Section 45-38-160 Beaver Fund.

(a) The county governing body of Lamar County shall establish a special beaver fund in the county treasury with an initial deposit of five thousand dollars ($5,000) from the county general fund. The beaver fund shall be used to pay bounties to any resident of the county in the amount of ten dollars ($10) per beaver that is freshly trapped or killed in Lamar County. (b) The payment of a bounty of ten dollars ($10) per beaver shall be administered by the senior state conservation officer assigned to Lamar County, who shall give an annual accounting and report to the county governing body on the beaver bounty program in Lamar County. Bounties shall be paid only upon the written authorization of the conservation officer. (c) All claims for bounties shall be filed with a conservation officer assigned to Lamar County and the conservation officer shall have due reason to believe that the claimant is a resident of Lamar County and that the beaver trapped or killed were freshly trapped or killed in Lamar County. (d) The conservation officer shall have absolute discretion in paying the bounty provided for in this section and his or her decision shall be final. Provided, however, any person who falsely makes claim for a bounty is guilty of a Class C felony and, upon conviction, shall be punished as prescribed by law. (e) The county commission shall appropriate such sums annually at the beginning of the fiscal year as shall start the beaver bounty fund off with five thousand dollars ($5,000) annually.