Virginia’s roadkill bill boosting access to dead animals is heading to the Governor

There’s at least one thing Virginia lawmakers agree on across party lines, and that’s roadkill.

HB 1025, commonly referred to as the roadkill bill, aims to expand opportunities to claim dead animals from the roadway.

Currently, if a person hits and kills a deer or bear, only that individual can claim that animal. And the roadkill can only be claimed if it’s hunting season for that type of animal.

The bill put forth by Delegate Tony Wilt applies to deer, bear, turkey, and elk. It will allow anyone to take possession of those animals if it appears they were killed by a vehicle crash. And roadkill can be claimed any time of year.

According to Wilt, this bill could alleviate some of VDOT’s workload.

“Currently, if nobody takes the animal, it falls back onto VDOT,” The Hill said Wilt told the House Natural Resources Subcommittee.

“There are certain times of the year when those things can stack up… and they go to the landfill because that is the only thing they have to do with them. And again, Madam Chair, we are talking about a fresh animal and it happens a lot, not everywhere but in certain regions of the state,” he told them.

Although the roadkill bill may alleviate burden from VDOT, it could add work for law enforcement if more people start claiming carcasses because the current reporting requirements will remain in place.

So, anyone who wants to claim an animal has to report their findings to a conservation or other law enforcement officer first. That officer is supposed view the animal and determine if it appears killed by vehicle collision. If so, the animal should be awarded to the individual with a certificate.

The roadkill bill had strong support in both houses of the General Assembly with a unanimous vote in the House and a tally of 37-3 in the Senate. Now, the bill is headed to Governor Glenn Youngkin’s desk.