[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Ellenville 3-14-1974
as Art. III of Ch. 4 of the Code of Ordinances.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise, the
following terms shall have the following meanings:
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.
It shall be lawful for any organization, upon obtaining a license therefor
as hereinafter provided in this chapter, to conduct the game of bingo within
the territorial limits of the village, subject to the provisions of this chapter,
the provisions of Article 14-H (§§ 475-499) of the General
Municipal Law and the provisions of the State Lottery Control Law.
A.
Each applicant for a license under this chapter shall
file with the Village Clerk a written application in the form prescribed in
the rules and regulations of the Control Commission, duly executed and verified.
B.
In each application there shall be designated an active
member or members of the applicant organization under whom the game or games
of chance described in the application are to be held, operated and conducted,
and there shall be appended to the application a statement executed and verified
by the applicant and by the member or members so designated that he or they
will be responsible for the holding, operation and conduct of such games of
chance in accordance with the terms of the license and the provisions of this
chapter, Chapter 854 of the Laws of 1957[1] and the rules and regulations of the Control Commission, if such
license is granted.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Article 14-H of the General Municipal Law.
C.
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, operation or conduct thereof
is to be leased or rented from any person, persons or corporations, the application
shall be accompanied by a written statement, signed and verified under oath
by such person or persons or on behalf of such corporation, stating his or
its address, the amount of rent to be paid for such premises and stating that
such lessor, lessors or, if a corporation, all of its officers and each of
its stockholders who hold 10% or more of its stock issued and outstanding
are of good moral character and have not been convicted of a crime.
Any game or games licensed under this chapter shall be subjected to
the following restrictions in addition to such other restrictions as may be
provided in this chapter or contained in the rules and regulations of the
Control Commission:
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 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.
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 for participating
in the management or operation of any game of bingo.
I.
The unauthorized conduct of a bingo game and any willful
violation of any provision of this chapter shall constitute and be punishable
as a misdemeanor.
A.
The Village Clerk shall cause to be investigated the
qualifications of each applicant for a license under this chapter and the
merits of each application with due expedition after the filing of the application.
B.
The Village Clerk shall deliver to the Village Board
of Trustees the application, together with the supporting documents therefor
and a detailed report of the results of his investigation, including the due
qualification of the applicant to be licensed, the relationship of the members
under whom games are to be conducted to the applicant, whether such persons
are of good moral character or have ever been convicted of a crime, whether
the conduct of such games will comply with all the provisions of law and rules
and regulations applicable thereto, whether a commission, salary, compensation,
reward or recompense of any nature will be paid to any person conducting or
assisting in conducting such games of chance, whether a prize will be offered
or given in excess of the sum or value of $250 in any single game or an aggregate
of all prizes given in a series of games on a given occasion will exceed the
sum or value of $1,000 and such other questions or inquiries as the Village
Board of Trustees may direct.
If the Village Board of Trustees shall determine that the requisite
conditions have been met by the applicant, it shall issue a license to the
applicant for the holding, operation and conduct of the specific kinds of
games of chance applied for upon payment of a license fee or fees of $12.50
for each occasion upon which any games of chance are to be conducted under
such license, which fees are to be paid to the Treasurer of the village.
On or before the thirtieth day of each month, the Treasurer of the village
shall transmit to the State Comptroller a percentage of all license fees collected
by the village pursuant to the rules and regulations of the State Bingo Control
Commission.
All licenses issued under this chapter shall be subject to and conform
to the rules and regulations of the State Bingo Control Commission.
No application for a license under this chapter shall be denied by the
Village Board of Trustees 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 chapter may be amended upon application
to the Village Board of Trustees, if the subject matter of the proposed amendment
could lawfully and properly have been included in the original license, and
upon the payment of such additional license fee, if any, as would have been
payable if it had been so included.
Each license issued under this chapter shall be in such form as shall
be prescribed in the rules and regulations promulgated by the Control Commission.
A.
The Village Board of Trustees shall have and exercise
control and supervision over all games of chance held, operated or conducted
under a license issued under this chapter and shall have the power and authority
to suspend any such license and, after notice and hearing, to revoke the same
for violation of any provision of such license, this chapter, §§ 475
to 499 of the General Municipal Law or the rules and regulations of the Control
Commission.
B.
The Village Board of Trustees or any officer designated
by it shall have the right of entry at all times into any premises where any
such game of chance is being held, operated or conducted or where it is intended
that any such game of chance shall be held, operated or 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.
Games may be held on any day provided for in a license issued under
this chapter.
No person under the age of 18 years shall be permitted to participate
in any game or games of chance held, operated or conducted pursuant to any
license issued under this chapter unless accompanied by an adult.
No game or games of chance shall be held, operated or conducted under
any license issued under this chapter more often than on six days in any one
calendar month or in any room or outdoor area where alcoholic beverages are
sold or served during the progress of the game or games.
A.
No person shall hold, operate or conduct any game or
games of chance under any license issued under this chapter 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
or games 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
and except bookkeepers or accountants as hereinafter provided.
B.
No such game of chance shall be conducted with any equipment
except such as shall be owned absolutely or used without payment of any compensation
therefor by the licensee.
C.
No item of expense shall be incurred or paid in connection
with the holding, operating or conducting of any game of chance held, operated
or conducted pursuant to any license issued under this chapter, except such
as are bona fide items of reasonable amount for goods, wares and merchandise
furnished or services rendered which are reasonably necessary to be purchased
or furnished for the holding, operating or conducting thereof under any circumstances
whatever.
D.
No rental shall be paid for the use of any premises for
holding, operating or conducting any such game of chance thereon or for any
other purpose in connection with the holding, operating or conducting thereof
unless the amount of such rental is stated in a statement annexed to the application
for the license as provided in this chapter or which is in excess of the sum
stated as the rental to be charged therefor in such statement.
E.
No commission, salary, compensation, reward or recompense
whatever shall be paid or given, directly or indirectly, to any person holding,
operating or conducting or assisting in the holding, operation or conduct
of any game of chance so held, operated or conducted, except that reasonable
compensation may be paid to bookkeepers or accountants for bookkeeping or
accounting services rendered according to a schedule of compensation prescribed
by the rules of the Control Commission.
Not more than $1 shall be charged by any licensee for admission to any
room or place in which any game or games of chance are to be held, operated
and conducted under any license issued under this chapter, which admission
fee, upon payment thereof, shall entitle the person paying the same to a card
entitling him to participate without additional charges in all regular games
of chance to be played under such license on such occasion, and no charge
in excess of $1 shall be made for a single opportunity to participate in all
special games to be played under such license on such occasion.
No prize greater in amount or value than $250 shall be offered or given
in any single game conducted under any such license, and the aggregate amount
or value of all prizes offered or given in all games played on a single occasion
shall not exceed $1,000, and all winners shall be determined and all prizes
shall be awarded in any game played on any occasion 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 such game.[2]
No game of chance to be conducted under any license issued under this
chapter 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 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
where the game will be played and an additional sign may be displayed on or
adjacent to the premises where the prize or prizes are displayed and 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 equipment
belonging to any licensee which is a 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 15 days after the conclusion of the holding, operating and conducting
of any 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 Village 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 such 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 values 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 Village Board of Trustees and the Control Commission shall have
power to examine or cause to be examined the books and records of any authorized
organization to which any license is issued under this chapter so far as they
may relate to any transactions connected with the holding, operating and conducting
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.
Any applicant for or holder of any license issued or to be issued under
this chapter aggrieved by any action of the village, its officers or agents,
concerning an application which has been made or a license which has been
issued, may appeal to the Control Commission from the determination of the
village, its officers or agents by filing with the Village Board of Trustees
a written notice of appeal within 30 days after the determination or action
appealed from, and upon the hearing of such appeal, the evidence, if any,
taken before the Village Board of Trustees 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 Control Commission upon such appeal
shall be binding upon the village and all parties to such appeal.
No person or corporation lawfully conducting or participating in the
conduct of, possessing, selling or in any manner disposing of any shares,
tickets or rights to participate in or permitting the conduct upon any premises
owned by him or it of any game of chance conducted or to be conducted under
any license lawfully issued pursuant to this chapter shall be liable to prosecution
or conviction for violation of any provision of Article 225 of the Penal Law
or any other law or ordinance to the extent that such conduct is specifically
authorized by this chapter, but this immunity shall not extend to any person
or corporation knowingly conducting or participating in the conduct of any
game of chance under any license obtained by any false pretense or statement
made in any application for such license or otherwise, or possessing, selling
or disposing of shares, tickets or rights to participate in or permitting
the conduct upon any premises owned by him or it if any game of chance is
conducted under any such license known to him or it to have been obtained
by any such false pretense or statement.
Any person, association or corporation who or which shall make any false
statement in any application for any license under this chapter or in any
statement annexed thereto, or shall pay any rental for the use of any premises
for holding, operating or conducting any game of chance under this chapter
or for any other purpose in connection with the holding, operating or conducting
thereof, unless the amount of such rental is stated in a statement annexed
to the application for the license as provided in this chapter, or shall pay
or receive any sum for such rental in excess of the sum stated as the rental
to be charged therefor in such statement executed by him or on its behalf,
or shall fail to keep such books and records as shall fully and truly record
all transactions connected with the holding, operating and conducting of games
of chance under any such license, or shall falsify or make any false entry
in any book or record so far as they relate to any transaction connected with
the holding, operating and conducting of any game of chance under any such
license, or shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter or of any
term of such license shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall forfeit any
license issued to him or it under this chapter and be ineligible to apply
for a license under this chapter for one year thereafter.
