(a) Hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses shall be issued and sold by the department on forms containing such information as may be prescribed by the department. As used in this Code section, the term "license" shall include all permits, licenses, or stamps issued by the department under Code Section 27-2-23. Licenses for hunting and fishing may be sold in each county by persons approved by the department to be license agents.

(b) Each license agent may be required to:

(1) Remit to the department a premium which shall entitle him or her to coverage under a blanket performance bond provided by the department. The premium, which may include the reasonable cost of administering a self-insurance program, shall be in an amount determined by the commissioner, and shall be due and payable annually upon billing by the department;

(2) Account for all license sales and the monetary receipts from such sales in reports to the department, which reports shall be on a schedule and in a form specified by the written agreement between the license agent and the department. Failure to remit license sales receipts as specified in the agreement may result in suspension of the license agent's ability to sell licenses; and

(3) Receive for himself or herself no more than 60¢ for each license issued, except for nonresident hunting licenses and resident sportsman licenses, for which the license agent may receive $1.25 for each license issued, and except for licenses sold by telephone by an approved telephone license agent or over the Internet by an approved Internet license agent, for which the agent may charge and receive up to $5.00 per transaction in addition to the actual cost of the license or licenses sold during the transaction; provided, however, that neither the telephone license agent nor the Internet license agent shall receive any additional fee per license sold during a telephone or Internet transaction; provided, further, that the sale of one or more licenses to one applicant during one telephone call or one Internet session shall constitute a single transaction.

(b.1) Any person who applies to be a license agent after June 30, 1998, shall be assessed a fee not to exceed the fair market cost of automated licensing equipment the department shall install in such agent's place of business. Such fees shall be due and payable upon installation of the automated equipment.

(c) The commissioner may either purchase a blanket performance bond for the department's license agents from or through the Department of Administrative Services or any other source or establish a self-insurance bond by retaining all moneys paid to the department for the premium established pursuant to subsection (b) of this Code section, all moneys received as interest, and nonappropriated funds received from other sources to establish and maintain a reserve fund for the purpose of making payments to the department upon the defalcations of license agents and defraying the expenses necessary to administer the program; provided, however, that no revenue collected from taxes, fees, and assessments for state purposes shall be deposited in such fund. The commissioner shall invest any such moneys in the same manner as other moneys in his or her possession. The commissioner is authorized, in his or her discretion, to contract for any or all of the services necessary to carry out the functions enumerated in this Code section.

(d) Prior to selling any license, except for a license sold over the telephone by an approved telephone license agent or over the Internet by an approved Internet license agent, each license agent shall require each person desiring to purchase a license to display a driver's license or equally reliable identification of the individual and the current residence and age of such individual. In the event the department determines that a license agent has intentionally or negligently sold a resident license to a person who is a nonresident or who is underage, the department may immediately withdraw the authority of such license agent to issue and sell licenses on behalf of the department, provided that the department shall not withdraw the license agent's authority until the license agent has been given ten days' written notice of intention to withdraw authority setting forth the reason or reasons for the withdrawal and giving the license agent a hearing in the county of said agent's residence on the reasons for withdrawal.