SF 3948

Introduction - 94th Legislature (2025 - 2026)

Posted on 02/27/2026 10:29 a.m.

A bill for an act
relating to lawful gambling; modifying the limitation on the value of prizes awarded
for a county agricultural society to be exempt from the licensure requirement;
amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 349.166, subdivision 2.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 349.166, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Exemptions.

(a) Lawful gambling, with the exception of linked bingo games,
may be conducted by an organization without a license and without complying with sections
349.168, subdivisions 1 and 2; 349.17, subdivision 4; 349.18, subdivision 1; and 349.19 if:

(1) the organization conducts lawful gambling on five or fewer days in a calendar year;

(2) the organization does not award more than $50,000 in prizes for lawful gambling in
a calendar year new text begin , or if the organization is a county agricultural society, as defined under
section 38.01, the organization does not award more than $100,000 in prizes for lawful
gambling in a calendar year new text end ;

(3) the organization submits a board-prescribed application and pays a fee of $100 to
the board for each gambling occasion, and receives an exempt permit number from the
board. If the application is postmarked or received less than 30 days before the gambling
occasion, the fee is $150 for that application. The application must include the date and
location of the occasion, the types of lawful gambling to be conducted, and the prizes to be
awarded;

(4) the organization notifies the local government unit 30 days before the lawful gambling
occasion, or 60 days for an occasion held in a city of the first class;

(5) the organization purchases all gambling equipment and supplies from a licensed
distributor; and

(6) the organization reports to the board, on a single-page form prescribed by the board,
within 30 days of each gambling occasion, the gross receipts, prizes, expenses, expenditures
of net profits from the occasion, and the identification of the licensed distributor from whom
all gambling equipment was purchased.

(b) No more than one organization exempted or excluded from licensing requirements
may conduct an individual raffle.

(1) Exempted or excluded organizations may not combine the use of raffle tickets.

(2) Raffle tickets must not be attached to or combined with other exempted or excluded
organizations' raffle tickets and must be sold separately from other exempted or excluded
organizations' raffle tickets.

(c) If the organization fails to file a timely report as required by paragraph (a), clause
(6), the board shall not issue any authorization, license, or permit to the organization to
conduct lawful gambling on an exempt, excluded, or licensed basis until the report has been
filed and the organization may be subject to penalty as determined by the board. The board
may refuse to issue any authorization, license, or permit if a report or application is
determined to be incomplete or knowingly contains false or inaccurate information.

(d) Merchandise prizes must be valued at their fair market value.

(e) Organizations that qualify to conduct exempt raffles under paragraph (a) are exempt
from section 349.173, paragraph (b), clause (2), if the raffle tickets are sold only in
combination with an organization's membership or a ticket for an organization's membership
dinner and are not included with any other raffle conducted under the exempt permit.

(f) Unused pull-tab and tipboard deals must be returned to the distributor within seven
working days after the end of the lawful gambling occasion. The distributor must accept
and pay a refund for all returns of unopened and undamaged deals returned under this
paragraph.

(g) The organization must maintain all required records of exempt gambling activity for
3-1/2 years.