I’m new here and would love to pick your collective brains on an issue I just ran into.
I recently received a phone call from an idaho game warden who informed me that for the past two years I have committed license fraud. Since he is not in the same location as me, he is sending the citation (or whatever paperwork it is to my closest court, over the Washington border)
So, tons of questions on this! First, after he explained the rules regarding in-state license requirements, it does indeed appear that I broke the rules, although entirely unintentionally. My wife and I have lived a very transient life for the past four years, holding jobs and attending college in multiple different states, although we have always retained our Idaho residency. Since we were living in a converted school bus and never were in the same state for longer than a semester of school (roughly 4-5 months) it made sense to keep Idaho residency as it was always where we returned to.
In 2022 we moved to the Palouse to finish out college degrees. My father in law purchased us a fixer upper house on the Washington side of the Washington/Idaho border, with the intent that we would make improvements while in school, and sell after graduation. This house is in my wife and I’s name (for tax reasons for him) but in all reality we don’t consider it a permanent residence, rather a business endeavor while in school, with the intention of heading back to central idaho upon graduation.
I attended college at the University of Idaho for the 2022-2023 time frame, paying in state tuition. I have kept my Idaho doctor, Idaho banks, Idaho drivers license, the truck I had at the time was registered in Idaho and I’m still registered to vote in Idaho. Both my wife’s car and our school bus/schoolie are registered in Idaho. I work for a local contractor (based in Washington) doing construction in both Idaho and Washington, a pretty close 50/50, and often do under the table construction projects in Idaho on the side.
To the best of my understanding, what I’ve been charged with is license fraud, buying in-state licenses and tags in Idaho while in reality being a non resident, although I have yet to see the citation. I was told I would owe restitution (out of state prices for all tags I purchased+potential fines+potential license revocation).
I purchased the following licenses and tags as an idaho resident. Grouped tags where purchased together.
2022: (combo license, turkey tag, depredation fee), (upland game permit), (elk tag, deer tag)
2023: (combo license, 2 turkey tags, dep fee), (archery permit, elk tag, deer tag), (upland game permit)
While having purchased all these tags, I was extremely busy with work and school, and ultimately only hunted 1 day for deer in 2022, and two days for elk in 2023. During both of these excursions I encountered fish and game officers, was friendly and compliant, and explained my situation. In both cases I was told that it was a confusing situation, that I wasn’t going to get a ticket, and that if I was in school in Idaho as a resident I was probably okay. I did not purchase a license or tags for 2024 based off this info, because I am not currently enrolled in school, and my residency is even more confusing than before.
So, questions:
-does having broken the rule unintentionally help me in any way?
-If a person moves from state A to state B, and is now not a resident of state A, but also has not lived in state B for the required 6 months, are they out of luck for purchasing a tag, or does old residency last until new residency is in effect?
-does the fact that I barely used these tags, and harvested no game during these seasons effect anything?
-will things be better or worse doing this in a Washington court, when it is an Idaho issue? I don’t see any reason we couldn’t do this in Idaho, as I live on the border and either court is a similar drive. (Wondering if the game warden is trying to make a point by having this take place in Washington?)
-if time is split between states, such as is often the case with border towns, are these things purely based off where you own a house, or is it more grey than that? I know you can file taxes as a dual resident.
-what is your best advice on how to proceed, or ideas on what this process will look like?
-would these charges be for every tag purchased, or every time a purchase of tags was made? (Tags were bought together, 2-3 per purchase)
-is there anything that I can do that will have any influence over the outcome of this, or are the penalties set in stone?
-likelyhood I’ll lose my hunting license?
Ultimately I realize that I made a mistake in a situation that I’ve been confused about in lots of ways. It seems fair to me that regardless of whether it was known or not, I would have to pay restitution for the out of state tag prices for the tags I actually pursued or used (1 deer tag, 1 elk tag and licenses). But it seems unfair that I would have to pay restitution on tags that I never went hunting with. I have always purchased lots of tags, regardless if I planned on going hunting for that season or not, just to have in case I had an opportunity to go, and because it helps support fish and game. These tags that I did not hunt would not have been purchased if I had been paying out of state prices, and I would have instead only bought tags I had a concrete plan to actually use. Fines on top of this seem like to much to me, but we’ll see how that goes.
My main concern of course is losing my ability to hunt, even for a year. I’ll happily pay whatever fines I need to in order be able to do that. Any thoughts on what would influence whether or not I lose my license? I’ve always abided by fish and game rules, and have purchased tags every year for the past 10 years. Now that I realize I was breaking a rule, I am horrified and am more than happy to buy tags at out of state price in future.
I recently received a phone call from an idaho game warden who informed me that for the past two years I have committed license fraud. Since he is not in the same location as me, he is sending the citation (or whatever paperwork it is to my closest court, over the Washington border)
So, tons of questions on this! First, after he explained the rules regarding in-state license requirements, it does indeed appear that I broke the rules, although entirely unintentionally. My wife and I have lived a very transient life for the past four years, holding jobs and attending college in multiple different states, although we have always retained our Idaho residency. Since we were living in a converted school bus and never were in the same state for longer than a semester of school (roughly 4-5 months) it made sense to keep Idaho residency as it was always where we returned to.
In 2022 we moved to the Palouse to finish out college degrees. My father in law purchased us a fixer upper house on the Washington side of the Washington/Idaho border, with the intent that we would make improvements while in school, and sell after graduation. This house is in my wife and I’s name (for tax reasons for him) but in all reality we don’t consider it a permanent residence, rather a business endeavor while in school, with the intention of heading back to central idaho upon graduation.
I attended college at the University of Idaho for the 2022-2023 time frame, paying in state tuition. I have kept my Idaho doctor, Idaho banks, Idaho drivers license, the truck I had at the time was registered in Idaho and I’m still registered to vote in Idaho. Both my wife’s car and our school bus/schoolie are registered in Idaho. I work for a local contractor (based in Washington) doing construction in both Idaho and Washington, a pretty close 50/50, and often do under the table construction projects in Idaho on the side.
To the best of my understanding, what I’ve been charged with is license fraud, buying in-state licenses and tags in Idaho while in reality being a non resident, although I have yet to see the citation. I was told I would owe restitution (out of state prices for all tags I purchased+potential fines+potential license revocation).
I purchased the following licenses and tags as an idaho resident. Grouped tags where purchased together.
2022: (combo license, turkey tag, depredation fee), (upland game permit), (elk tag, deer tag)
2023: (combo license, 2 turkey tags, dep fee), (archery permit, elk tag, deer tag), (upland game permit)
While having purchased all these tags, I was extremely busy with work and school, and ultimately only hunted 1 day for deer in 2022, and two days for elk in 2023. During both of these excursions I encountered fish and game officers, was friendly and compliant, and explained my situation. In both cases I was told that it was a confusing situation, that I wasn’t going to get a ticket, and that if I was in school in Idaho as a resident I was probably okay. I did not purchase a license or tags for 2024 based off this info, because I am not currently enrolled in school, and my residency is even more confusing than before.
So, questions:
-does having broken the rule unintentionally help me in any way?
-If a person moves from state A to state B, and is now not a resident of state A, but also has not lived in state B for the required 6 months, are they out of luck for purchasing a tag, or does old residency last until new residency is in effect?
-does the fact that I barely used these tags, and harvested no game during these seasons effect anything?
-will things be better or worse doing this in a Washington court, when it is an Idaho issue? I don’t see any reason we couldn’t do this in Idaho, as I live on the border and either court is a similar drive. (Wondering if the game warden is trying to make a point by having this take place in Washington?)
-if time is split between states, such as is often the case with border towns, are these things purely based off where you own a house, or is it more grey than that? I know you can file taxes as a dual resident.
-what is your best advice on how to proceed, or ideas on what this process will look like?
-would these charges be for every tag purchased, or every time a purchase of tags was made? (Tags were bought together, 2-3 per purchase)
-is there anything that I can do that will have any influence over the outcome of this, or are the penalties set in stone?
-likelyhood I’ll lose my hunting license?
Ultimately I realize that I made a mistake in a situation that I’ve been confused about in lots of ways. It seems fair to me that regardless of whether it was known or not, I would have to pay restitution for the out of state tag prices for the tags I actually pursued or used (1 deer tag, 1 elk tag and licenses). But it seems unfair that I would have to pay restitution on tags that I never went hunting with. I have always purchased lots of tags, regardless if I planned on going hunting for that season or not, just to have in case I had an opportunity to go, and because it helps support fish and game. These tags that I did not hunt would not have been purchased if I had been paying out of state prices, and I would have instead only bought tags I had a concrete plan to actually use. Fines on top of this seem like to much to me, but we’ll see how that goes.
My main concern of course is losing my ability to hunt, even for a year. I’ll happily pay whatever fines I need to in order be able to do that. Any thoughts on what would influence whether or not I lose my license? I’ve always abided by fish and game rules, and have purchased tags every year for the past 10 years. Now that I realize I was breaking a rule, I am horrified and am more than happy to buy tags at out of state price in future.
