Case Title: State v. Shunneson

Citation: 

Docket Number: 

State: wyoming

Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

Date: 1987-10-14T00:00:00Z

Document:
State v. Shunneson1987 WY 139743 P.2d 1275Case Number: 87-114Decided: 10/14/1987Supreme Court of Wyoming
THE 
STATE OFWYOMING, PLAINTIFF,

 
 
v.

 
 
ARLAD SHUNNESON, 
DEFENDANT.

 
 
Appeal from the District 
Court, NatronaCounty, Daniel R. Spangler, 
J.

 
 
Joseph B. Meyer, Atty. 
Gen., Mary B. Guthrie, Sr. Asst. Atty. Gen., Robert A. Nicholas, Asst. Atty. 
Gen., Thomas E. Callison, Legal Intern, for plaintiff.

 
 
John B. Rogers of 
Rogers & McElhaney, Cheyenne, for defendant.

 
 
Before BROWN, C.J., and THOMAS, CARDINE, URBIGKIT 
and MACY, JJ.

 
 

CARDINE, 
Justice.

 
 

[¶1.]     Appellant, a Colorado resident, pled 
guilty to violating § 23-2-404(a), W.S. 1977 (outfitting without a license). 
Appellant reserved his right to challenge by appeal the constitutionality of the 
statute which requires that an applicant be a resident of the state of 
Wyoming for a 
period of one year to obtain an outfitter license. The appeal is before us upon 
the brief of appellant and confession of error by 
appellee.

 
 

[¶2.]     Appellant states the 
issue presented for review as:

 
 
"Whether W.S. 23-2-404 
which requires an applicant as a game and fish outfitter to be a resident of the 
state of Wyoming for a period of one (1) year is contrary to constitutional 
right, power, or immunity (Article IV, Section 2 and Amendment 14 of the United 
States Constitution) in that it infringes upon the applicant's rights of 
national citizenship and effectively restricts his right to interstate travel in 
pursuance of and in furtherance of his right to earn a living in his chosen 
field."

 
 
We 
reverse.

 
 
FACTS

 
 

[¶3.]     Appellant, Arlad 
Shunneson, a Colorado resident who is self-employed as a big game hunting and 
fishing outfitter and guide, had made numerous requests to the Wyoming Game and 
Fish Commission and the attorney general's office for information and 
applications for outfitter and guide licenses from the state of Wyoming. Each request was 
denied solely because appellant was not a Wyoming resident, despite his fulfilling all 
the remaining statutory requirements for obtaining the licenses and being 
available to complete the requisite examination. Appellant, without being 
licensed as an outfitter by the state of Wyoming, provided in Wyoming semi-permanent camp outfitting 
services for persons hunting antelope and other big game animals. He was 
arrested in October 1986, in Natrona County, Wyoming, for 
alleged violation of §§ 23-2-402(a), W.S. 1977 (guiding without a license), and 
23-2-404(a), W.S. 1977 (outfitting without a license). Count one, alleging 
violation of the statute prohibiting guiding without a license, was dismissed by 
motion prior to trial, leaving appellant charged only with outfitting without a 
license contrary to subsections (a) and (d)(iii) of § 23-2-404, W.S. 1977, which 
provide:

 
 
"(a) No person shall 
engage in the business of outfitter or outfitting without applying for and 
receiving a big game animal outfitter's license, a deer-antelope outfitter's 
license, or a fishing outfitter's license, except that a resident landowner may 
outfit on lands owned by him without license. Each application for an 
outfitter's license shall be in the name of one (1) individual who possesses the 
necessary qualifications. * * *

 
 
* * * * * 
*

 
 
"(d) Any competent person 
of good moral character, who possesses the following qualifications shall upon 
payment of the proper fee, receive a big game animal outfitter's license, 
deer-antelope outfitter's license or fishing outfitter's 
license:

 
 
* * * * * 
*

 
 
"(iii) Resident of 
Wyoming."

 
 
Section 23-1-102(a)(ix), 
W.S. 1977, defines the term "resident":

 
 
"`Resident' means a 
United States citizen who has been a resident of Wyoming for not less than one 
(1) year and who has not claimed residency elsewhere for any purpose during that 
one (1) year period immediately preceding the date of application for a license, 
permit or certificate."

 
 
Thus, residency for a 
period of one year is one of the necessary qualifications for issuance of an 
outfitter's license by the state of Wyoming. 

 
 

[¶4.]     Pursuant to agreement 
with the prosecution, appellant pled guilty to the charge of outfitting without 
a license. An order was entered by the Natrona County Court accepting the plea, 
acknowledging the reservation of appellant's right to challenge the 
constitutionality of the statute as was done in Armijo v. State, Wyo., 678 P.2d 864 (1984), and assessing a fine and court costs of $310.00. Appellant appealed 
to the Natrona County District Court, which certified the question of the 
statute's constitutionality to this court.

 
 

[¶5.]     The right to pursue 
one's chosen means of livelihood is one of the most fundamental privileges 
protected by the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the United States 
Constitution. Supreme Court of New 
Hampshire v. 
Piper, 470 U.S. 274, 105 S. Ct. 1272, 84 L. Ed. 2d 205 (1985). The Privileges and Immunities Clause of the United States 
Constitution provides in pertinent part:

 
 
"The Citizens of each 
State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the 
several States."

 
 

[¶6.]     Pursuant to this 
clause, a state may not discriminate against citizens of other states merely 
because of their different citizenship. Toomer v. Witsell, 334 U.S. 385, 68 S. Ct. 1156, 92 L. Ed. 1460 (1948). When addressing a fundamental right, a state may discriminate 
against a nonresident only where there is a substantial or compelling reason for 
the disparate treatment and the discrimination bears a close or substantial 
relationship to the state's objective. Supreme Court of New Hampshire v. Piper, 
supra. See also Baldwin v. Fish and Game Commission of Montana, 436 U.S. 371, 98 S. Ct. 1852, 56 L. Ed. 2d 354 (1978).

 
 

[¶7.]     As the Toomer Court 
stated:

 
 
"Like many other 
constitutional provisions, the privileges and immunities clause is not an 
absolute. It does bar discrimination against citizens of other States where 
there is no substantial reason for the discrimination beyond the mere fact that 
they are citizens of other States. But it does not preclude disparity of 
treatment in the many situations where there are perfectly valid independent 
reasons for it. Thus the inquiry in each case must be concerned with whether 
such reasons do exist and whether the degree of discrimination bears a close 
relation to them. The inquiry must also, of course, be conducted with due regard 
for the principle that the States should have considerable leeway in analyzing 
local evils and in prescribing appropriate cures." (Footnote omitted.) 334 U.S.  at 396, 68 S. Ct.  at 
1162.

 
 

[¶8.]     This 
discrimination-because-of-nonresidency question was before us in Powell v. 
Daily, Wyo., 712 P.2d 356 (1986), wherein an 
Idaho resident applied for and was denied a 
license which would have enabled him to guide hunters and fishermen in 
Wyoming. The 
game and fish officer rejected Powell's application pursuant to § 
23-2-402(a)(iii), W.S. 1977, because he had not been a resident of the state of 
Wyoming for a 
period of one year.

 
 

[¶9.]     The State of Wyoming contended that a 
residency requirement would assure knowledge of "rough country," of state laws, 
and the observance of them. We held that residency did not assure the desired 
objectives nor correct any perceived evil, and the denial of Powell's 
application under § 23-2-402(a)(iii) burdened the fundamental constitutional 
right to pursue one's chosen means of livelihood by imposing a discriminatory 
residence classification. Classifications based on nonresidency cannot stand 
"`unless there is something to indicate that non-[residents] constitute a 
peculiar source of evil at which the statute is aimed.'" Powell at 362 (quoting 
Toomer v. Witsell, supra, 334 U.S.  at 398, 68 S.Ct. at 1163). In 
Powell, no such evil was found. Because the degree of discrimination against 
nonresidents did not bear a close relation to any of the State's asserted 
reasons for the discriminatory treatment, we held that § 23-2-402(a)(iii) 
violated the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV, § 2 of the United 
States Constitution. Powell, at 362. The same is true 
here.

 
 

[¶10.]  Following our holding in Powell, supra, 
the Wyoming 
legislature in 1987 amended § 23-2-402, supra, by striking the residency 
requirement contained in subsection (a)(iii). Thus residency is no longer a 
requirement of an applicant to obtain a0 guide license.

 
 

[¶11.]  There is no substantial difference 
between application for a guide license and an outfitter license. The residency 
requirement in the outfitter statute here is as constitutionally offensive as it 
was in the guide license statute, § 23-2-402, W.S. 1977, which we declared 
unconstitutional. We hold, therefore, that § 23-2-404(d)(iii), W.S. 1977, is 
unconstitutional because it violates the Privileges and Immunities Clause of 
Art. IV, § 2 of the United States Constitution.

 
 

[¶12.]  The State in its brief expressed a 
concern that the game and fish commission's control will be lessened by the 
existence of nonresident guides and outfitters in the state. We do not share 
that concern. Thus, the State might require that a licensed nonresident 
outfitter appoint the game and fish commission as his agent for service of 
process as a condition of licensure. There are other means by which necessary 
control can be insured, including but not limited to those stated in subsections 
(iv) through (ix) of § 23-2-404(d), W.S. 1977, pertaining to outfitters, which 
provide that an applicant for a license:

 
 
"(iv) Possesses proper 
equipment for the protection and convenience of his 
guests;

 
 
"(v) Can satisfactorily 
pass a written or oral examination, devised and administered at the discretion 
of the commission. Such examination may include knowledge of the area, of 
hunting practices, of big game, of guiding practices, and of game and fish 
laws;

 
 
"(vi) Fully capable of 
providing quality guide service to clients;

 
 
"(vii) Knowledgeable of 
area to be hunted or fished, trophy care and appropriate game and fish 
laws;

 
 
"(viii) In the case of an 
applicant for a big game animal outfitter's license or renewal thereof, the 
commission shall require the applicant to post and maintain a five thousand 
dollar ($5,000.00) surety or cash bond with the commission to protect 
contractual rights of clients of outfitters;

 
 
"(ix) In the case of an 
applicant for a big game animal outfitter's license or renewal thereof, the 
commission shall require the applicant to post and maintain a liability 
insurance policy to protect clients and property owners against injury or damage 
as a result of negligence by outfitters or their agents or employees. The limits 
of coverage under the liability insurance policies shall be at least twenty-five 
thousand dollars ($25,000.00) for property damage and for personal injury or 
death, one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) for injuries to or death of 
one (1) person and three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000.00) for all injuries 
or death from any one (1) occurrence."

 
 
Reversed.