[HISTORY: Adopted Liberty Village Board 3-6-1978 as L.L. No.
5-1978. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used herein, the following terms shall have
the same definitions as are assigned to them by § 186 of
the General Municipal Law of the State of New York as the same may
be amended from time to time: "Board," "games of chance," "authorized
organization," "lawful purposes," "net proceeds," "net lease," "authorized
games-of-chance lessor," "prize," "authorized supplier of games-of-chance
equipment," "one occasion" and "license."
From and after the effective date of this local
law as hereafter provided, it shall be lawful for any authorized organization
upon obtaining a license therefor as hereinafter provided to conduct
games of chance within the territorial limits of the Village of Liberty,
subject to the provisions of this local law, Article 9-A of the General
Municipal Law of the State of New York and rules and regulations promulgated
by the Board, as the same may be amended from time to time.
Each applicant for a license to conduct games
of chance shall, after obtaining an identification number from the
Board, file with the Village Clerk a written application therefor,
in a form to be prescribed by the Board, duly executed and verified,
containing such information as may be required by law and by the rules
and regulations of the Board. In each such application there shall
be designated not less than four active members of the applicant organization
under whom the games or games of chance will be conducted, and to
the application shall be appended a statement executed by the members
so designated that they will be responsible for the conduct of such
games in accordance with the terms of the license and the rules and
regulations of the Board and of Article 9-A of the General Municipal
Law of the State of New York.
Each applicant for a license to lease premises
to a licensed organization for the purposes of conducting games of
chance therein shall file with the Village Clerk a written application
therefor, in a form to be prescribed by the Board, duly executed and
verified, and which shall contain such information as shall be required
by law and by the rules and regulations of the Board.
The Village Clerk shall make an investigation
of the qualifications of each applicant and the merits of each application
with due expedition after the filing of the application. For purposes
of assisting in the conduct of such investigation, the Village Clerk
may call upon the resources of the Chief of Police and other duly
appointed and acting Village officials and other law enforcement agencies.
If the Village Clerk shall determine that the
applicant for a license to conduct games of chance is duly qualified
therefor and meets the requirements of § 191, Subdivision
1(a), of the General Municipal Law of the State of New York and the
rules and regulations of the Board and of this local law, as the same
may be amended from time to time, he shall issue a license to the
applicant for the conduct of games of chance upon payment of a license
fee of $25 for each license. No such license shall be effective for
a period of more than one year.
If the Village Clerk shall determine that the
applicant seeking to lease a hall or premises for the conduct of games
of chance to an authorized organization is duly qualified to be licensed
under the provisions of § 191, Subdivision 1(b), of the
General Municipal Law of the State of New York and the rules and regulations
of the Board and the provisions of this local law, as the same may
be amended from time to time, he shall issue a license permitting
the applicant to lease said premises for the conduct of such games
to the authorized organization or organizations specified in the application
during the period therein specified or such shorter period as such
Clerk shall determine, but not to exceed one year, upon payment of
a license fee of $50.
No application for the issuance of a license
to an authorized organization shall be denied by the Village Clerk
until after a hearing, held on due notice to the applicant, at which
the applicant shall be entitled to be heard upon the qualifications
of the applicant and the merits of the application.
Any license issued under this local law may
be amended, upon application made to the Village Clerk who issued
it, if the subject matter of the proposed amendment could lawfully
and properly been included in the original license and upon payment
of such additional fee, if any, as would have been payable if it had
been so included.
Each license to conduct games of chance shall
be in the form prescribed by the Board and shall contain such information
as may be required by law and/or the rules and regulations of the
Board, as the same may be amended from time to time. Each such license
shall be conspicuously displayed at the place where the games of chance
are to be conducted at all times during the conduct thereof.
Each license to lease premises for the conduct
of games of chance will be in such form as may be prescribed by the
Board and will contain such information as may be required by law
and/or the rules and regulations of the Board, and the same may be
amended from time to time. Each such license shall be conspicuously
displayed upon such premises at all times during the conduct of such
games of chance.
The Chief of Police shall have and exercise
rigid control and close supervision over all games of chance conducted
under such license to the end that the same are fairly conducted in
accordance with the provisions of such license, the provisions of
the rules and regulations promulgated by the Board and the provisions
of Article 9-A of the General Municipal Law of the State of New York,
and the Chief of Police and the Board shall have the power and the
authority to temporarily suspend any license issued by the Clerk pending
a hearing, and, after notice and hearing, the Board may suspend or
revoke the same and additionally impose a fine in the amount not exceeding
$1,000 for violation of any such provisions and shall have the right
of entry by their respective officers and agents at all times into
any premises, where any games of chance are being conducted, where
it is intended that any such games shall be conducted or where any
equipment being used or intended to be used in the conduct thereof
is found, for the purpose of inspecting the same. An agent of the
Chief of Police shall make an on-site inspection during the conduct
of all games of chance licensed pursuant to this local law.
Subject to the applicable provisions of the
Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, beer may be offered for sale during
the conduct of games of chance, but the offering of all other alcoholic
beverages is prohibited.
Except as provided in §
34A-15, no games of chance shall be conducted on Sunday unless specifically so provided in the license. The Village Clerk is hereby authorized to include such provision in any such license, upon a proper showing by the applicant of the need therefor. No games of chance shall be conducted on Easter Sunday, Christmas Day or New Years Eve.
No game or games of chance shall be conducted
under a license issued under this local law more than 12 times in
any calendar year. Games shall be conducted only between the hours
of 12:00 noon and 12:00 midnight on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday and only between the hours of 12:00 noon on Friday and 2:00
a.m. on Saturday and only between the hours of 12:00 noon on Saturday
and 2:00 a.m. Sunday. The closing period of 2:00 a.m. shall also apply
to a legal holiday.
No person under the age of 18 years shall be
permitted to play any game or games of chance conducted pursuant to
any license issued under this local law. No person under the age of
18 years shall be permitted to conduct or assist in the conduct of
any game of chance conducted pursuant to any license issued under
this local law.
No person shall hold, operate or conduct any
games of chance under any license issued under this local law except
an active member of the authorized organization to which the license
is issued, and no person shall assist in the holding, operating or
conducting of any game of chance under such license except such an
active member or a member of an organization or association which
is an auxiliary to the licensee or a member of an organization or
association of which such licensee is an auxiliary or a member of
an organization or association which is affiliated with the licensee
by being, with it, auxiliary to another organization or association.
No game of chance shall be conducted with any equipment except such
as shall be owned or leased by the authorized organization so licensed
or used without payment of any compensation therefor by the licensee.
At least two officers, directors, trustees or clergy of the authorized
organization shall, upon request, certify under oath that the persons
assisting in holding, operating or conducting any game of chance are
bona fide members of the authorized organization, auxiliary or affiliated
organization. Upon request by the Chief of Police, any such person
involved in such games of chance shall certify that he or she has
no criminal record. No items of expense shall be incurred or paid
in connection with the conducting of any game of chance pursuant to
any license issued under this local law except those that are reasonable
and are necessarily expended for games of chance, supplies and equipment,
prizes, stated rental, if any, bookkeeping or accounting services
according to a schedule of compensation prescribed by the Board, janitorial
services and utility supplies, if any, and license fees and the cost
of bus transportation if authorized by the Chief of Police.
Not more than $2 shall be charged by any licensee
for admission to any room or place in which any game or games of chance
are to be conducted under any license issued under this local law.
The Chief of Police may, in his discretion, fix a minimum fee. Every
winner shall be determined and every prize shall be awarded and delivered
within the same calendar day as that upon which the game was played.
No alcoholic beverage shall be offered or given as a prize in any
game of chance.
No game of chance conducted or to be conducted
in the Village of Liberty shall be advertised as to its location,
the time when it is to be or has been played or the prizes awarded
or to be awarded or transportation facilities to be provided to such
game by means of newspapers, radio, television or sound trucks or
by means of billboards, posters or handbills or any other means addressed
to the general public, except that one sign not exceeding 60 square
feet in area may be displayed on or adjacent to the premises owned
or occupied by a licensed authorized organization, and, when an organization
is licensed to conduct games of chance on premises of an authorized
games-of-chance lessor, one additional such sign may be displayed
on or adjacent to the premises in which the games are to be conducted.
Additional signs may be displayed upon any fire-fighting equipment
belonging to any licensee which is a volunteer fire company or upon
any first-aid or rescue squad in and throughout the community or communities
served by such volunteer fire company or such first-aid or rescue
squad, as the case may be.
Within seven days after the conclusion of any
license period, the authorized organization which conducted the same
and its members who were in charge thereof and, when applicable, the
authorized organization which rented its premises therefor shall each
furnish to the Village Clerk a statement subscribed by the member
in charge and affirmed by him as true, under the penalties of perjury,
showing the amount of the gross receipts derived therefrom and each
item of expense incurred or paid and each item of expenditure made
or to be made other than prizes, the names and address of each person
to whom each such item of expense has been paid or is to be paid with
a detailed description of the merchandise purchased or the services
rendered therefor, the net proceeds derived from the conduct of games
of chance during such license period and the use to which such proceeds
have been or are to be applied and a list of prizes offered and given
with the respective values thereof, and it shall be the duty of each
licensee to maintain and keep such books and records as may be necessary
to substantiate the particulars of each such statement.
Upon the filing of such statement of receipts,
the authorized organization furnishing the same shall pay to the Village
Clerk as and for an additional license fee a sum based upon the reported
net proceeds, if any, for the license period covered by such statement
and determined in accordance with such schedule as shall be established,
from time to time, by the Board to defray the actual cost to the Village
of administering the provisions of this local law.
A. The Village Clerk shall have power to examine
or cause to be examined the books and records of:
(1) Any authorized organization which is or
has been licensed to conduct games of chance, so far as they may relate
to games of chance, including the maintenance, control and disposition
of net proceeds derived from games of chance or from the use of its
premises for games of chance, and to examine any manager, officer,
director, agent, member or employee thereof, under oath, in relation
to the conduct of any such game under any such license, the use of
its premises for games of chance or the disposition of net proceeds
derived from games of chance, as the case may be.
(2) Any authorized games-of-chance lessor,
so far as they may relate to leasing premises for games of chance,
and to examine said lessor or any manager, officer, director, agent
or employee thereof, under oath, in relation to such leasing.
B. Any information so received shall not be
disclosed, except so far as may be necessary for the purpose of carrying
out the provisions of this local law.
Any applicant for or holder of any license issued
or to be issued under this local law aggrieved by any action of the
Chief of Police or Village Clerk to which such application has been
made or by which such license has been issued may appeal to the Board
from the determination of said Chief of Police or Village Clerk by
filing with the Chief of Police or Village Clerk a written appeal
within 30 days after the determination or action appealed from, and,
upon the hearing of such, the evidence, if any, taken before such
Chief of Police or Village Clerk and any additional evidence may be
produced and shall be considered in arriving at a determination of
the matters in issue, and the action of the Board upon said appeal
shall be binding upon the Chief of Police or Village Clerk and all
parties to said appeal.
Any person or persons who shall execute an application
on behalf of any authorized organization shall, by the making of such
application, warrant that he is familiar with the provisions of state
law and the rules and regulations of the Board which may be applicable
to such license and agrees to abide thereby.
If any provision of this local law or the application
thereof to any person or organization shall be adjudged unconstitutional
by any court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of this local
law or the application thereof to other persons and organizations
shall not be affected thereby, and the Village Board hereby declares
that it would have enacted this local law without the invalid provision
or application, as the case may be, had such invalidity been apparent.
This local law is subject to mandatory referendum
and shall become effective only if approved by a majority of the electors
voting thereon at a special election of the Village of Liberty to
be held on May 16, 1978. If so approved, this local law shall become
effective immediately upon filing with the Secretary of State of the
State of New York in accordance with the requirements of the Municipal
Home Rule Law.