News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Jackson County residents can now take care of fishing licenses and boating registration through the Register of Deeds Office.
Register of Deeds Michelle Hix said until now, people had to travel to other counties to get licenses or purchase them online. She said fishing is popular with Jackson County’s elderly population and many of them do not have internet access or do not know how to get a license online.
“We’ve got water all around us,” Hix said. “There’s an unlimited amount of things to do in this county. Unlimited. I mean, you know, we’re just so lucky to live in a county that has so many activities and so many beautiful things we can get out and do without even costing us a penny.”
Hix said she went through a short training with TWRA and was awarded the privilege of selling licenses. She said the county will make $1 off of every license sold. She said she believes this will increase the number of people from outside of the county who will come in and enjoy Jackson County’s array of water recreation opportunities.
“It’s just an extra for this county because we have so many things to offer here,” Hix said. “I mean, we’ve started the canoeing, which you throw small children in here now. You can teach them how to fish. The older people that had kind of left a little bit, maybe it can come back and everybody sit on the bank, you know, a day a week and do a little fishing and relax.
She said the county will offer lifetime senior fishing licenses to residents 65 years old or older at $50. She said children younger than four can get a lifetime license for $320. She said the local availability of licenses may even keep people out of trouble. If someone is caught fishing without a license, Hix said the local court may be more lenient if the person is willing to go downstairs and purchase a license.
“If they’re willing to get their license, they want them to,” Hix said. “The system wants them to get their license. They want them to fish. They don’t want them to have to go to court and never fish again.”
She said people can go to the office with their social security number and buy a license today.
