HB 4861 Summary

• Creates the "Sporting Swine Marketing Act" to regulate facilities that raise and hunt sporting swine as agricultural enterprises in Michigan, requiring registration with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

• Establishes mandatory fencing requirements (minimum 5-8 feet high depending on operation type) with specific construction standards, weekly inspections, and identification protocols for all sporting swine before transport.

• Prohibits release of sporting swine and establishes criminal penalties: misdemeanor for unintentional release (up to 90 days imprisonment and $500 fine) and felony for intentional release or causing feral swine ingress (up to 4 years imprisonment and $50,000 fine).

• Requires applicants to submit business plans including disease surveillance, biosecurity measures, and wildlife risk mitigation; limits new operations to 65 statewide until 2 years after enactment and restricts operations in deer management unit 452 without approved mitigation plans.

• Creates the Sporting Livestock Fund to collect registration fees ($500-$1,000 for applications, $2,250 for renewals) and establishes reporting requirements to the legislature at 2-year and 4-year intervals on operations, disease, violations, and recommended changes.