Bill Text: NJ S2843 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Authorizes operation of lottery courier services.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-08-13 - Substituted by A4018 [S2843 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-S2843-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator PAUL A. SARLO
District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)
Senator JIM WHELAN
District 2 (Atlantic)
SYNOPSIS
Authorizes operation of lottery courier services.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning lottery courier services and supplementing P.L.1970, c.13 (C.5:9-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. For the purposes of this act:
a. "Lottery" or "State lottery" shall mean the lottery established and operated pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1970, c.13 (C.5:9-3).
b. "Courier service" shall mean a person or business entity that is registered with the State Lottery Commission to purchase State Lottery tickets on behalf of individuals within the State and delivering those tickets to those individuals in the State as a business-for-profit delivery service.
2. The commission shall register and authorize a person or entity to operate a courier service for the purchase and delivery of State lottery tickets within the State of New of Jersey.
Registration of any lottery courier service shall include, but shall not be limited to, a check of credit reporting sources, other State departments and agencies and criminal justice agencies, and the commission shall adopt rules and regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L. 1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as may be needed to substantiate the moral character of the applicant and key personnel, and to effectuate section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
The authorized operation of registered courier services under this act shall not constitute violations of N.J.S.2C:37-2 or N.J.S.2C:37-3.
The authorized operation of a registered courier service under this act shall not constitute the sale of lottery tickets, and therefore charging a fee for the purchase and delivery of a ticket shall not constitute a violation of section 14 of P.L.1970, c.13 (C.5:9-14). However, no courier service may be licensed as a lottery sales agent under section 11 of P.L.1970, c.13 (C.5:9-11). No courier service shall be permitted to collect a portion of lottery winnings as part of its fee.
3. a. In lieu of delivery of a purchased lottery ticket to a customer, a courier service may store such ticket on behalf of the customer, with the customer's consent, if the courier service provides an electronic receipt of the ticket purchased, including the numbers of the ticket, and the customer has the option to obtain the ticket for the purpose of redemption. Any courier service storing a ticket on behalf of a customer shall maintain a secure database of all stored lottery tickets, linked to the respective customers, and the courier service shall notify the customer of any winning ticket value, including but not limited any maximum prize, within 24 hours of a drawing. Any courier service authorized to operate under this act shall be subject to random audits of such a database by the commission.
b. The commission shall adopt rules and regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L. 1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as may be needed to effectuate subsection a. of this section. The commission may adopt rules and regulations to permit a lottery courier service to redeem a lottery ticket on behalf of a customer, in a manner that is secure for the customer and transparent to the public, provided that no portion of any lottery winnings is provided to the lottery courier service as a fee for redemption of a ticket.
4. This act shall take effect on the first day of the ninth month following enactment, except that the commission may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill would require the State Lottery Commission to register and authorize the operation of courier services for the purchase and delivery solely of State lottery tickets within the State of New Jersey. No lottery ticket courier service would be permitted to operate unless it has been registered with the State Lottery Commission and has been authorized by the commission to operate as a courier service.
Under this bill, a courier service may charge a delivery fee for such service, but may not collect any portion of any lottery winnings in connection with the courier service. Moreover, a courier service would be able to store lottery tickets on behalf of its customers with proper consent and the maintenance of a database that would be subject to random audits by the commission.
Under this bill, the operation of a courier service would not constitute the sale of lottery tickets, and lottery courier services would not be permitted to obtain lottery sales agent licenses. Additionally, the authorized operation of a lottery courier service would not constitute gambling under this bill.
The bill further provides that the commission may establish regulations allowing for courier services to redeem winning tickets on behalf of clients, if proper steps are taken to ensure security of the customer and transparency to the public.
