commercially guide others in the taking of fish or wildlife.
(2) A commercial guide license shall be valid
from March 1 through the last day of February.
(3) An applicant for a commercial guide
license shall:
(a) Be eighteen (18) years of
age or older;
(b) Have not been
convicted of any state or federal fish or wildlife violation during the
previous three (3) years;
(c) Have
not been convicted of a felony;
(d)
Possess a valid fishing license and trout permit if applicable; and
(e) Possess a valid hunting license and all
applicable game permits.
(4) An elk permit shall not be required to be
purchased by a commercial guide in order to guide clients in the taking of
elk.
(5) Except as established in
subsection (6) of this section, in order to obtain a commercial guide license,
a person shall submit to the department:
(a) A
completed Commercial Guide License Application Form to the Director's Office,
Division of Law Enforcement, #1 Sportsman's Lane, Frankfort, Kentucky
40601;
(b) A Law Information
Network of Kentucky National Crime Information Center (LINK/NCIC) background
check obtained through the Kentucky State Police;
(c) Proof of a valid and current
certification in:
1. Cardiopulmonary
resuscitation (CPR); and
2. First
aid;
(d) Proof of
completion of a boater education course upon applying for a commercial guide
license for fishing in a boat;
(e)
Proof of completion of a hunter education course upon applying for a commercial
guide license for hunting. A commercial guide applicant who guides hunters by
boat shall also submit proof of completion of a boater education course;
and
(f) The applicable
fee.
(6) A commercial
guide applicant who possesses a valid United States Coast Guard Captain's
License, or Six-pack, and will guide on a United States Coast Guard regulated
waterway may submit a copy of this license in lieu of the boater education
course requirements established in subsection (5)(d) of this section and in
lieu of the CPR and first aid requirements, as established in subsection (5)(c)
of this section, upon applying for a commercial guide license.
(7) While guiding, a commercial guide shall
have in possession all required licenses and permits.
(8) While guiding on private land, a
commercial guide shall provide at the request of a conservation officer a name
and phone number of the person granting the guide permission to be on the
property.
(9) A commercial guide
shall not facilitate, promote, or assist a client in the violation of any state
or federal fish and wildlife law or regulation.
Section 3. Fishing Guide Helper.
(1) A commercial guide may utilize fishing
guide helpers.
(2) A fishing guide
helper shall have in possession while assisting a commercial guide a valid
Kentucky fishing license and applicable permits.
(3) A commercial guide shall be responsible
for any violation of this administrative regulation by a fishing guide helper
who is registered by the commercial guide.
Section 4. Commercial Guide License Reporting, Prohibitions and Revocation.
(1) A
commercial guide or fishing guide helper shall not participate in the taking of
fish or game beyond the daily limit of the person or persons being guided,
except that a commercial guide or fishing guide helper may take a daily limit
of fish or game, as applicable, while guiding.
(2) The department shall revoke and not renew
the commercial guide license for a period of three (3) years, of a person
convicted of any state or federal fish or game violation.
(3) The department shall permanently revoke
the commercial guide license of a person convicted of a felony.
(4) A commercial guide license holder shall
report their guiding activities via the online Commercial Guide Reporting
Portal by submitting as follows, via online at
https://app.fw.ky.gov/commReport:
(a) By the 15th day of every month for the
previous month's guiding, if "I plan to be a fishing guide" or "Both hunting
& fishing guide" is indicated on the commercial guide license holder's
Commercial Guide License Application Form, even if no guiding occurred for
fishing;
(b) Within thirty (30)days
after closure of the hunting season for a species which commercial guiding for
hunting occurred; or
(c) Within
thirty (30) days after the end of the license year for a species that can be
hunted year-round which commercial guiding for hunting occurred.
(5) The commercial guide shall
submit all the following information, via the online commercial guide reporting
portal, by each of the applicable deadlines established in subsection (4) of
this section:
(a) For commercial guiding for
fishing:
1. Commercial guide name;
2. Commercial guide license number;
3. Whether commercial guiding for fishing
occurred during the month, and if so:
a. Dates
fished or bowfished;
b. Waterbody
fished per day fished or bowfished;
c. Fish species targeted each day;
d. Number of anglers or bowfishers guided per
trip;
e. Hours fished or bowfished
per trip; and
f. Fish species
caught or shot and the number of each species that were:
(i) Released with number of specimens below
legal harvest size and at or above legal harvest size; and
(ii) Harvested.
(b) For commercial
guiding for hunting:
1. Commercial guide
name;
2. Commercial guide license
number;
3. Species
targeted;
4. Total number of guided
resident and nonresident clients per species targeted;
5. Number of animals harvested per species by
sex of the animal;
6. Number of
animals shot, but not recovered by sex of the animal for black bear, bobcat,
deer, elk, and turkey;
7. Name of
each county where guiding occurred per species;
8. Name of each public land area where
guiding occurred per species; and
9. Indicate whether any guiding was performed
for any pen-raised animals or at facilities that are permitted as a shooting
facility.
(6)
Failure to submit the required reporting information by the deadline
established in subsection (4) of this section for commercial guiding for
fishing will result in:
(a) Issuance of a
courtesy reminder letter to a commercial guide who has once failed to properly
submit the reporting information during the commercial guiding license
year.
(b) Issuance of a warning
letter to a commercial guide who has twice failed to properly submit the
reporting information during the commercial guiding license year.
(c) Suspension of the commercial guide
license of a commercial guide who has failed to properly submit the reporting
information for three (3) or more months in a given commercial guiding license
year until the commercial guide submits to the department all required
reporting information.
(d)
Suspension of the commercial guide license of a commercial guide for a period
of three (3) months for failure to properly submit the reporting information
four (4) or more times in a commercial guiding license year.
(e) Additional three (3) month suspensions of
the commercial guide license of a commercial guide if a prior year's three (3)
month suspension extends into a new commercial guiding license year and
subsequent failures to properly submit the reporting information
occur.
(7) Failure to
submit the required reporting information after commercial guiding for hunting
occurs will result in denial of future license applications or renewals until
all required reporting has been completed.
(8) The department shall deny a commercial
guide license to a person who fails to meet the eligibility requirements, fails
to properly complete the application process, or has not yet submitted all
required reporting information from a prior license year.
Section 5. Administrative Hearings.
(1) An individual whose permit has been
denied or revoked may request an administrative hearing pursuant to KRS Chapter
13B.
(2) A request for a hearing
shall be in writing and postmarked or delivered in person to the department no
later than thirty (30) days after notification of the denial or the
revocation.
(3) Upon receipt of the
request for a hearing, the department shall proceed according to the provisions
of KRS Chapter 13B.
(4) The hearing
officer's recommended order shall be considered by the commissioner, and the
commissioner shall issue a final order, pursuant to KRS Chapter 13B.
Section 6. Incorporation by Reference.
(1) "Commercial Guide License
Application Form", 2023 edition, is incorporated by reference.
(2) This material may be inspected, copied,
or obtained, subject to applicable copyright law, at the Department of Fish and
Wildlife Resources, #1 Sportsman's Lane, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601, Monday
through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or online at
https://fw.ky.gov/Licenses/Documents/Commercial_Guide_License_Application_Form_2023.pdf
for the "Commercial Guide License Application Form".
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 150.025, 150.175(11), 150.190
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Kentucky may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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