SB 718 Text

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.

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