Minnesota Session Laws - 1988, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1988 

                        CHAPTER 596-S.F.No. 1661 
           An act relating to charitable gambling; changing the 
          definition of lawful purpose expenditures; clarifying 
          the definition of organization; increasing the 
          percentage of profit that may be used for expenses for 
          certain organizations; licensing bingo halls; changing 
          the definition of bingo occasion; requiring 
          organizations to be directly responsible for the 
          conducting of bingo; changing the definition of gross 
          receipts for the purposes of bingo; requiring a study 
          on charitable gambling; amending Minnesota Statutes 
          1986, sections 349.19, subdivision 1; Minnesota 
          Statutes 1987 Supplement, sections 349.12, subdivision 
          11; 349.17, subdivisions 1 and 2; proposing coding for 
          new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 349. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1987 Supplement, section 
349.12, subdivision 11, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 11.  "Lawful purpose" means one or more of the 
following:  (a) benefiting persons by enhancing their 
opportunity for religious or educational advancement, by 
relieving or protecting them from disease, suffering or 
distress, by contributing to their physical well-being, by 
assisting them in establishing themselves in life as worthy and 
useful citizens, or by increasing their comprehension of and 
devotion to the principles upon which this nation was founded; 
(b) initiating, performing, or fostering worthy public works or 
enabling or furthering the erection or maintenance of public 
structures; (c) lessening the burdens borne by government or 
voluntarily supporting, augmenting or supplementing services 
which government would normally render to the people; or (d) the 
improving, expanding, maintaining or repairing real property 
owned or leased by an organization; or (e) payment of taxes 
imposed under this chapter, and other taxes imposed by the state 
or the United States on receipts from lawful gambling. 
    "Lawful purpose" does not include the erection or, 
acquisition, improvement, expansion, repair, or maintenance of 
any real property owned or leased by the organization, unless 
the board specifically authorizes the expenditures after finding 
that the property will be used exclusively for one or more of 
the purposes specified in this clause clauses (a) to (c).  The 
board may by rule adopt procedures and standards to administer 
this subdivision. 
    Sec. 2.  [349.164] [BINGO HALL LICENSES.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [LICENSE REQUIRED.] No person may lease a 
facility to more than one licensed organization to conduct bingo 
without having obtained a bingo hall license under this section, 
unless the person is a licensed organization. 
    Subd. 2.  [LICENSE APPLICATION.] The board may issue a 
bingo hall license to persons who meet the qualifications of 
this section if the board determines that a license is 
consistent with the purpose of sections 349.11 to 349.22.  
Applications must be on a form the board prescribes. 
    Subd. 3.  [QUALIFICATIONS.] A license may not be issued 
under this section to a person, or to a corporation, firm, or 
partnership which has as an officer, director, or other person 
in a supervisory or management position, who:  
    (1) has been convicted of a felony in a state or federal 
court within the past five years or who has a felony charge 
pending; or 
    (2) has been convicted in a state or federal court of a 
gambling-related offense within ten years of the date of license 
application. 
    Subd. 4.  [FEES.] The annual fee for a bingo hall license 
is $250. 
    Subd. 5.  [CRIMINAL HISTORY.] The board may request the 
assistance of the bureau of criminal apprehension in 
investigating the background of an applicant for a bingo hall 
license and may reimburse the bureau for the costs.  The board 
has access to all criminal history data compiled by the bureau 
on licensees and applicants.  
    Subd. 6.  [PROHIBITION.] No bingo hall licensee may also be 
a licensed distributor or registered manufacturer or affiliate 
of the distributor or manufacturer under section 349.161 or 
349.163. 
    Subd. 7.  [RESTRICTIONS.] A bingo hall licensee or 
affiliate of the licensee may not: 
    (1) provide any staff to conduct bingo or any other form of 
lawful gambling during the bingo occasion; 
    (2) acquire, provide storage or inventory control, or 
report the use of any gambling equipment used by an organization 
that conducts bingo on the premises; 
    (3) provide accounting services to an organization 
conducting bingo on the premises; 
    (4) make any expenditures of gross receipts of an 
organization from lawful gambling; or 
    (5) charge any fee to a person at a bingo occasion, without 
which the person could not play a bingo game.  
    Subd. 8.  [LEASES.] All of the remuneration to be received 
from the organization for the conduct of lawful gambling must be 
stated in the lease.  No amount may be paid by the organization 
or received by the operator of the bingo hall based on the 
number of participants attending the bingo occasion or on the 
gross receipts or profit received by the organization. 
    Subd. 9.  [REVOCATION AND SUSPENSION.] A license under this 
section may be suspended by the board for a violation of law or 
board rule or for failure to meet the qualifications in 
subdivision 3 at any time or revoked for what the board 
determines to be a pattern of willful violations of law or board 
rule.  A revocation or suspension is a contested case under 
sections 14.57 to 14.69 of the administrative procedure act.  
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1987 Supplement, section 
349.17, subdivision 1, is amended to read:  
    Subdivision 1.  [BINGO OCCASIONS.] Not more than six bingo 
occasions each week may be conducted by an organization.  At 
least 15 bingo games must be held at each occasion and a bingo 
occasion may not must continue for at least one and one-half 
hours but not more than four consecutive hours. 
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1987 Supplement, section 
349.17, subdivision 2, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 2.  [BINGO ON LEASED PREMISES.] (a) A person or 
corporation, other than an organization, which leases any 
premises that it owns to two or more organizations for purposes 
including the conduct of bingo occasions, may not allow more 
than 18 bingo occasions to be conducted on the premises in any 
week.  
    (b) If an organization conducts bingo on premises it does 
not own, the organization must provide the board with the name 
of the owner and lessor of the premises, copies of all 
agreements between the organization and the owner or lessor, and 
the names of employees of the owner or lessor who will be 
responsible for the premises during the bingo occasion held by 
the organization. 
    (c) During any bingo occasion held by an organization on 
premises it does not own, the organization shall be directly 
responsible for the:  
    (1) staffing of the bingo occasion; 
    (2) conducting of lawful gambling during the bingo occasion;
    (3) acquiring, storage, inventory control, and reporting of 
all gambling equipment used by the organization; and 
    (4) receipt, accounting, and all expenditures of gross 
receipts from lawful gambling. 
    Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 349.19, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read:  
    Subdivision 1.  [REQUIRED RECORD OF RECEIPTS.] A licensed 
organization must keep a record of each occasion on which it 
conducts gambling, including each bingo occasion and each day on 
which other forms of lawful gambling are conducted.  The record 
must include gross receipts, quantities of free plays if any, 
expenses, and profits.  The board may by rule provide for the 
methods by which expenses are documented.  Gross receipts for 
bingo include any amount received by the organization which has 
been paid by a person at the bingo occasion to play the game, 
without which the player could not play the game.  In the case 
of bingo, gross receipts must be compared to the checkers' 
records for the occasion by a person who did not sell cards for 
the occasion.  Separate records must be kept for bingo and all 
other forms of lawful gambling.  
     Sec. 6.  [STUDY.] 
    The senate committee on general legislation and public 
gaming and the house committee on general legislation, veterans 
affairs, and gaming shall conduct a joint study to examine 
whether charitable gambling laws are being properly enforced, 
whether the amount being devoted to charitable purposes from 
charitable gambling is appropriate, and whether taxes due on the 
conduct of charitable gambling are actually being collected.  
The charitable gambling control board, the commissioner of 
revenue, and the director of the bureau of criminal apprehension 
shall cooperate in the conduct of this study.  The study must be 
completed by January 15, 1989.  
    Sec. 7.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
    Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment. 
    Approved April 21, 1988