Permits: Permit Issuing Agents; Service Fees; Other Provisions

PURPOSE: This rule establishes procedures for the distribution and sale of permits and replacements and sets service fees. (1) Permit issuing agents shall be appointed by the department in numbers and at locations determined by the department. All permit issuing agents shall enter into an agreement prepared by the department and shall be responsible and accountable directly to the department for all permits, records, and equipment assigned to them and all monies collected from the sale of permits. (2) All monies collected by permit issuing agents and derived from the sale of hunting, fishing, and trapping permits, less and except a service fee to be determined by the Conservation Commission, shall be held in trust for the Conservation Commission and shall be made available for electronic fund transfer (EFT) to the state treasurer’s collection account as outlined in the permit issuing agent agreement. (3) A customer convenience fee to be determined by the Conservation Commission shall be charged for telephone or electronic media sales. Customers must agree to pay this fee before the permit will be issued. (4) All permits and monies derived from the sale of permits and all associated records remain the property of the department. All equipment, permits, and records shall be made available for inspection and audit upon reasonable demand by the agents and employees of the department. (5) The charging or collecting by any permit issuing agent or other person of any fees different from those stated in this Code is unauthorized and prohibited. (6) Firearms hunting permits may not be sold to any persons born on or after January 1, 1967, unless an approved hunter education certificate card is displayed, or hunter education certification can be verified through direct access to computer data files, except that— (A) Any firearms hunting permit (except black bear and elk as provided in 3 CSR 10-5.205) may be sold to any person born on or after January 1, 1967, and at least sixteen (16) years of age, who purchases an Apprentice Hunter Authorization without display of a hunter education certificate card; and (B) Deer and turkey hunting permits may be sold to persons at least six (6), but not older than fifteen (15), years of age without requiring display of a hunter education certificate card. (7) A replacement for a lost, destroyed, or mutilated permit may be issued by any permit issuing agent after verifying original permit through direct access of computer files. For a replacement permit fee established in 3 CSR 10-5.950 Hunting, Fishing, and Trapping Permit Pricing: Permit Fees; Permit Replacement Cost, the permit issuing agent shall certify the permit number and type of permit being replaced and issue the replacement permit. AUTHORITY: sections 40 and 45 of Art. IV, Mo. Const., and section 252.040, RSMo 2016.* This version of rule filed Aug. 26, 1975, effective Dec. 31, 1975. Amended: Filed Aug. 4, 1978, effective Jan. 1, 1979. Amended: Filed July 30, 1979, effective Jan. 1, 1980. Amended: Filed Aug. 1, 1980, effective Jan. 1, 1981. Amended: Filed July 31, 1981, effective Jan. 1, 1982. Amended: Filed Aug. 1, 1983, effective Nov. 11, 1983. Amended: Filed Aug. 3, 1984, effective Jan. 1, 1985. Amended: Filed July 30, 1987, effective Jan. 1, 1988. Amended: Filed Aug. 9, 1988, effective Jan. 1, 1989. Amended: Filed May 10, 1990, effective Jan. 1, 1991. Amended: Filed May 10, 1991, effective Jan. 1, 1992. Amended: Filed Sept. 10, 1991, effective Feb. 6, 1992. Amended: Filed June 13, 1994, effective Jan. 1, 1995. Amended: Filed June 20, 1995, effective Jan. 1, 1996. Amended: Filed April 25, 1996, effective May 10, 1996. Amended: Filed June 11, 1998, effective March 1, 1999. Amended: Filed May 9, 2002, effective March 1, 2003. Amended: Filed Sept. 29, 2004, effective Feb. 28, 2005. Amended: Filed Sept. 27, 2007, effective Feb. 29, 2008. Amended: Filed Oct. 10, 2008, effective July 1, 2009. Amended: Filed Sept. 30, 2010, effective March 1, 2011. Amended: Filed June 28, 2019, effective Dec. 30, 2019. Amended: Filed Sept. 4, 2020, effective Feb. 28, 2021. Amended: Filed May 16, 2025, effective Jan. 1, 2026. *Original authority: 252.040, RSMo 1945, amended 1989. Walsh v. County of St. Louis, 353 SW2d 779 (Mo. en Banc 1962). Where Conservation Commission appointed county clerk as distributing agent for sale of hunting, fishing and trapping permits, such clerk acted in his individual capacity and as such was entitled to service fees and did not act in any official capacity which warranted payment of service fees into county revenues.