HB509 Alabama 2025 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Jeff SorrellsRepresentative

Republican

Session

2025 Regular Session

Title

Game breeder license; possessory interest in deer established; killing, testing, prohibition of transfer of deer by state agencies for disease prohibited, subject to exceptions

Summary

HB509 updates Alabama's game breeder laws, clarifies cervid ownership by licensees, and limits state actions on disease-related killing or transfer while adding new transfer rules and licensing requirements.

What This Bill Does

The bill defines cervids and protected game animals and requires annual licenses for game breeders, including qualification checks and associated fees. It prohibits state agencies from killing, testing, or blocking the transfer of cervids due to disease unless specific exceptions apply, and it establishes that cervids owned by a licensee are the licensee's personal property. It directs the Department to set rules for breeding, handling, and transferring protected animals and fur-bearing animals, and it creates a framework for transferring cervids within disease management zones starting in 2026 with several approved testing and containment options. The act takes effect immediately.

Who It Affects

• Licensed game breeders and individuals seeking licensure: must obtain licenses, pay specified fees, follow ownership rules for cervids, and may transfer cervids under disease-management rules and future transfer provisions.
• State agencies and regulators (Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and State Veterinarian): must adjust policy to limit killing or testing cervids for disease, implement new transfer guidelines between zones, and enforce licensing and disease-management procedures.

Key Provisions

• Defines cervid and protected game animals and game birds for licensing and regulatory purposes.
• Requires an annual game breeder license, with eligibility investigations and renewal restrictions if certain violations occur.
• Sets license fees: $250 for all species except Cervidae; Cervidae licenses: $250 for first 50 animals, $500 for 51-100, and $1,000 for more than 100, based on animals on hand as of April 1 preceding the year.
• Department cannot require killing of a cervid due to disease unless disease is detected in another cervid owned by the licensee or the cervid is epidemiologically linked to a diseased cervid from another licensee.
• Authorizes the department, with the State Veterinarian, to adopt rules for breeding, raising, producing, and handling of protected animals and their genetic materials.
• By March 1, 2026, rules must allow transfer of a cervid from a licensee within a designated disease management zone to another licensee or enclosure outside the zone, with options including postmortem testing, double fencing, USDA-certified live tests for chronic wasting disease, genomic testing, or other USDA-approved tests, and no override by emergency rules.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 22, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Animals