Fish & Game Code Violators Targeted

Ventura County supervisors Tuesday authorized the district attorney’s office to hire a prosecutor to resume full enforcement of Department of Fish & Game codes.

The prosecution efforts, which will cost the county $48,700 annually, will be offset by $20,000 in donations from the United Anglers of California and $25,000 from the county’s Fish & Wildlife Propagation Funds.

This is the second time in three months Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury has received the supervisors’ permission to fund prosecutions with the help of private funds.

In May, the board agreed to allow a special unit of Bradbury’s office to prosecute bogus workers’ compensation claims by using private contributions to pay for the effort.

Officials say without the outside funding sources, the county could not proceed with important enforcement efforts in the wake of its budget woes.

For example, in 1990, more than 1,000 Fish & Game code violations were prosecuted within Ventura County. In 1992, that number had dropped to only 151 cases because of funding cuts.

Donald Coleman, special assistant district attorney, said the office is anxious to resume full enforcement of the violations. He said prosecution should be under way within the next few months.