Current through September 21, 2024
Licenses, permits, stamps, tags, preference points or
competitive raffle chances issued under Title 23, Wyoming Statutes or this
regulation become the permanent property of the licensee and shall not be
canceled or any fee refunded after the license, permit, stamp, tag, preference
point or competitive raffle chance(s) has been issued, except as specified in
this section or otherwise as set forth in Commission regulation.
(a) A request for a voluntary withdrawal of
an application before a drawing shall be accepted through the ELS by the date
indicated in Section
18(e) for the initial
drawing, and by the application closing date for the leftover drawing.
(i) Applicants may not submit a voluntary
withdrawal form for the purchase of a preference point only, Super Tag or Super
Tag Trifecta competitive raffle chance.
(b) A modification of an application must be
completed through the ELS by the date indicated in Section
18(e) for the initial
drawing, and by the application closing date for the leftover drawing.
(i) An applicant may only request changes to
hunt area and type or change their withdrawal flag indicator on their reduced
price application for the initial drawing through the ELS.
(c) To request a refund of a license fee in
this subsection, the licensee shall submit the request for a refund in writing
along with the license unaltered and with all coupons intact to the Department
during the calendar year for which the license is valid. The licensee shall
also execute and submit at the time of a refund request a Department affidavit
describing the reason(s) the licensee was not able to exercise the license
privileges which includes a sworn statement that the licensee did not exercise
any hunting privileges granted by the license including any or all seasons for
the designated species as specified in Commission regulation during the
calendar year for which the license was valid. If the license is destroyed,
lost or illegible, the licensee shall state on the Department affidavit to that
effect and submit with the written request for refund in the calendar year for
which the license is valid. If the licensee is granted a refund for a license,
the individual may apply for and receive any remaining issue-after license for
the same species in accordance with state statutes and Commission regulations.
Application fees and any applicable preference point fees will not be refunded.
All license refund requests shall be reviewed and determined by the License
Review Board.
(d) To qualify for a
refund of a license fee in accordance with this section, the licensee shall
meet one (1) of the following provisions:
(i)
In the case of the death of the licensee, a written request for a license
refund supported by a copy of the respective death certificate shall be
submitted to the Department. The date of death on such certificate shall have
resulted in the licensee not being able to participate in the majority of the
regular or special archery season. All refunds issued under this subsection
shall be made payable to the estate of the decedent unless the license fee was
paid by a nonprofit charitable organization. The nonprofit charitable
organization shall provide supporting documentation of payment of the license
fee.
(ii) In the case of the death
of the licensee's spouse, parents, grandparents, siblings, lineal descendants
and their spouses, step-parent, step-sibling, step-children, father-in-law,
mother-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, step-son-in-law or
step-daughter-in-law or the death of a member of a party application, the
licensee shall submit a written request on a form provided by the Department
for a license refund supported by the respective death certificate. The date of
death shall have resulted in the licensee not being able to participate in the
majority of the regular or special archery season.
(iii) In the case of incapacitating illness
or injury of the licensee, the licensee's spouse, parents, grandparents,
siblings, lineal descendants and their spouses, step-parent, step-sibling,
step-children, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law,
step-son-in-law or step-daughter-in-law, or incapacitating illness or injury of
a member of a party application, supported by a physician's sworn statement on
a Department form that the licensee is incapable of performing tasks necessary
to exercise the privileges of the license;
(iv) Military personnel who receive permanent
change of station (PCS) orders and military personnel who are assigned away
from their home duty station on temporary orders (TDY) for the majority of the
regular season, all of this being supported by a copy of official military
orders from the Armed Forces of the United States, and such orders require the
affected personnel to move away from their home duty station, shall accompany
the written request for the license refund;
(v) Individuals who are not able to
participate in the majority of the regular season for the species specified in
Commission rules and regulations during the year for which the license is
issued as a result of a court subpoena, jury duty, Grand Jury investigation or
attorneys required to attend criminal cases. A certified copy of the court
document shall accompany the written request for the license refund;
(vi) When the Department determines fifty
percent (50%) or more of the hunting opportunity and access to the public land
within an individual hunt area outside of designated wilderness has been closed
due to administrative actions of the state or federal government in closing of
the public access to public lands, or due to a natural disaster, including but
not necessarily limited to, wildland fires, the licensee of a limited quota
antelope, full price bighorn sheep, limited quota deer, limited quota elk,
moose, mountain goat, or wild bison license may request a license fee refund;
(A) When the Department determines one
hundred percent (100%) of all the hunt areas are closed or the hunting season
is prevented from occurring due to administrative actions of the state or
federal government, a black bear, gray wolf, mountain lion or wild bison
licensee may request a license fee refund. The closing of hunt areas due to
harvest quotas being met does not qualify a licensee for a license fee
refund.
(vii) An error
on the part of the Department or its authorized agent where the applicant has
been issued a license not requested. An applicant may request in writing to the
License Review Board to review a decision made by a Department employee or an
agent of the Department in the handling of the application for, or the issuance
of a license, permit, or preference point if the decision is contrary to
statute or rule and regulation promulgated by the Commission.
(viii) Any youth licensee may be granted a
license refund if the youth licensee's opportunity to hunt is jeopardized as a
result of any license refund granted by the Department as specified in sections
(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), or (viii) of this
subsection;
(ix) A sponsoring
organization of a person with a life-threatening illness that has received a
license under Section
13 may be granted a license refund if the
licensee's opportunity to hunt is jeopardized as a result of incapacitating
illness or injury supported by a physician's sworn statement on forms provided
by the Department that the licensee is incapable of performing tasks necessary
to exercise the privileges of the license.
(e) Refunds shall not be allowed under the
following circumstances:
(i) The licensee
illegally purchased more licenses than what was authorized for purchase by
Commission regulation or Wyoming statute;
(ii) For any license, permit or stamp in
which the hunting season to use the license, permit or stamp expires on
December 31 in the year issued, the deadline to submit a written request and
all required documents for a refund shall be December 31 of that
year.
(iii) For any license in
which the hunting season to use that license has been extended into January of
the succeeding calendar year, the deadline to submit a written request and all
required documents for a refund of that license shall be January 31 of the year
in which the hunting season expires. For all other licenses, the deadline to
submit a written request and all required documents for refund shall be on the
last date the individual license is valid.
(iv) Refunds shall be denied in any
circumstance where the licensee hunted on the license for the designated
species as specified in Commission rules and regulations, including special
archery seasons, during the year for which the license is issued.
(f) There shall be no right of
appeal to the Commission for any decision rendered by the License Review Board
or the Department for any provision of this section.
(g) Restoration of preference points. In any
case where a license may be obtained by the accumulation of preference points,
or preference points may be obtained in lieu of application for a license and a
license refund is granted by the Department, all accumulated preference points,
including any preference point that may have been earned for the year the
license is issued, shall be restored to the applicant.
(h) In the case of the death of a licensee
who has been issued an any wild bison license or a mountain goat license, a
written request for the license to be surrendered to the Department and
reissued to an immediate family member of the decedent shall be made to the
License Review Board. The request shall be supported by a copy of the
respective death certificate, and the date of death on such certificate shall
have resulted in the licensee not being able to participate in the majority of
the regular or special archery hunting season.
(i) The license shall be reissued to a
qualified immediate family member of the decedent at no fee.
(ii) The license shall be reissued for the
same species, hunt area and license type as the license surrendered.
(iii) A license reissued to an immediate
family member of a decedent shall count against the maximum number of licenses
a person may otherwise apply for and receive as a condition of Commission
regulations.
(i) Any
antelope, deer or elk limited quota licenses that have been returned to the
Department and for which a license refund has been granted shall be made
available for purchase by residents and nonresidents on a first-come,
first-served basis through the ELS.
(j) Any nonresident regional deer licenses
and any nonresident general elk licenses that have been returned to the
Department and for which a license refund has been granted shall be made
available for purchase by nonresidents on a first-come, first-served basis
through the ELS.
