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Chapter 349

Section 349.163

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349.163 Licensing of manufacturers.

Subdivision 1. License required. No manufacturer of gambling equipment may sell any gambling equipment to any person for use or resale within the state, unless the manufacturer has a current and valid license issued by the board under this section and has satisfied other criteria prescribed by the board by rule.

A manufacturer licensed under this section may not also be directly or indirectly licensed as a distributor under section 349.161 unless the manufacturer (1) does not manufacture any gambling equipment other than paddlewheels, and (2) was licensed as both a manufacturer and distributor on May 1, 1990.

Subd. 1a. Repealed, 1994 c 633 art 5 s 99

Subd. 1b. Applications; information. An applicant for a manufacturer's license must list on the license application the names and addresses of all subsidiaries, affiliates, and branches in which the applicant has any form of ownership or control, in whole or in part, without regard to whether the subsidiary, affiliate, or branch does business in Minnesota.

Subd. 2. License; fee. A license under this section is valid for one year. The annual fee for the license is $5,000.

Subd. 2a. Repealed, 1994 c 633 art 5 s 99

Subd. 3. Prohibited sales. (a) A manufacturer may not:

(1) sell gambling equipment for use or resale within the state to any person not licensed as a distributor unless the manufacturer is also a licensed distributor; or

(2) sell gambling equipment to a distributor in this state that has the same serial number as another item of gambling equipment of the same type that is sold by that manufacturer for use or resale in this state.

(b) A manufacturer, affiliate of a manufacturer, or person acting as a representative or agent of a manufacturer may not provide a lessor of gambling premises or an appointed official any compensation, gift, gratuity, premium, contribution, or other thing of value.

(c) A manufacturer may not sell or otherwise provide a pull-tab or tipboard deal with the symbol required by subdivision 5, paragraph (h), imprinted on the flare to any person other than a licensed distributor unless the manufacturer first renders the symbol permanently invisible.

Subd. 4. Inspection of manufacturers. Employees of the board and the division of alcohol and gambling enforcement may inspect the books, records, inventory, and business premises of a licensed manufacturer without notice during the normal business hours of the manufacturer. The board may charge a manufacturer for the actual cost of conducting scheduled or unscheduled inspections of the manufacturer's facilities, where the amount charged to the manufacturer for such inspections in any year does not exceed $7,500. The board shall deposit in a separate account in the state treasury all money received as reimbursement for the costs of inspections. Until July 1, 1999, money in the account is appropriated to the board to pay the costs of the inspections.

Subd. 5. Pull-tab and tipboard flares. (a) A manufacturer may not ship or cause to be shipped into this state or sell for use or resale in this state any deal of pull-tabs or tipboards that does not have its own individual flare as required for that deal by this subdivision and rule of the board. A person other than a manufacturer may not manufacture, alter, modify, or otherwise change a flare for a deal of pull-tabs or tipboards except as allowed by this chapter or board rules.

(b) A manufacturer must comply with either paragraphs (c) to (g) or (f) to (j) with respect to pull-tabs and tipboards sold by the manufacturer before January 1, 1995, for use or resale in Minnesota or shipped into or caused to be shipped into Minnesota by the manufacturer before January 1, 1995. A manufacturer must comply with paragraphs (f) to (j) with respect to pull-tabs and tipboards sold by the manufacturer on and after January 1, 1995, for use or resale in Minnesota or shipped into or caused to be shipped into Minnesota by the manufacturer on and after January 1, 1995. Paragraphs (c) to (e) expire January 1, 1995.

(c) The flare of each deal of pull-tabs and tipboards sold by a manufacturer for use or resale in Minnesota must have the Minnesota gambling stamp affixed. The flare, with the stamp affixed, must be placed inside the wrapping of the deal which the flare describes.

(d) Each pull-tab and tipboard flare must bear the following statement printed in letters large enough to be clearly legible:

"Pull-tab (or tipboard) purchasers -- This pull-tab (or tipboard) game is not legal in Minnesota unless:

-- a Minnesota gambling stamp is affixed to this sheet, and

-- the serial number handwritten on the gambling stamp is the same as the serial number printed on this sheet and on the pull-tab (or tipboard) ticket you have purchased."

(e) The flare of each pull-tab and tipboard game must bear the serial number of the game, printed in numbers at least one-half inch high and must be imprinted with the following:

(1) the name of the game;

(2) the name of the manufacturer;

(3) the number of tickets in the deal; and

(4) other information the board by rule requires.

(f) The flare of each pull-tab and tipboard game must have affixed to or imprinted at the bottom a bar code that provides all information required by the commissioner of revenue under section 297E.04, subdivision 2.

The serial number included in the bar code must be the same as the serial number of the tickets included in the deal. A manufacturer who manufactures a deal of pull-tabs must affix to the outside of the box containing that game the same bar code that is affixed to or imprinted at the bottom of a flare for that deal.

(g) No person may alter the bar code that appears on the outside of a box containing a deal of pull-tabs and tipboards. Possession of a box containing a deal of pull-tabs and tipboards that has a bar code different from the bar code of the deal inside the box is prima facie evidence that the possessor has altered the bar code on the box.

(h) The flare of each deal of pull-tabs and tipboards sold by a manufacturer for use or resale in Minnesota must have imprinted on it a symbol that is at least one inch high and one inch wide consisting of an outline of the geographic boundaries of Minnesota with the letters "MN" inside the outline. The flare must be placed inside the wrapping of the deal which the flare describes.

(i) Each pull-tab and tipboard flare must bear the following statement printed in letters large enough to be clearly legible:

"Pull-tab (or tipboard) purchasers -- This pull-tab (or tipboard) game is not legal in Minnesota unless:

-- an outline of Minnesota with letters "MN" inside it is imprinted on this sheet, and

-- the serial number imprinted on the bar code at the bottom of this sheet is the same as the serial number on the pull-tab (or tipboard) ticket you have purchased."

(j) The flare of each pull-tab and tipboard game must have the serial number of the game imprinted on the bar code at the bottom of the flare in numerals at least one-half inch high.

Subd. 6. Samples of gambling equipment. The board shall require each licensed manufacturer to submit to the board one or more samples of each item of gambling equipment the manufacturer manufactures for use or resale in this state. The board shall inspect and test all the equipment it deems necessary to determine the equipment's compliance with law and board rules. Samples required under this subdivision must be approved by the board before the equipment being sampled is shipped into or sold for use or resale in this state. The board may request the assistance of the commissioner of public safety and the director of the state lottery board in performing the tests.

Subd. 6a. Paddlewheel moratorium. The board must not approve new types of paddlewheel equipment for sale in this state until July 1, 1993. This subdivision applies to new types of paddlewheel equipment, samples of which are submitted to the board after March 15, 1991.

Subd. 7. Recycled paper. The board may, after January 1, 1991, by rule require that all pull-tabs sold in Minnesota be manufactured using recycled paper.

Subd. 8. Paddleticket card master flares. Each sealed grouping of 100 or fewer paddleticket cards must have its own individual master flare. The manufacturer must affix to or imprint at the bottom of the master flare a bar code that provides all information required by the commissioner of revenue under section 297E.04, subdivision 3.

HIST: 1986 c 467 s 15; 1989 c 334 art 2 s 24; 1Sp1989 c 1 art 13 s 10; 1990 c 590 art 1 s 20; 1991 c 233 s 109; 1991 c 336 art 2 s 18; 1992 c 513 art 4 s 37; 1994 c 633 art 5 s 48-52; 1995 c 264 art 17 s 9; 1997 c 129 art 2 s 15; 1997 c 155 s 7; 1997 c 202 art 2 s 45

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes