Bill Text: WV SB27 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Removing restrictions on where certain traditional lottery games may be played
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-04-16 - Chapter 112, Acts, Regular Session, 2019 [SB27 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2019-SB27-Introduced.html
WEST virginia legislature
2019 regular session
Introduced
Senate Bill 27
By Senator Blair
[Introduced January 9, 2019; Referred
to the Committee on Finance]
A BILL to amend and reenact §29-22-9 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to removing restrictions on where certain traditional lottery games may be played.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 22. STATE LOTTERY ACT.
(a) The commission shall initiate operation of the state lottery on a continuous basis at the earliest feasible and practical time, first initiating operation of the preprinted instant winner type lottery. The lottery shall be initiated and shall continue to be operated so as to produce the maximum amount of net revenues to benefit the public purpose described in this article consonant with the public good. Other state government departments, boards, commissions, agencies, and their officers shall cooperate with the Lottery Commission so as to aid the Lottery Commission in fulfilling these objectives.
(b) The commission shall promulgate rules and regulations
specifying the types of lottery games to be conducted by the lottery. Provided,
That These rules and regulations shall provide that:
(1) No lottery may use the results of any amateur or professional sporting event, dog race, or horse race to determine the winner.
(2) Electronic video lottery systems must include a central site system of monitoring the lottery terminals utilizing an online or dial-up inquiry.
(3) In a lottery utilizing a ticket, each ticket shall bear a unique number distinguishing it from each other ticket.
(4) No lottery utilizing a machine may use machines which dispense coins or currency.
(5) A lottery game which utilizes an electronic
computer and a video screen to operate a lottery game and communicate the results
thereof, such as the game "Travel", and which does not utilize an
interactive electronic terminal device allowing input by an individual player,
may only be made available by the commission in (A) private clubs licensed in
accordance with the provisions of article seven, chapter sixty of this code,
(B) retail licensees licensed in accordance with the provisions of article
three-a of said chapter sixty, and (C) in the facilities of class A licensees
which are licensed in accordance with the provisions of section nine, article
sixteen, chapter eleven of this code, in which facility at least seventy-five
percent of the nonintoxicating beer sold by the class A licensee in the
preceding year was sold for consumption on the premises: Provided, That if sales
information is not available for the preceding year, the commission in its
discretion may base any issuance or denial of an annual license upon a
reasonable projection of the volume of sales of nonintoxicating beer for
consumption on the premises as a percentage of the total sales of
nonintoxicating beer
(6) (5) Selection of the winner must be predicted
totally on chance.
(7) (6) Any drawings or winner selections shall be
held in public and witnessed by an independent accountant designated by the
director for such purposes.
(8) (7) All lottery equipment and materials shall
be regularly inspected and tested, before and after any drawings or winner
selections, by independent qualified technicians.
(9) (8) The director shall establish the price for
each lottery and determine the method of selecting winners and the manner of
payment of prizes, including providing for payment by the purchase of annuities
for prizes payable in installments.
(10) (9) All claims for prizes shall be examined
and no prize shall be paid as a result of altered, stolen, or counterfeit
tickets or materials, or which fail to meet validation rules or regulations
established for a lottery. No prize shall be paid more than once and, in the
event of a binding determination by the commission that more than one person is
entitled to a particular prize, the sole remedy of the claimants shall be the
award to each of them of an equal share in the single prize.
(11) (10) A detailed tabulation of the estimated
number of prizes of each particular prize denomination that are expected to be
awarded in each lottery, or the estimated odds of winning such prizes shall be
printed on any lottery ticket, where feasible, or in descriptive materials, and
shall be available at the offices of the commission.
(12) (11) No prizes shall be paid which are invalid
and not contemplated by the prize structure of the lottery involved.
(13) (12) By purchasing a ticket or participation
in a lottery, a participant agrees to abide by, and be bound by, the lottery
rules which apply to the lottery or game play involved. An abbreviated form of
such rules may appear on tickets and shall appear on descriptive materials and
shall be available at the offices of the commission. A participant in a lottery
agrees that the determination of whether the participant is a valid winner is
subject to the lottery or game play rules and the winner validation tests
established by the commission. The determination of the winner by the
commission shall be final and binding upon all participants in a lottery and
shall not be subject to review or appeal.
(14) (13) The commission shall institute such
security procedures as it deems necessary to ensure the honesty and integrity
of the winner selection process for each lottery. All such security and
validation procedures and techniques shall be, and remain, confidential and
shall not be subject to any discovery procedure in any civil, judicial,
administrative, or other proceeding, nor subject to the provisions of §29B-1-1 et
seq. of this code.
(c) The commission shall proceed with operation of such additional lottery games, including the implementation of games utilizing a variety of existing or future technological advances at the earliest feasible date. The commission may operate lottery games utilizing electronic computers and electronic computer terminal devices and systems, which systems must include a central site system of monitoring the lottery terminals utilizing direct communication systems, or other technological advances and procedures, ensuring honesty and integrity in the operation of the lottery.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove restrictions on where KENO theme lottery games may be played, specifically, games that utilize an electronic computer and video screen to operate a lottery game and communicate the results thereof, such as the game “Travel”, and do not utilize an interactive electronic terminal device allowing input by an individual player. These are truly traditional lottery products and games, and removing this restriction allows them to be sold in the same manner and locations as other traditional lottery games.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
