Minnesota Session Laws - 1989, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1989 

                        CHAPTER 149-S.F.No. 1269 
           An act relating to gambling; video games of chance; 
          prohibiting cash awards; requiring notice to the 
          public and to employees of the consequences of 
          participating in cash awards; prescribing a penalty; 
          amending Minnesota Statutes 1988, sections 349.51, 
          subdivision 2; 349.53; and 349.56; proposing coding 
          for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 349. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  [349.501] [REQUIRED NOTICE.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [TO THE PUBLIC.] An operator must 
prominently post in the owner's business premises a brief 
description of the legal consequences of awarding cash instead 
of game credits or replays on video games of chance in violation 
of section 2. 
    The information is prominently posted if it can be readily 
seen by a player immediately before the player participates in 
the video game of chance. 
    Subd. 2.  [TO EMPLOYEES.] An owner shall require all 
employees to sign a statement that they understand the legal 
consequences of awarding cash instead of game credits or replays 
on video games of chance located in the owner's business 
premises.  The statement must contain a full and accurate 
description of those legal consequences. 
    Sec. 2.  [349.502] [CASH AWARDS PROHIBITED.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [MISDEMEANOR.] A person who awards or 
receives cash instead of game credits or replays on a video game 
of chance is guilty of a misdemeanor.  An owner who directs an 
employee to violate this section is also considered to have 
violated this section.  For purposes of this subdivision "cash" 
includes checks. 
    Subd. 2.  [MANDATORY PENALTY.] Upon conviction of a person 
for the crime established in subdivision 1, the court shall 
impose a fine of $700.  
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 349.51, 
subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
     Subd. 2.  [APPLICATION; REQUIREMENTS.] (a) Every 
application for a license must be made on a form prescribed by 
the department and must state the name and address of the 
applicant.  If the applicant is a firm, partnership, or 
association, the application must state the name and address of 
each of its members.  If the applicant is a corporation, the 
application must state the name and address of each of its 
officers, the date of incorporation, the address of its 
principle place of business, the place where the business is to 
be licensed and business conducted, and information concerning 
whether or not any officer, director, resident manager, or 
direct salesperson of the applicant has been convicted of a 
felony or convicted for a gambling offense within the past five 
years.  The application may contain other information the 
department requires for licensing purposes.  
     (b) Every applicant for a license shall be a legal resident 
or be incorporated within the state of Minnesota prior to the 
date of application for a distributor or operator license.  
     (c) Every applicant shall disclose under oath to the 
commissioner whether or not the applicant has any financial, 
legal, or other interests in a licensed wholesale liquor or 
alcoholic beverage distributorship or video game of chance 
distributorship in another state.  
     (d) No distributor may also be a wholesale distributor of 
liquor or alcoholic beverages.  
    (e) No distributor in this state may also be a distributor 
in another state, unless the distributor adequately demonstrates 
that the distributor does not manufacture video games of chance 
outside of this state for use, sale, or distribution within this 
state.  
    (f) An operator who has been convicted of a violation of 
section 2, subdivision 1, is not eligible to obtain or hold a 
license under this section. 
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 349.53, is 
amended to read: 
    349.53 [RECORD-KEEPING DUTIES OF DISTRIBUTORS.] 
    A distributor shall keep at each licensed place of business 
complete and accurate records for that place of business, 
including the signed statements required by section 1, invoices 
of video games of chance held, purchased, manufactured, brought 
in or caused to be brought in from outside the state, or shipped 
or transported to operators in this state, and of all sales of 
video games of chance made.  The distributor must also keep 
adequate records of the names, addresses, and license numbers of 
operators to whom video games of chance are sold.  All books, 
records, and other papers and documents required by this section 
to be kept must be preserved for a period of at least one year 
after the date of the documents, or the date of their entries as 
they appear in the records, unless the department, in writing, 
authorizes their destruction or disposal at an earlier date.  At 
any time during usual business hours, the commissioner or 
designated representatives may enter any place of business of a 
distributor without a search warrant and inspect the premises 
and the records required to be kept under this section, to 
determine whether or not all the provisions of this chapter are 
being fully complied with.  If the commissioner or any 
representative is denied free access or is hindered or 
interfered with in making an examination, the license of the 
distributor at the premises is subject to revocation.  
    Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 349.56, is 
amended to read: 
    349.56 [LOCATION AGREEMENTS.] 
    An operator is required to have a location agreement with 
the owner where the game is placed for use by the public.  The 
location agreement must show that the game is to be placed only 
in locations permitted by law.  The location agreement must also 
include the notice required by section 1.  The location 
agreements, together with the other records of the operator, 
must be accessible to the commissioner and designated 
representatives.  The operator is required to certify under oath 
to the department annually the name and address of the location 
in which each game has been placed and that the games have been 
placed only in locations permitted by law.  Placing a game in an 
illegal location is grounds for suspension or revocation of the 
operator's license. 
    Sec. 6.  [INDIAN COMPACTS.] 
    Section 2 may not be construed as prohibiting the state 
from entering into a tribal-state compact under the provisions 
of the Federal Gaming Regulatory Act, Public Law No. 100-497, as 
it relates to video poker or video blackjack games of chance 
currently operated by Indian tribes in this state. 
    Sec. 7.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
    Section 2 is effective August 1, 1989, and applies to 
crimes committed on or after that date. 
    Presented to the governor May 15, 1989 
    Signed by the governor May 16, 1989, 6:36 p.m.