[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Smithtown
as Ch. 7 of the 1964 Code.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: The ordinance which originally enacted
these provisions was approved by referendum on 10-7-1958.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Bingo Licensing
Ordinance."
For the purposes of this chapter, certain words used herein
are defined as follows:
Includes only bona fide religious, charitable or nonprofit
organizations of veterans, volunteer firemen and similar nonprofit
organizations.
Includes a specific game of chance, commonly known as "bingo"
or "lotto," in which prizes are awarded on the basis of designated
numbers or symbols on a card conforming to numbers or symbols selected
at random.
The State Lottery Control Commission.
A license issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
The Town of Smithtown.
[Amended 7-23-1963]
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, association, corporation
or organization, other than an authorized organization licensed under
the provisions of this chapter to conduct the game of bingo within
the territorial limits of the Town of Smithtown. Any authorized organization
licensed under this chapter shall conduct any such game subject to
the provisions of this chapter, the provisions of Article 14-H of
the General Municipal Law of the State of New York and the provisions
of the State Lottery Control Law.
[Amended 7-23-1963]
A.
No person, firm, association, corporation or organization, other
than a licensee under the provisions of Article 14-H of the General
Municipal Law, shall conduct such game or shall lease or otherwise
make available for conducting bingo a hall or other premises for any
consideration whatsoever, direct or indirect.
B.
No bingo games shall be held, operated or conducted on or within
any leased premises if the rental under such lease is to be paid,
wholly or partly, on the basis of a percentage of the receipts or
net profits derived from the operation of such game.
C.
No authorized organization licensed under the provisions of Article
14-H of the General Municipal Law shall purchase or receive any supplies
or equipment specifically designed or adapted for use in the conduct
of bingo games from other than a supplier licensed under the Bingo
Control Law or from another authorized organization.
D.
The entire net proceeds of any game of bingo and of any rental shall
be exclusively devoted to the lawful purposes of the organization
permitted to conduct the same.
E.
No prize shall exceed the sum or value of two hundred fifty dollars
($250.) in any single game of bingo.
F.
No series of prizes on any one (1) bingo occasion shall aggregate
more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.).
G.
No person except a bona fide member of any such organization shall
participate in the management or operation of such game.
H.
No person shall receive any remuneration participating in the management
or operation of any game of bingo.
I.
The unauthorized conduct of bingo game and any willful violation
of any provision of this chapter shall constitute and be punishable
as a misdemeanor.
A.
Each applicant for a license shall file with the Town Clerk a written
application therefor in the form prescribed in the rules and regulations
of the control commission, duly executed and verified containing the
statements required by § 480 of the General Municipal Law.
B.
In the event that any premises upon which any such game of chance
is to be held, operated or conducted or which is to be used for any
other purpose in connection with the holding, operating or conducting
thereof is to be leased from any person, persons or corporation, a
written statement shall accompany the application, signed and verified
under oath by such person or persons or executed and verified under
oath on behalf of such corporation, stating his or its address and
the amount of rent which will be paid for such premises and that such
lessor or lessors, or if a corporation all of its officers and each
of its stockholders who holds ten percent (10%) or more of its stock
issued and outstanding, are of good moral character and have not been
convicted of a crime.
[Amended 7-23-1963]
The Town Board 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, and if it shall determine that
the applicant is duly qualified to be licensed to hold, operate and
conduct games of chance under the provisions of this chapter, Article
14-H of the General Municipal Law and the rules and regulations governing
the holding, operation and conduct of the Control Commission; that
the member or members of the applicant designated in the application
to hold, operate or conduct the games of chance, to hold, operate
and conduct which the license was applied for, are bona fide active
members of the applicant and are persons of good moral character and
have never been convicted of crimes; that such games of chance are
to be held, operated and conducted in accordance with the provisions
of this chapter, Article 14-H of the General Municipal Law and in
accordance with the rules and regulations governing the holding, operation
and conduct thereof; and that the proceeds thereof are to be disposed
of as provided by this chapter, and if the Town Board is satisfied
that no commissions, salary, compensation, reward or recompense whatever
will be paid or given to any person holding, operating or conducting
or assisting in the holding, operation and conduct of any such games
of chance, except as in this chapter and other applicable laws otherwise
provided, and that no prize will be offered and given in excess of
the sum or value of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.) in any single
game of chance and that the aggregate of all prizes offered and given
in all of such games of chance, held, operated and conducted on a
single occasion under said license shall not exceed the sum or value
of one thousand dollars ($1,000.), it shall issue a license to the
applicant for the holding, operation and conduct of the specific kinds
of games of chance applied for, accordingly, upon payment of a license
fee or fees of ten dollars ($10.) for each occasion upon which any
games of chance are to be conducted under such license. No license
for the holding, operation and conduct of any game or games of chance
shall be issued which shall be effective for a period of more than
one (1) year.
A.
The applicant shall furnish the Town Clerk with a full set of fingerprints.
[Added 7-10-1979]
B.
The Town Clerk shall be authorized to forward the applicant's
fingerprints to the Division of Criminal Justice Services for a criminal
background investigation.
[Added 7-10-1979]
C.
The applicant shall be charged a fee of fifteen dollars ($15.) for
a full search and return from the Division of Criminal Justice Services,
said fee to be made payable to the Town Clerk of the Town of Smithtown.
[Added 7-10-1979]
A.
No application for the issuance of a license shall be denied by the
Town Board 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.
B.
Any license issued may be amended, upon application made to the Town
Board, if the subject matter of the proposed amendment could lawfully
and properly have been included in the original license and upon payment
of such additional license fee, if any, as would have been payable
if it had been so included.
Each license shall be in such form as shall be prescribed in
the rules and regulations promulgated by the Control Commission containing
the statement required by § 483 of the General Municipal
Law. Each license issued for the conduct of any game or games of chance
shall be conspicuously displayed at the place where the same are to
be conducted at all times during the conduct thereof.
[Amended 7-23-1963]
The Town Board shall have and exercise control and supervision
over all games of chance held, operated or conducted under such license,
to the end that the same are fairly held, operated and conducted in
accordance with the provisions of such license, the rules and regulations
promulgated by the Control Commission and the provisions of Article
14-H of the General Municipal Law governing the holding, operation
and conduct of the same, and the Town Board shall have the power and
the authority to suspend any license issued by it and to revoke the
same, after notice and hearing, for violation of any such provision
and shall have the right of entry, by its respective officers and
agents, at all times into any premises where any such game of chance
is being held, operated and conducted or where it is intended that
any such game of chance shall be held, operated and 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.
[Amended 7-11-1972]
Games of bingo conducted under any license under this chapter
shall be permitted on Sundays after 1:00 p.m.
No game or games of chance shall be held, operated or conducted
under any license issued under this chapter oftener than on six (6)
days in any one (1) calendar month or in any room or outdoor area
where alcoholic beverages are sold or served during the progress of
the game or games.
Within fifteen (15) days after the conclusion of the holding,
operating and conducting of any such game of chance, the authorized
organization which held, operated or conducted the same, and its members
who were in charge thereof, shall furnish to the Town Clerk a duly
verified statement showing the amount of the gross receipts derived
from each game of chance, which shall include receipts from the sale
of shares, tickets or rights in any manner connected with participation
in said game or the right to participate therein, each item of expense
incurred or paid and each item of expenditure made or to be made,
the name and address of each person to whom each such item has been
paid or is to be paid, with a detailed description of the merchandise
purchased or the services rendered therefor, the net profit derived
from each such game of chance and the use to which such net profit
has been or is to be applied and a list of prizes offered and given,
with the respective value thereof, and it shall be the duty of such
licensee to maintain and keep such books and records as may be necessary
to substantiate the particulars of each such report.
The Town Board shall have power to examine or cause to be examined
the books and records of any authorized organization to which any
such license is issued, so far as they may relate to any transactions
of any game of chance thereunder, and to examine any manager, officer,
director, agent, member or employee thereof under oath in relation
to the conduct of any such game of chance under any such license,
but 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 chapter and the applicable law.
[Amended 6-10-1969]
Any person, firm, association or corporation violating any of
the provisions of the Bingo Ordinance of the Town of Smithtown shall
be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor punishable by a fine not exceeding
one thousand dollars ($1,000.) and imprisonment for a period not exceeding
one (1) year for each such offense, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
