Internal prototype — noindexed, not linked from public navigation yet.

Cal. FGC § 716.3

This is the official text of Cal. FGC § 716.3, part of California’s Fish and Game Code — regulates hunting, fishing, and wildlife conservation.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Official statutory text

For purposes of this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings:

(a) “Board” means the board of compact administrators established pursuant to Section 716.8.

(b) “Citation” means any summons, complaint, ticket, penalty assessment, or other official document issued to a person by a wildlife officer or other peace officer for a wildlife violation pertaining to sport fishing, hunting, or trapping, which contains an order requiring the person to respond.

(c) “Collateral” means any cash or other security deposited to secure an appearance for trial in connection with the issuance by a wildlife officer or other peace officer of a citation for a wildlife violation.

(d) “Compact manual” is a manual used and adopted by the participating states that prescribes the procedures to be followed in administering the wildlife violator compact in participating states.

(e) “Compliance,” with respect to a citation, means the act of answering a citation through an appearance in a court or tribunal, or through the payment of fines, penalties, costs, and surcharges, if any.

(f) “Conviction” means a conviction, including, but not limited to, any court conviction for an offense related to sport fishing, hunting, or trapping, that is prohibited by statute, ordinance, or administrative rule or regulation, that involves the forfeiture of any bail, bond, or other security deposited to secure appearance by a person charged with having committed any such offense, the payment of a penalty assessment, a plea of nolo contendere, and the imposition of a deferred or suspended sentence by the court.

(g) “Court” means a court of law, including magistrate’s court and the justice of the peace court.

(h) “Home state” means the state of primary residence of a person.

(i) “Issuing state” means the participating state that issues a wildlife citation to the violator.

(j) “License” means any license, permit, entitlement to use, or other public document that conveys to the person to whom it is issued the privilege of sport fishing, hunting, or trapping, that is regulated by statute, ordinance, or administrative rule or regulation of a participating state.

(k) “Licensing authority,” with reference to this state, means the department, which is the state agency authorized by law to issue or approve licenses or permits to sport fish, hunt, or trap.

(l) “Participating state” means any state that enacts legislation to become a member of the wildlife compact.

(m) “Personal recognizance” means an agreement by a person made at the time of issuance of the wildlife citation that the person will comply with the terms of the citation.

(n) “State” means any state, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Provinces of Canada, and other countries.

(o) “Suspension” means any revocation, denial, or withdrawal of any or all license privileges, including the privilege to apply for, purchase, or exercise the benefits conferred by any license for sport fishing, hunting, or trapping.

(p) “Terms of the citation” means those conditions and options expressly stated upon a citation.

(q) “Wildlife” means all species of animals including, but not limited to, mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, mollusks, and crustaceans, which are defined as “wildlife” and are protected or otherwise regulated by statute, ordinance, or administrative rule or regulation in a participating state. The species included in the definition of “wildlife” vary from state to state and the determination of whether a species is “wildlife” for the purposes of this compact shall be based on the law of the participating state.

(r) “Wildlife law” means any statute, regulation, ordinance, or administrative rule or regulation developed and enacted for the management of wildlife resources and the uses thereof.

(s) “Wildlife officer” means any individual authorized in this state to issue a citation for a wildlife violation.
is “wildlife” for the purposes of this compact shall be based on the law of the participating state.

(r) “Wildlife law” means any statute, regulation, ordinance, or administrative rule or regulation developed and enacted for the management of wildlife resources and the uses thereof.

(s) “Wildlife officer” means any individual authorized in this state to issue a citation for a wildlife violation.

(t) “Wildlife violation” means the violation of a statute, ordinance, or administrative rule or regulation developed and enacted for the management of wildlife resources and the uses thereof pertaining to sport fishing, hunting, and trapping and for which a prosecution is initiated.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

Need a lawyer in California?

Find a California lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.