[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Poughkeepsie 10-5-1976 (Part II, Ch. 3, Art. III, of the 1964 Code). Amendments
noted where applicable.]
All terms used herein shall be defined in accordance
with Article 9A of the General Municipal Law unless specifically assigned
a different meaning.
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 Town of Poughkeepsie
subject to the provisions of this chapter, the provisions of Article
9A of the General Municipal Law and the provisions set forth by the
Racing and Wagering Board of the State of New York.
A.
Prior to the conduct of any games of chance, each
authorized organization shall obtain an identification number from
the Racing and Wagering Board and shall file with the Town Clerk of
the Town of Poughkeepsie a written application for a license to conduct
games of chance in a form prescribed by the Board, duly executed and
verified.
B.
Each applicant for an authorized game of chance lessor
license shall file with the Town Clerk of the Town of Poughkeepsie
a written application therefor in a form prescribed by the Racing
and Wagering Board, duly executed and verified.
The Town Clerk shall make or cause to be made
an investigation of the qualifications of each applicant and merits
of each application with due expedition after the filing of the application.
[Amended 3-27-1996 by L.L. No. 4-1996]
After an investigation has been made and the Town Clerk has determined that the applicant is in full conformity with the provisions of Article 9A of the General Municipal Law, the rules and regulations of the State Racing and Wagering Board and this chapter, the Town Clerk shall issue a license to conduct games of chance upon payment of a license fee as provided in Chapter 105, Fees, for each license period.
[Amended 3-27-1996 by L.L. No. 4-1996]
If the Town Clerk shall determine that an 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 Article 9A of the General Municipal Law and the rules and regulations of the Racing and Wagering Board and that there is a public need and that public advantage will be served by the issuance of such a license, then the Town Clerk shall issue a license permitting the applicant to lease said premises for the conduct of such games to the authorized organization or organizations so specified for the period therein specified or such shorter period as the Town Clerk shall determine, but not to exceed one year, upon payment of a license fee as provided in Chapter 105, Fees.
A.
No application for the issuance of a license to an
authorized organization shall be denied by the Town 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.
B.
Any license issued under this section may be amended,
upon application made to the Town Clerk who issued it, if the subject
matter of the proposed amendment could lawfully and properly have
been included in the original license and upon obtainment of such
additional license fee as would have been payable if it had been so
included.
A.
Each license issued for the conduct of any games of
chance will be conspicuously displayed at the place where the same
is to be conducted at all times during the conduct thereof.
B.
Each license to lease premises for conducting games
of chance shall be conspicuously displayed upon such premises at all
times during the conduct of games of chance.
The Chief of Police shall exercise rigid control
and close supervision over all games of chance conducted under such
license to ensure that they are conducted in conformity with the provisions
of such license, the provisions of the rules and regulations promulgated
by the Racing and Wagering Board and the provisions of Article 9A
of the General Municipal Law. The Chief of Police and the Board shall
have the power and authority to temporarily suspend any license issued
by the Town Clerk pending a hearing, and after notice of hearing,
the Board may suspend or revoke the same and additionally impose a
fine in amount not exceeding $1,000 for violations of any such provisions
and shall have the right of entry, by their respective officers and
agents, at any time into any premises where any game of chance is
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
chapter.
Subject to the applicable provisions of the
Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, beer may be offered by sale during
the conduct of games of chance, but the offering of all other alcoholic
beverages is prohibited.
[Amended 8-16-1979]
No game or games of chance shall be conducted
under any license issued under Article 9A of the General Municipal
Law more often 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. Saturday and only between the
hours of 12:00 noon on Saturday and 2:00 a.m. Sunday and only between
the hours of 2:00 p.m. and 12:00 midnight on Sunday. The 2:00 a.m.
closing period shall also apply to legal holidays. No games of chance
shall be conducted on any Easter Sunday, Christmas Day or New Year's
Eve.
No person under the age of 18 years shall be
permitted to play in the game or games of chance conducted pursuant
to any license issued hereunder. 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 the license issued hereunder.
No person shall hold, operate or conduct any
games of chance under any license issued hereunder 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 member of an organization or association
which is affiliated with the licensee by being with it auxiliary to
another organization. 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 such 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 any game of chance pursuant to
any license issued hereunder 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 Racing and
Wagering Board, janitorial services and utilities supplied, 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 chapter. Every
winner shall be determined and every prize shall be awarded and delivered
on the same calendar date as that upon which the game was played.
No alcoholic beverages shall be offered or given as a prize in any
game of chance.
No game of chance conducted or to be conducted
shall be advertised as to its location, the time when it is to be
played or has been played or the prizes awarded or to be awarded or
transportation facilities to be provided to such games by means of
newspapers, radio, television or sound truck or by means of billboards,
posters or handbills or any other means addressed to the general public,
except that one sign not exceeding 40 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 the
games of chance on the premises of an authorized game of chance lessor,
one additional such sign may be displayed on or adjacent to the premises
on 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 vehicle for first aid
or rescue squad in and throughout the community served by such volunteer
fire company or such first aid or rescue squad as the case may be.
A.
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 Town Clerk a statement subscribed by the member in charge and
affirmed by him or her 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 name and address of each person to whom
each 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 proceeds derived from the conduct of the 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
their respective values thereon, 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.
B.
Upon the filing of such statement of receipts, the
authorized organization furnishing the same shall pay to the Town
Clerk as and for an additional license fee a sum based upon the reported
net proceeds, if any, for the licensed period covered by such statement
and determined in accordance with such schedule as shall be established
from time to time by the Racing and Wagering Board to defray the actual
cost of administration to the Town of Poughkeepsie, but such additional
fee shall not exceed 5% of the net proceeds for such occasion.
The Town Clerk and the Board shall have the
power to examine or cause to be examined the books and records of
any authorized organization which is or has been issued a license
to conduct games of chance or any authorized games of chance lessor
pursuant to the authorization of Article 9A of the Town Municipal
Law.
Any applicant for or holder of any license issued
or to be issued under this chapter aggrieved by any action of the
Chief of Police or Town 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 the Chief of Police or Town Clerk by filing with
the Chief of Police or Town Clerk 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
Chief of Police or Town Clerk and any additional evidence may be produced
and shall be considered in arriving at a determination in the matters
in issue, and the action of the Racing and Wagering Board upon said
appeal shall be binding upon the Chief of Police or Town Clerk and
all parties to said appeal.
No person, association, corporation or organization
lawfully conducting or participating in the conduct of games of chance
or permitting the conduct upon any premises owned or leased by him
or her or it, 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 Article
9A of the General Municipal Law, but this immunity shall not extend
to any person or corporation knowingly conducting or participating
in the conduct of games of chance under any license obtained by any
false pretense or by any false statement made in any application for
license or otherwise or permitting the conduct upon any premises owned
or leased by him or her or it of any game of chance conducted under
any license known to him or her or it to have been obtained by any
such false pretense or statement.
[Amended 6-3-2009 by L.L. No. 22-2009]
A.
Any person,
association, corporation or organization who or which shall make any
material false statement in any application for any license authorized
to be issued under Article 9A of the General Municipal Law; pay or
receive for the use of any premises for conducting games of chance
a rental in excess of the amount specified as a permissible rent in
the license provided for in Subdivision 2 of § 193 of Article
9A of the General Municipal Law; fail to keep such books and records
as shall fully and truly record all transactions connected with the
conducting of games of chance or the leasing of premises to be used
for the conducting of games of chance; falsify or make any false entry
on the books or records so far as they relate in any manner to the
conduct of games of chance, to the disposition of the proceeds thereof
and to the application of the rents received by any authorized organization;
or divert or pay any portion of the net proceeds of any game of chance
to any person, association or corporation except in furtherance of
one or more of the lawful purposes as set forth in Article 9A of the
General Municipal Law, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall
forfeit any license issued under this chapter and be ineligible to
apply for a license under this chapter for at least one year thereafter.
B.
In addition
to any other remedies set forth herein authorizing the Town to enforce
the provisions of this chapter, establishing penalties, and setting
forth additional remedies, the person charged with the responsibility
to enforce the provisions of this chapter may impose a civil fine
or agree to a civil fine not to exceed $1,000 per day for each day
of the violation. If said civil fine is imposed, then the alleged
violator may appeal to the Town Board of the Town of Poughkeepsie.
Any person, association, corporation or organization
holding, operating or conducting a game or games of chance is guilty
of a misdemeanor except when operating, holding or conducting:
A.
In accordance with a valid license issued pursuant
to this chapter; or
B.
On behalf of a bona fide organization of persons 60
years of age or over, commonly referred to as "senior citizens," solely
for the purpose of amusement and recreation of its members where:
(1)
The organization has applied for and received an identification
number from the Racing and Wagering Board;
(2)
No player or other person furnishes anything of value
for the opportunity to participate;
(3)
Prizes awarded or to be awarded are to be nominal;
(4)
No person other than a bona fide active member or
the organization participates in the conduct of the games; and
(5)
No person is paid for conducting or assisting in the
conduct of the game or games.
A.
This chapter shall not become operative or effective
unless or until it shall have been approved by a majority of the electors
voting on a proposal submitted in a general or special election held
within the Town of Poughkeepsie who are qualified to vote for officers
of the Town of Poughkeepsie.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance was approved
by a majority of the electors at the referendum held 11-7-1976.
B.
The Town Clerk is hereby directed to notify the Commissioner
of Elections of the County of Dutchess, State of New York, to include
the following question to electors at the next general election:
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Limited Conduct of Certain Games of Chance
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Shall the proposed ordinance of the Town of
Poughkeepsie adopted pursuant to the authority of Article 9A of the
General Municipal Law in relation to authorizing the limited conduct
of certain games of chance by religious, charitable or
nonprofit organizations of veterans, volunteer firemen and similar
nonprofit organizations be approved?
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