WEST virginia legislature
2018 regular session
Introduced
Senate Bill 324
By Senator Blair
[Introduced January
19, 2018; Referred
to the Committee on Finance]
A BILL to amend and reenact §29-22-9 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to removing restrictions on where certain traditional lottery games may be played.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 22. STATE LOTTERY ACT.
(a) The commission shall initiate operation of the state lottery on a continuous basis at the earliest feasible and practical time, first initiating operation of the preprinted instant winner type lottery. The lottery shall be initiated and shall continue to be operated so as to produce the maximum amount of net revenues to benefit the public purpose described in this article consonant with the public good. Other state government departments, boards, commissions, agencies, and their officers shall cooperate with the Lottery Commission so as to aid the Lottery Commission in fulfilling these objectives.
(b) The commission shall promulgate rules and regulations specifying the types of lottery games to be conducted by the lottery: Provided, That:
(1) No lottery may use the results of any amateur or professional sporting event, dog race, or horse race to determine the winner.
(2) Electronic video lottery systems must include a central site system of monitoring the lottery terminals utilizing an online or dial-up inquiry.
(3) In a lottery utilizing a ticket, each ticket shall bear a unique number distinguishing it from each other ticket.
(4) No lottery utilizing a machine may use machines which dispense coins or currency.
(5) A lottery game which
utilizes an electronic computer and a video screen to operate a lottery game
and communicate the results thereof, such as the game "Travel", and which
does not utilize an interactive electronic terminal device allowing input by an
individual player, may only be made available by the commission in (A) private
clubs licensed in accordance with the provisions of article seven, chapter
sixty of this code, (B) retail licensees licensed in accordance with the
provisions of article three-a of said chapter sixty, and (C) in the facilities
of class A licensees which are licensed in accordance with the provisions of
section nine, article sixteen, chapter eleven of this code, in which facility
at least seventy-five percent of the nonintoxicating beer sold by the class A
licensee in the preceding year was sold for consumption on the premises:
Provided, That if sales information is not available for the preceding year,
the commission in its discretion may base any issuance or denial of an annual
license upon a reasonable projection of the volume of sales of nonintoxicating
beer for consumption on the premises as a percentage of the total sales of
nonintoxicating beer
(6) (5) Selection of the winner must be predicted totally
on chance.
(7) (6) Any drawings or winner selections shall be held
in public and witnessed by an independent accountant designated by the director
for such purposes.
(8) (7) All lottery equipment and materials shall be
regularly inspected and tested, before and after any drawings or winner
selections, by independent qualified technicians.
(9) (8) The director shall establish the price for each
lottery and determine the method of selecting winners and the manner of payment
of prizes, including providing for payment by the purchase of annuities for
prizes payable in installments.
(10) (9) All claims for prizes shall be examined and no
prize shall be paid as a result of altered, stolen, or counterfeit tickets or
materials, or which fail to meet validation rules or regulations established
for a lottery. No prize shall be paid more than once and, in the event of a
binding determination by the commission that more than one person is entitled
to a particular prize, the sole remedy of the claimants shall be the award to
each of them of an equal share in the single prize.
(11) (10) A detailed tabulation of the estimated number of
prizes of each particular prize denomination that are expected to be awarded in
each lottery, or the estimated odds of winning such prizes shall be printed on
any lottery ticket, where feasible, or in descriptive materials, and shall be
available at the offices of the commission.
(12) (11) No prizes shall be paid which are invalid and
not contemplated by the prize structure of the lottery involved.
(13) (12) By purchasing a ticket or participation in a
lottery, a participant agrees to abide by, and be bound by, the lottery rules
which apply to the lottery or game play involved. An abbreviated form of such
rules may appear on tickets and shall appear on descriptive materials and shall
be available at the offices of the commission. A participant in a lottery
agrees that the determination of whether the participant is a valid winner is
subject to the lottery or game play rules and the winner validation tests
established by the commission. The determination of the winner by the
commission shall be final and binding upon all participants in a lottery and
shall not be subject to review or appeal.
(14) (13) The commission shall institute such security
procedures as it deems necessary to ensure the honesty and integrity of the
winner selection process for each lottery. All such security and validation
procedures and techniques shall be, and remain, confidential and shall not be
subject to any discovery procedure in any civil, judicial, administrative, or
other proceeding, nor subject to the provisions of §29B-1-1 et seq. of
this code.
(c) The commission shall proceed with operation of such additional lottery games, including the implementation of games utilizing a variety of existing or future technological advances at the earliest feasible date. The commission may operate lottery games utilizing electronic computers and electronic computer terminal devices and systems, which systems must include a central site system of monitoring the lottery terminals utilizing direct communication systems, or other technological advances and procedures, ensuring honesty and integrity in the operation of the lottery.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove restrictions on where KENO theme lottery games may be played, specifically, games that utilize an electronic computer and video screen to operate a lottery game and communicate the results thereof, such as the game “Travel”, and do not utilize an interactive electronic terminal device allowing input by an individual player. These are truly traditional lottery products and games, and removing this restriction allows them to be sold in the same manner and locations as other traditional lottery games.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.