ENROLLED
H. B. 4107
(By Delegates Long, Perry, Caruth,
R. M. Thompson and Frederick)
[Passed March 13, 2004; in effect from passage
.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact §47-20-11, §47-20-12a and §47-20-16 of
the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend and
reenact §47-21-12 and §47-21-16 of said code, all relating to
charitable bingo and charitable raffles; allowing certain
employees to operate bingo and raffle games; allowing game
proceeds to be transferred, by check, between raffle and bingo
accounts to offset losses; and allowing certain residents of
other states to be employed by charitable bingo and charitable
raffle operations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §47-20-11, §47-20-12a and §47-20-16 of the code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that
§47-21-12 and §47-21-16 of said code be amended and reenacted, all
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 20. CHARITABLE BINGO.
§47-20-11. Operator of bingo games and related concessions.
(a) Except as provided in sections thirteen and twenty-two of
this article, the only persons, as defined in section two of this
article, that may participate in any manner in the conduct of any
bingo game or operate any concession in conjunction with a bingo
occasion are either:
(1) Residents of this state and who are active members of the
licensee organization or its authorized auxiliary organization and
who have been active members in good standing of the licensee
organization or its authorized auxiliary for at least two years
prior to the date of filing of the application for a charitable
bingo license or the most recent filing of an application for
renewal of the license; or
(2) Employees of the licensee organization or its authorized
auxiliary organization who are:
(A) Residents of this state;
(B) Residents of a state bordering this state if the county of
his or her residence is contiguous to the county in this state in
which the bingo operation is conducted; or
(C) Residents of a bordering state who reside within thirty-
five miles of the county in which the bingo operation is conducted.
(b) Notwithstanding anything contained in this article to the
contrary, no individual under the age of eighteen years may
directly or indirectly participate in the conduct of a bingo game, except for junior firefighters, in accordance with the provisions
of this article.
§47-20-12a. Compensation of bingo operator; number of employees.
(a) Within the guidelines set forth in subsections (b), (c)
and (d) of this section, a licensee may pay a salary, the minimum
of which is the federal minimum wage and the maximum of which is
six dollars and fifty cents per hour, to operators of bingo games
who are either:
(1) Active members of the licensee organization and who have
been active members in good standing for at least two years prior
to the date of filing of the application for a charitable bingo
license or the most recent filing of an application for renewal of
the license; or
(2) Employees of the licensee organization or its authorized
auxiliary organization who are:
(A) Residents of this state;
(B) Residents of a state bordering this state if the county of
his or her residence is contiguous to the county in this state in
which the bingo operation is conducted; or
(C) Residents of a bordering state who reside within thirty-
five miles of the county in which the bingo operation is conducted.
(b) If the licensee's gross receipts from bingo occasions
equal or exceed one hundred thousand dollars for the licensee's
most recently filed annual financial report, a salary may be paid to not more than eight operators.
(c) If the licensee's gross receipts from bingo occasions are
less than one hundred thousand dollars, but equal or exceed fifty
thousand dollars for the licensee's most recently filed annual
financial report, a salary may be paid to not more than five
operators.
(d) If the licensee's gross receipts from bingo occasions are
less than fifty thousand dollars for the licensee's most recently
filed annual financial report, a salary may be paid to not more
than three operators.
(e) If the licensee also possesses a super bingo license, it
may pay a salary to not more than fifteen operators during the
super bingo occasion.
(f) In the case of a licensee lawfully holding a charitable
bingo occasion simultaneously with a charitable raffle occasion,
the number of paid charitable bingo operator employees allowed
under this limitation for bingo licensees is in addition to the
number of charitable raffle operator employees allowed under
section fifteen, article twenty-one of this chapter. Licensees
holding simultaneous occasions shall pay bingo operators from the
proceeds of bingo operations and shall pay raffle operators from
the proceeds of raffle operations and the charitable bingo fund and
the charitable raffle fund and payments from the funds may not be
commingled.
(g) For purposes of the limitations set forth in this section,
the term "operator" or "bingo operator" or "raffle operator" does
not include concession stand workers. Wages paid to concession
workers may not exceed six dollars and fifty cents per hour.
§47-20-16. Records; commissioner audit.
Any licensee which holds a bingo occasion as provided by this
article shall maintain a separate checking account and separate
bookkeeping procedure for its bingo operations: Provided, That
nothing in this article restricts a licensee from transferring
moneys in the account from a bingo occasion to an account created
under section sixteen, article twenty-one of this chapter in an
amount not to exceed the actual loss of the raffle occasion
receiving the transfer: Provided, however, That money transferred
shall be withdrawn only by checks having preprinted consecutive
numbers and made payable to the account created under section
sixteen, article twenty-one of this code. Money for expenses shall
be withdrawn only by checks having preprinted consecutive numbers
and made payable to a specific person, firm or corporation and at
no time shall a check be made payable to cash. A licensee shall
maintain all records required by this article for at least three
years and the records shall be open to the commissioner for
reasonable inspection. Whenever the tax commissioner has
reasonable cause to believe a licensee has violated any of the
provisions of this article, he or she may perform or cause to be performed an audit of the licensee's books and records:
Provided
further, That the tax commissioner shall perform or cause to be
performed an audit of the books and records of any licensee that
has awarded total prizes in excess of one hundred seventy-five
thousand dollars. The tax commissioner shall file a copy of the
completed audit with the county commission of the county wherein
the licensee holds bingo occasions.
ARTICLE 21. CHARITABLE RAFFLES.
§47-21-12. Compensation.
(a) A licensee may pay a salary, the minimum of which is the
federal minimum wage and the maximum of which is six dollars and
fifty cents per hour, to operators of charitable raffle games who
are either:
(1) Active members of the licensee organization and who have
been active members in good standing for at least two years prior
to the date of filing of the application for a charitable raffle
license or the most recent filing of an application for renewal of
the license; or
(2) Employees of the licensee organization or its authorized
auxiliary organization who are:
(A) Residents of this state;
(B) Residents of a state bordering this state if the county of
his or her residence is contiguous to the county in this state in
which the raffle operation is conducted; or
(C) Residents of a bordering state who reside within thirty-
five miles of the county in which the raffle operation is
conducted.
(b) If the licensee's gross receipts from raffle occasions
equal or exceed one hundred thousand dollars for the licensee's
most recently filed annual financial report, a salary may be paid
to not more than eight operators.
(c) If the licensee's gross receipts from charitable raffle
occasions are less than one hundred thousand dollars, but equal or
exceed fifty thousand dollars for the licensee's most recently
filed annual financial report, a salary may be paid to not more
than five operators.
(d) If the licensee's gross receipts from charitable raffle
occasions are less than fifty thousand dollars for the licensee's
most recently filed annual financial report, a salary may be paid
to no more than three operators.
(e) In the case of a licensee lawfully holding a charitable
bingo occasion simultaneously with a charitable raffle occasion,
the number of paid charitable raffle operator employees allowed
under this limitation for charitable raffle licensees is in
addition to the number of charitable bingo operator employees
allowed under section twelve-a, article twenty of this chapter.
Licensees holding simultaneous occasions shall pay bingo operators
from the proceeds of bingo operations and shall pay raffle operators from the proceeds of raffle operations and the charitable
bingo fund and the charitable raffle fund and payments from the
funds may not be commingled.
(f) For purposes of the limitations set forth in this section,
the term "operator" or "bingo operator" or "raffle operator" do not
include concession stand workers. Wages paid to concession workers
may not exceed six dollars and fifty cents per hour.
§47-21-16. Records; commissioner audit.
Any licensee which holds a raffle occasion as provided by this
article shall maintain a separate account and separate book-keeping
procedure for its raffle operations: Provided, That nothing in
this article restricts a licensee from transferring moneys in the
account from a raffle occasion to an account created under section
sixteen, article twenty of this chapter in an amount not to exceed
the actual loss of the bingo occasion receiving the transfer:
Provided, however, That money transferred shall be withdrawn only
by checks having preprinted consecutive numbers and made payable to
the account created under section sixteen, article twenty of this
code. All records required by this article shall be maintained for
at least three years and shall be open to the commissioner for
reasonable inspection. Whenever the commissioner has reasonable
cause to believe a licensee has violated any of the provisions of
this article, he may perform or cause to be performed an audit of
the licensee's books and records.