H. B. 4615
(By Delegate Michael)
[Introduced February 25, 2004; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §29-22-9 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating generally to on-line lottery games
allowed under state lottery act; allowing licensed lottery
sales agents to sell on-line lottery games that do not utilize
an interactive electronic terminal device; and allowing use of
player operated ticket dispensers for play of on-line lottery
games in private clubs and class A beer taverns.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §29-22-9 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 22. STATE LOTTERY ACT.
§29-22-9. Initiation and operation of lottery; restrictions;
prohibited themes, games, machines or devices;
distinguishing numbers; winner selection; public
drawings; witnessing of results; testing and
inspection of equipment; price of tickets; claim for
and payment of prizes; invalid, counterfeit tickets; estimated prizes and odds of winning; participant
bound by lottery rules and validation procedures;
security procedures; additional games; electronic and
computer systems
.
(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 on-
line 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 Private clubs licensed in accordance with the
provisions of article seven, chapter sixty of this code;
(B)
retail Retail licensees licensed in accordance with the
provisions of article three-a of said chapter sixty;
and
C)
in the facilities 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
, and
(D) Facilities of other lottery sales agents licensed under
section ten of this article: Provided, That in these facilities
the results of the drawings may not be displayed on a television
monitor or other monitor.
Nothing in this section shall prohibit the use of player-
operated on-line ticket dispensing devices located in premises identified in paragraphs (A) and (C) of subdivision (5) of this
section for playing "Power Ball", "Daily Millions", "Cash 25",
"TRAVEL", "Daily 3", "Daily 4" and other on-line lottery games
allowed under this article, if the drawing of winning numbers for
those games occurs no more frequently than in three-minute
intervals.
(6) Selection of the winner must be predicted totally on
chance.
(7) Any drawings or winner selections shall be held in public
and witnessed by an independent accountant designated by the
director for such purposes.
(8) All lottery equipment and materials shall be regularly
inspected and tested, before and after any drawings or winner
selections, by independent qualified technicians.
(9) 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) 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) 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) No prizes shall be paid which are invalid and not
contemplated by the prize structure of the lottery involved.
(13) 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) 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 article one, chapter twenty-nine-b of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended.
(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.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.