MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2006 Regular Session
To: Gaming
By: Representative Moak
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 75-76-33, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE MISSISSIPPI GAMING COMMISSION TO ADOPT REGULATIONS PERTAINING TO CERTAIN GAMING ACTIVITIES THAT ARE NOT PROHIBITED UNDER STATE OR FEDERAL LAW; TO AMEND SECTION 75-76-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 75-76-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
75-76-33. (1) The commission shall, from time to time, adopt, amend or repeal such regulations, consistent with the policy, objects and purposes of this chapter, as it may deem necessary or desirable in the public interest in carrying out the policy and provisions of this chapter.
(2) These regulations shall, without limiting the general powers herein conferred, include the following:
(a) Prescribing the method and form of application which any applicant for a license or for a manufacturer's, seller's or distributor's license must follow and complete before consideration of his application by the executive director or the commission.
(b) Prescribing the information to be furnished by any applicant or licensee concerning his antecedents, habits, character, associates, criminal record, business activities and financial affairs, past or present.
(c) Prescribing the information to be furnished by a licensee relating to his employees.
(d) Requiring fingerprinting of an applicant or licensee, and gaming employees of a licensee, or other methods of identification and the forwarding of all fingerprints taken pursuant to regulation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(e) Prescribing the manner and procedure of all hearings conducted by the commission or any hearing examiner of the commission, including special rules of evidence applicable thereto and notices thereof.
(f) Requiring any applicant to pay all or any part of the fees and costs of investigation of such applicant as may be determined by the commission, except that no applicant for an initial license shall be required to pay any part of the fees or costs of the investigation of the applicant with regard to the initial license.
(g) Prescribing the manner and method of collection and payment of fees and issuance of licenses.
(h) Prescribing under what conditions a licensee may be deemed subject to revocation or suspension of his license.
(i) Requiring any applicant or licensee to waive any privilege with respect to any testimony at any hearing or meeting of the commission, except any privilege afforded by the Constitution of the United States or this state.
(j) Defining and limiting the area, games and devices permitted, and the method of operation of such games and devices, for the purposes of this chapter.
(k) Prescribing under what conditions the nonpayment of a gambling debt by a licensee shall be deemed grounds for revocation or suspension of his license.
(l) Governing the use and approval of gambling devices and equipment.
(m) Prescribing the qualifications of, and the conditions under which, attorneys, accountants and others are permitted to practice before the commission.
(n) Restricting access to confidential information obtained under this chapter and ensuring that the confidentiality of such information is maintained and protected.
(o) Prescribing the manner and procedure by which the executive director on behalf of the commission shall notify a county or a municipality wherein an applicant for a license desires to locate.
(p) Prescribing the manner and procedure for an objection to be filed with the commission and the executive director by a county or municipality wherein an applicant for a license desires to locate.
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each licensee shall be required to comply with the following regulations:
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (4) of this section, no wagering shall be allowed on the outcome of any athletic event, nor on any matter to be determined during an athletic event, nor on the outcome of any event which does not take place on the premises.
(b) No wager may be placed by, or on behalf of, any individual or entity or group, not present on a licensed vessel or cruise vessel.
(4) (a) The commission and the Chairman of the State Tax Commission also shall adopt regulations pertaining to those activities defined as "race book" under Section 75-76-5(cc) and "sports pool" as defined under Section 75-76-5(gg), and which are expressly authorized under Section 75-76-89(2), notwithstanding any interpretations to the contrary by the commission before July 1, 2006, any court decision decided pursuant to such interpretations before July 1, 2006, provided such interpretations, decisions or provisions are not prohibited by the Professional Amateur Sports Protection Act, 28 USCS Section 3701 et seq., unless such federal act is amended after July 1, 2006, to exempt from its prohibitions the activities defined under Section 75-76-5(gg), that are otherwise authorized under this section.
(b) It is the intent of paragraph (a) of this subsection to authorize sports pool gaming, as defined under Section 75-76-5(gg), on the premises of any establishment in this state where gaming operations are lawfully permitted and in accordance with all applicable provisions of this chapter and rules and regulations adopted by the Mississippi Gaming Commission and the Chairman of the State Tax Commission beginning immediately following the date that the Professional Amateur Sports Protection Act referred to in paragraph (a) of this subsection is amended to allow the State of Mississippi to lawfully permit such gaming activities.
SECTION 2. Section 75-76-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
75-76-5. As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise:
(a) "Applicant" means any person who has applied for or is about to apply for a state gaming license, registration or finding of suitability under the provisions of this chapter or approval of any act or transaction for which approval is required or permitted under the provisions of this chapter.
(b) "Application" means a request for the issuance of a state gaming license, registration or finding of suitability under the provisions of this chapter or for approval of any act or transaction for which approval is required or permitted under the provisions of this chapter but does not include any supplemental forms or information that may be required with the application.
(c) "Associated equipment" means any equipment or mechanical, electromechanical or electronic contrivance, component or machine used remotely or directly in connection with gaming or with any game, race book or sports pool that would not otherwise be classified as a gaming device, including dice, playing cards, links which connect to progressive slot machines, equipment which affects the proper reporting of gross revenue, computerized systems of betting at a race book or sports pool, computerized systems for monitoring slot machines, and devices for weighing or counting money.
(d) "Chairman" through September 30, 1993, means the Chairman of the State Tax Commission, and thereafter means the Chairman of the Mississippi Gaming Commission.
(e) "Commission" or "Mississippi Gaming Commission" through September 30, 1993, means the State Tax Commission, and thereafter means the Mississippi Gaming Commission.
(f) "Commission member" through September 30, 1993, means a member of the State Tax Commission, and thereafter means a member of the Mississippi Gaming Commission.
(g) "Credit instrument" means a writing which evidences a gaming debt owed to a person who holds a license at the time the debt is created, and includes any writing taken in consolidation, redemption or payment of a prior credit instrument.
(h) "Enforcement division" means a particular division supervised by the executive director that provides enforcement functions.
(i) "Establishment" means any premises wherein or whereon any gaming is done.
(j) "Executive director" through September 30, 1993, means the director appointed by the State Tax Commission pursuant to Section 75-76-15(1), and thereafter means the Executive Director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission.
(k) Except as otherwise provided by law, "game" or "gambling game" means any banking or percentage game played with cards, with dice or with any mechanical, electromechanical or electronic device or machine for money, property, checks, credit or any representative of value, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, faro, monte, roulette, keno, fan-tan, twenty-one, blackjack, seven-and-a-half, big injun, klondike, craps, poker, chuck-a-luck (dai shu), wheel of fortune, chemin de fer, baccarat, pai gow, beat the banker, panguingui, slot machine, or any other game or device approved by the commission. However, "game" or "gambling game" shall not include bingo games or raffles which are held pursuant to the provisions of Section 97-33-51.
The commission shall not be required to recognize any game hereunder with respect to which the commission determines it does not have sufficient experience or expertise.
(l) "Gaming" or "gambling" means to deal, operate, carry on, conduct, maintain or expose for play any game as defined in this chapter.
(m) "Gaming device" means any mechanical, electromechanical or electronic contrivance, component or machine used in connection with gaming or any game which affects the result of a wager by determining win or loss. The term includes a system for processing information which can alter the normal criteria of random selection, which affects the operation of any game, or which determines the outcome of a game. The term does not include a system or device which affects a game solely by stopping its operation so that the outcome remains undetermined, and does not include any antique coin machine as defined in Section 27-27-12.
(n) "Gaming employee" means any person connected directly with the operation of a gaming establishment licensed to conduct any game, including:
(i) Boxmen;
(ii) Cashiers;
(iii) Change personnel;
(iv) Counting room personnel;
(v) Dealers;
(vi) Floormen;
(vii) Hosts or other persons empowered to extend credit or complimentary services;
(viii) Keno runners;
(ix) Keno writers;
(x) Machine mechanics;
(xi) Security personnel;
(xii) Shift or pit bosses;
(xiii) Shills;
(xiv) Supervisors or managers; and
(xv) Ticket writers.
The term "gaming employee" also includes employees of manufacturers or distributors of gaming equipment within this state whose duties are directly involved with the manufacture, repair or distribution of gaming equipment.
"Gaming employee" does not include bartenders, cocktail waitresses or other persons engaged in preparing or serving food or beverages unless acting in some other capacity.
(o) "Gaming license" means any license issued by the state which authorizes the person named therein to engage in gaming.
(p) "Gross revenue" means the total of all of the following, less the total of all cash paid out as losses to patrons and those amounts paid to purchase annuities to fund losses paid to patrons over several years by independent financial institutions:
(i) Cash received as winnings;
(ii) Cash received in payment for credit extended by a licensee to a patron for purposes of gaming; and
(iii) Compensation received for conducting any game in which the licensee is not party to a wager.
For the purposes of this definition, cash or the value of noncash prizes awarded to patrons in a contest or tournament are not losses.
The term does not include:
(i) Counterfeit money or tokens;
(ii) Coins of other countries which are received in gaming devices;
(iii) Cash taken in fraudulent acts perpetrated against a licensee for which the licensee is not reimbursed; or
(iv) Cash received as entry fees for contests or tournaments in which the patrons compete for prizes.
(q) "Hearing examiner" means a member of the Mississippi Gaming Commission or other person authorized by the commission to conduct hearings.
(r) "Investigation division" means a particular division supervised by the executive director that provides investigative functions.
(s) "License" means a gaming license or a manufacturer's, seller's or distributor's license.
(t) "Licensee" means any person to whom a valid license has been issued.
(u) "License fees" means monies required by law to be paid to obtain or continue a gaming license or a manufacturer's, seller's or distributor's license.
(v) "Licensed gaming establishment" means any premises licensed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter wherein or whereon gaming is done.
(w) "Manufacturer's," "seller's" or "distributor's" license means a license issued pursuant to Section 75-76-79.
(x) "Navigable waters" shall have the meaning ascribed to such term under Section 27-109-1.
(y) "Operation" means the conduct of gaming.
(z) "Party" means the Mississippi Gaming Commission and any licensee or other person appearing of record in any proceeding before the commission; or the Mississippi Gaming Commission and any licensee or other person appearing of record in any proceeding for judicial review of any action, decision or order of the commission.
(aa) "Person" includes any association, corporation, firm, partnership, trust or other form of business association as well as a natural person.
(bb) "Premises" means land, together with all buildings, improvements and personal property located thereon, and includes all parts of any vessel or cruise vessel.
(cc) "Race book" means the business of accepting wagers upon the outcome of any event held at a track which uses the pari-mutuel system of wagering.
(dd) "Regulation" means a rule, standard, directive or statement of general applicability which effectuates law or policy or which describes the procedure or requirements for practicing before the commission. The term includes a proposed regulation and the amendment or repeal of a prior regulation but does not include:
(i) A statement concerning only the internal management of the commission and not affecting the rights or procedures available to any licensee or other person;
(ii) A declaratory ruling;
(iii) An interagency memorandum;
(iv) The commission's decision in a contested case or relating to an application for a license; or
(v) Any notice concerning the fees to be charged which are necessary for the administration of this chapter.
(ee) "Respondent" means any licensee or other person against whom a complaint has been filed with the commission.
(ff) "Slot machine" means any mechanical, electrical or other device, contrivance or machine which, upon insertion of a coin, token or similar object, or upon payment of any consideration, is available to play or operate, the play or operation of which, whether by reason of the skill of the operator or application of the element of chance, or both, may deliver or entitle the person playing or operating the machine to receive cash, premiums, merchandise, tokens or anything of value, whether the payoff is made automatically from the machine or in any other manner. The term does not include any antique coin machine as defined in Section 27-27-12.
(gg) "Sports pool" means the business of accepting wagers on sporting events, except for athletic events not otherwise authorized in Section 75-76-33(4), by any system or method of wagering other than the system known as the "pari-mutuel method of wagering."
(hh) "Temporary work permit" means a work permit which is valid only for a period not to exceed ninety (90) days from its date of issue and which is not renewable.
(ii) "Vessel" or "cruise vessel" shall have the meanings ascribed to such terms under Section 27-109-1.
(jj) "Work permit" means any card, certificate or permit issued by the commission, whether denominated as a work permit, registration card or otherwise, authorizing the employment of the holder as a gaming employee. A document issued by any governmental authority for any employment other than gaming is not a valid work permit for the purposes of this chapter.
(kk) "School or training institution" means any school or training institution which is licensed by the commission to teach or train gaming employees pursuant to Section 75-76-34.
(ll) "Cheat" means to alter the selection of criteria that determine:
(i) The rules of a game; or
(ii) The amount or frequency of payment in a game.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2006.