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97A.421

Statute ID: 12140

Game and Fish - Validity and Issuance of Licenses after Conviction

In Effect

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Details are only available for Penalty and Charging Statutes.

Statute Number:

97A.421

Enactment Date:

Jan 1, 1859

Effective Date:

Aug 1, 2007

Expiration Date:

Repealed?:

Summary Text:

Game and Fish - Validity and Issuance of Licenses after Conviction

Statute ID:

12140

Created:

Jun 6, 2008 by mnjis.legal.analyst@state.mn.us

Updated:

Jun 6, 2008 by mnjis.legal.analyst@state.mn.us

Last Update Action:

Added

Legal Analyst Comment:

2007 c 131 art 1 s 25

Summary Text:

Game and Fish - Validity and Issuance of Licenses after Conviction

Link to MN Statute Text:

https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/97A/421.html

Legislative Session:

2007 - Regular

Session Law Text?:

Statute text last updated on:

Jun 17, 2025

Subd. 3a.
(a) A person who is convicted of a violation under paragraph (b) and possessed a firearm with a suppressor may not obtain a hunting license or hunt wild animals for five years from the date of conviction. 
 
(b) The revocation under this subdivision applies to convictions of:

(1) trespass as provided in section 97A.315, subdivision 1, paragraph (b);

(2) hunting game in closed season;

(3) hunting game more than one-half hour before legal shooting hours or more than one-half hour after legal shooting hours; or

(4) using artificial lights to spot, locate, or take wild animals while in possession of a firearm.

Subd. 3b.
(a) A person who is convicted of a violation under paragraph (b) and who possessed night vision or thermal imaging equipment during the violation may not obtain a hunting license or hunt wild animals for five years from the date of conviction.

(b) The revocation under this subdivision applies to convictions for:

(1) trespassing;

(2) hunting game in closed season;

(3) hunting game in closed hours;

(4) possessing night vision or thermal imaging equipment while taking wild animals in violation of section 97B.086; or

(5) possessing unlawful firearms in deer zones in violation of section 97B.041.

Subd. 3c.
(a) After a conviction under section 86B.109, subdivision 2, the following license and registration restrictions remain in effect until the person reimburses the Department of Natural Resources for all the department's costs under section 86B.109, subdivision 2:

(1) all the person's annual game and fish licenses are void;

(2) the person may not act under any lifetime game and fish license;

(3) all the person's watercraft licenses and registrations that are required to operate watercraft in the state are void;

(4) all the person's off-highway vehicle and snowmobile licenses and registrations that are required to operate those vehicles in the state are void; and

(5) the person may not obtain any of the licenses or registrations described in clauses (1) to (4).

(b) If a conviction under section 86B.109, subdivision 2, was for abandoning a watercraft in a boundary water of the state, the commissioner must coordinate with neighboring jurisdictions to ensure that, to the maximum extent practicable, the person is subject to similar consequences in the neighboring jurisdiction as those imposed under paragraph (a).



Subd. 4a.
When a court reports to the commissioner that a person (1) has failed to appear in court under the summons issued for a violation of the game and fish laws or (2) has been convicted of violating a provision of the game and fish laws, has been sentenced to the payment of a fine or had a surcharge levied against them, and refused or failed to comply with that sentence or to pay the fine or surcharge, the commissioner shall suspend the game and fish license and permit privileges of the person until notified by the court that the person has appeared in court under clause (1) or that any fine or surcharge due the court has been paid under clause (2).



Subd. 7.
A person who takes a protected wild animal during the time the person is prohibited from obtaining a license to take that animal under this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.