Dog hunters object to bill on toughening penalties for trespass

Facing dozens of concerned hound hunters clad in camouflage and orange hats, a Senate committee made a series of changes Tuesday to legislation that would crack down on trespassers in rural Arkansas.

Meeting into the evening in hopes of finding an accord between the sportsmen and rural landowners, who complained that their properties were being infiltrated by thieves, cattle rustlers and illegal hunters, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send its amended version of House Bill 1554 on to the full Senate.

But the leader of one sportsmen group said the new language did not go far enough to ease his concerns that trackers of wayward hounds would be unfairly punished for roaming onto private land.

The legislation would make trespassing a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail, if the trespasser is caught with items such as bolt cutters, hunting and fishing gear, or tools used to harvest natural resources.

On the third such offense, a trespasser could be charged with a Class D felony, punishable by up to six years in prison.

The proposed law would expand upon the current punishment, a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by 30 days in county jail. The sponsor, Rep. Trevor Drown, R- Dover, called it “the most aggressive approach to trespassing the state has ever seen.”

Drown said he filed the legislation because landowners in his district — which wraps around the Ozark National Forest — were complaining about hunters coming onto their land with spotlights at night. The landowners also reported having scrap metal, livestock and timber stolen during the day.

He said his concern was not with the dog hunters. Drown did not object to an amendment by Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R- Little Rock, that would exclude people from the added penalties if they could prove they were trying to retrieve livestock or a hunting dog.

But Jeromy Sullivent, the president of the Arkansas Dog Hunters Association, said his group wants a full exemption from the law. The dog hunters can be charged with a misdemeanor for chasing dogs onto private lands.

“We just don’t want to be treated like thieves,” he said.

According to an impact study by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, there were 309 citations and 498 warnings issued in the past two years for hunting, fishing or trapping without permission. Those sportsmen could be subject to the increased penalties, the commission report said.

Sullivent said that only covers part of the problem. Many hunters and landowners have their charges brought by county sheriffs, which he estimated to be between 400 and 500 more cases.

A dairy farmer who sits on the committee, Sen. Gary Stubblefield, R- Branch, said he was sympathetic toward one cattleman who testified that he feared being locked up for trying to chase loose cows on private land.

The world has changed, Stubblefield said, from when rural folks did not have to worry about heading onto nearby property to retrieve a lost animal. But now when his livestock gets out, he said, he makes sure to contact neighbors before heading onto their land.

“People’s attitudes have changed. I’ve watched it,” he said. “It’s a cultural thing now.”

The House has already approved HB1554 but would have to concur with any Senate amendments.