Senate Bill No. 718
(By Senators Caruth, Guills, Wells, Love, Barnes and White)
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[Introduced February 19, 2007; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §47-20-11 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend said code by adding thereto a
new section, designated §47-21-12a, all relating to charitable
gaming; and prohibiting family members of gaming operators
from participating in the conduct of bingo or raffle occasions
or related concessions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §47-20-11 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that said code be amended by adding
thereto a new section, designated 47-21-12a, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 20. CHARITABLE BINGO.
§47-20-11. Operator of bingo games and related concessions.
(a) Except as provided in sections thirteen and twenty-two of
this article, the only persons, as defined in section two of this article, that may participate in any manner in the conduct of any
bingo game or operate any concession in conjunction with a bingo
occasion are either:
(1) Residents of this state and who are active members of the
licensee organization or its authorized auxiliary organization and
who have been active members in good standing of the licensee
organization or its authorized auxiliary for at least two years
prior to the date of filing of the application for a charitable
bingo license or the most recent filing of an application for
renewal of the license; or
(2) Employees of the licensee organization or its authorized
auxiliary organization who are:
(A) Residents of this state;
(B) Residents of a state bordering this state if the county of
his or her residence is contiguous to the county in this state in
which the bingo operation is conducted; or
(C) Residents of a bordering state who reside within
thirty-five miles of the county in which the bingo operation is
conducted.
(b) Notwithstanding anything contained in this article to the
contrary, no individual under the age of eighteen years may
directly or indirectly participate in the conduct of a bingo game,
except for junior firefighters, in accordance with the provisions
of this article.
(c) No member of the family of an operator of a charitable
bingo occasion authorized by this article, or a charitable raffle
occasion authorized under article twenty-one of this chapter and
held in conjunction with such bingo occasion, may participate in
any way in the conduct of such a bingo occasion, or a raffle
occasion authorized under article twenty-one of this chapter and
held in conjunction with such bingo occasion, or operate any
concession held in conjunction with such bingo occasion. For
purposes of this section a member of the family includes a brother
or sister, spouse, ancestors, children, grandchildren,
great-grandchildren, and spouses of siblings, children,
grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, or the brothers or sisters,
parents, grandparents, ancestors, children, grandchildren and
great-grandchildren of a spouse or sibling. A stepchild or legally
adopted child of an individual will be treated as a child by blood.
ARTICLE 21. CHARITABLE RAFFLES.
§47-21-12a. Operator of raffle games and related concessions.
(a) Except as provided in section thirteen of this article,
the only persons, as defined in section two of this article, that
may participate in any manner in the conduct of any raffle game or
operate any concession in conjunction with a raffle occasion are
either:
(1) Residents of this state and who are active members of the
licensee organization or its authorized auxiliary organization and who have been active members in good standing of the licensee
organization or its authorized auxiliary for at least two years
prior to the date of filing of the application for a charitable
raffle license or the most recent filing of an application for
renewal of the license; or
(2) Employees of the licensee organization or its authorized
auxiliary organization who are:
(A) Residents of this state;
(B) Residents of a state bordering this state if the county of
his or her residence is contiguous to the county in this state in
which the raffle operation is conducted; or
(C) Residents of a bordering state who reside within
thirty-five miles of the county in which the raffle operation is
conducted.
(b) No member of the family of an operator of a charitable
raffle occasion authorized by this article, or charitable bingo
occasion authorized under article twenty of this chapter and held
in conjunction with such raffle occasion, may participate in any
way in the conduct of such a raffle occasion, or a bingo occasion
authorized under article twenty of this chapter held in conjunction
with such raffle occasion, or operate any concession held in
conjunction with such raffle occasion. For purposes of this
section, a member of the family includes a brother or sister,
spouse, ancestors, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and spouses of siblings, children, grandchildren, and
great-grandchildren, or the brothers or sisters, parents,
grandparents, ancestors, children, grandchildren and
great-grandchildren of a spouse or sibling. A stepchild or legally
adopted child of an individual will be treated as a child by blood.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prevent criminal
conspiracies to misappropriate money from charitable bingo and
charitable raffle licensees by prohibiting members of the same
family from participating in the conduct of charitable bingo and
charitable raffle occasions, or from operating the concessions at
those occasions.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
§47-21-12a is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.