Section 670.21  Deer Permit Requirements – Landowner/Tenant Permits

a)         The immediate family of a landowner or tenant is limited to the spouse, children or parents permanently residing on the same property as the landowner or tenant.

b)         A tenant for the purpose of this Part is one who rents 40 acres or more land for commercial agricultural purposes under an agreement with a landowner. Commercial agriculture shall be defined as utilization of land for the raising of hay, grain crops or livestock for profit.  Hunting and mineral rights leases are not valid for a tenant permit.

c)         Resident Illinois landowners who own 40 acres or more of land and resident tenants renting or leasing 40 acres or more of commercial agricultural land, and members of their immediate family, may apply for a free combination archery deer permit for their property only.  Non-resident Illinois landowners (of 40 acres or more) are also eligible to apply for a combination archery deer permit for their property only.  The fee to non-resident Illinois landowners owning 40 acres or more for a combination permit for their property only shall be $200.  This deer hunting permit shall be valid on all farm lands owned, leased, or rented by the person to whom it is issued.

d)         If property is owned or rented by more than one person, only one landowner (and his immediate family) or one tenant (and his immediate family) will be issued a permit for every 40 acres of owned or rented land.  For example, if 3 persons own 90 acres, only 2 of the landowners and their immediate family may receive deer permits.

e)         Bona fide equity shareholders of corporations, bona fide equity members of limited liability companies, bona fide current income beneficiaries of trusts or bona fide partners of partnerships owning 40 or more acres of land in a county may apply for one either-sex permit to hunt the corporation,  limited liability company, trust or partnership lands only.  Only one permit per 40 acres, for a maximum number of 15 permits per county for corporations, trusts, and limited liability companies and a maximum number of 3 permits per county for partnerships, shall be issued based on ownership of lands by corporations, limited liability companies, trusts or partnerships.  Lands leased to corporations, limited liability companies, trusts or partnerships shall not be considered as a basis for a permit for the shareholders/members/beneficiaries/partners of the lessee.  Lands held in trust by corporations, limited liability companies, or partnerships shall not be considered as a basis for a permit by the shareholders/members/partners of the trustee.  If application is made for a permit based upon lands owned by the corporation, limited liability company, trust or partnership, a duly authorized officer of the corporation, limited liability  company, trust or partnership must sign a notarized statement authorizing the applicant to hunt on the corporate,  company, trust or partnership lands for which a permit is being requested.  This statement must identify the applicant as a bona fide equity shareholder, member, beneficiary or partner, as defined in this subsection, identify authorization to hunt and identify that no more than 15 authorizations will be requested per county for the corporation, limited liability company, or trust lands and no more than 3 authorizations will be requested per county for partnership lands.  This document must be attached to the application upon submittal to the Permit Office.  The shareholder/member combination permit shall be free to resident shareholders/members/beneficiaries/partners, and the cost to non-resident shareholders/members/beneficiaries shall be $200.  Non-resident partners cannot receive permits under this subsection.

1)         Bona fide equity shareholder means an individual who:

A)        purchased, for market price, publicly sold stock shares in a corporation; purchased shares of a privately-held corporation for a value equal to the percentage of the appraised value of the corporate assets represented by the ownership in the corporation; or is a member of a closely-held family-owned corporation and has purchased or been gifted with shares of stock in the corporation accurately reflecting his or her percentage of ownership; and

B)        intends to retain the ownership of the shares of stock for at least 5 years.

2)         Bona fide equity member means an individual who:

A)        became a member upon the formation of the limited liability company; or has purchased a distributional interest in a limited liability company for a value equal to the percentage of the appraised value of the limited liability company assets represented by the distributional interest in the limited liability company and subsequently becomes a member of the company pursuant to Article 30 of the Limited Liability Company Act; and

B)        intends to retain the membership for at least 5 years.

3)         Bona fide current income beneficiary means an individual who, at the time of application for a permit, is entitled to income (whether income exists or not) from the trust that owns the land the applicant wishes to hunt with no condition precedent (such as surviving another person, reaching a certain age, etc.) other than the trustee distributing the income, and is listed by name in the trust documents as an income beneficiary.

4)         Bona fide equity partner means an individual who:

A)        became a partner, either general or limited, upon the formation of the partnership; or has purchased a distributional interest in the partnership or limited partnership for a value equal to the percentage of the appraised value of the partnership assets represented by the distributional interest in the partnership;

B)        intends to retain ownership of  the partnership for at least 5 years; and

C)        is a resident of Illinois.

f)          The application period for these permits will be publicly announced.  Applicants submitting applications for a landowner/shareholder/member/beneficiary/ partner archery permit after September 1 will not be guaranteed a permit by October 1.

g)         Providing false information on a permit application is a Class A misdemeanor (see 520 ILCS 5/2.38).

(Source:  Amended at 32 Ill. Reg. 9337, effective June 13, 2008)