H. B. 2241
(By Delegates Phillips, Johnson, Louisos and Vest)
[Introduced February 23, 1993; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section nine, article twenty-two,
chapter twenty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
legal gaming; lotteries; rescinding certain new lottery
games and programs; and prohibiting the lottery commission
from initiating new or additional lottery games or programs
after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-three, unless approved by the Legislature.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section nine, article twenty-two, chapter twenty-nine
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-
one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 22. STATE LOTTERY ACT.
§29-22-9. Initiation and operation of lottery; restrictions;
prohibited themes, games, machines or devices;
distinguishing numbers; winner selection; public
drawings; witnessing of results; testing andinspection of equipment; price of tickets; claim
for and payment of prizes; invalid, counterfeit
tickets; estimated prizes and odds of winning;
participant bound by lottery rules and validation
procedures; security procedures; additional games
prohibited unless approved by the Legislature;
electronic and computer systems.
(a) The commission shall initiate operation of the state
lottery on a continuous basis at the earliest feasible and
practical time, first initiating operation of the preprinted
instant winner type lottery. The lottery shall be initiated and
shall continue to be operated so as to produce the maximum amount
of net revenues to benefit the public purpose described in this
article consonant with the public good. Other state government
departments, boards, commissions, agencies and their officers
shall cooperate with the lottery commission so as to aid the
lottery commission in fulfilling these objectives.
(b) The commission shall not promulgate emergency rules and
regulations, but the commission may promulgate rules and
regulations specifying the types of lottery games to be conducted
by the lottery:
Provided,
That:
(1) No lottery may use the results of any amateur or
professional sporting event, dog race or horse race to determine
the winner.
(2) Electronic video lottery systems must include a central
site system of monitoring the lottery terminals utilizing an on-line or dial-up inquiry.
(3) In a lottery utilizing a ticket, each ticket shall bear
a unique number distinguishing it from each other ticket.
(4) No lottery utilizing a machine may use machines which
dispense coins or currency.
(5) Selection of the winner must be predicted totally on
chance.
(6) Any drawings or winner selections shall be held in
public and witnessed by an independent accountant designated by
the director for such purposes.
(7) All lottery equipment and materials shall be regularly
inspected and tested, before and after any drawings or winner
selections, by independent qualified technicians.
(8) The director shall establish the price for each lottery
and determine the method of selecting winners and the manner of
payment of prizes, including providing for payment by the
purchase of annuities for prizes payable in installments.
(9) All claims for prizes shall be examined and no prize
shall be paid as a result of altered, stolen or counterfeit
tickets or materials, or which fail to meet validation rules or
regulations established for a lottery. No prize shall be paid
more than once, and, in the event of a binding determination by
the commission that more than one person is entitled to a
particular prize, the sole remedy of the claimants shall be the
award to each of them of an equal share in the single prize.
(10) A detailed tabulation of the estimated number of prizesof each particular prize denomination that are expected to be
awarded in each lottery, or the estimated odds of winning such
prizes shall be printed on any lottery ticket, where feasible, or
in descriptive materials, and shall be available at the offices
of the commission.
(11) No prizes shall be paid which are invalid and not
contemplated by the prize structure of the lottery involved.
(12) By purchasing a ticket or participation in a lottery,
a participant agrees to abide by, and be bound by, the lottery
rules which apply to the lottery or game play involved. An
abbreviated form of such rules may appear on tickets and shall
appear on descriptive materials and shall be available at the
offices of the commission. A participant in a lottery agrees
that the determination of whether the participant is a valid
winner is subject to the lottery or game play rules and the
winner validation tests established by the commission. The
determination of the winner by the commission shall be final and
binding upon all participants in a lottery and shall not be
subject to review or appeal.
(13) The commission shall institute such security procedures
as it deems necessary to ensure the honesty and integrity of the
winner selection process for each lottery. All such security and
validation procedures and techniques shall be, and remain,
confidential, and shall not be subject to any discovery procedure
in any civil judicial, administrative or other proceeding, nor
subject to the provisions of article one, chapter twenty-nine-bof the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-
one, as amended.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article to
the contrary, any new lottery games or programs initiated between
the last day of June, one thousand nine hundred ninety-two, and
the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three,
are hereby rescinded unless the lottery commission requests the
Legislature to approve the new games or programs and the
Legislature enacts legislation specifically authorizing the new
games or programs. Effective the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-three, the commission shall may not proceed
with operation of such any additional lottery games or programs,
including the implementation of games utilizing a variety of
existing or future technological advances at the earliest
feasible date unless the lottery commission has submitted a
request to the Legislature to implement the new games or programs
and the Legislature has enacted legislation to specifically
authorize the new games or programs requested by the lottery
commission. The commission may operate lottery games utilizing
electronic computers and electronic computer terminal devices and
systems, which systems must include a central site system of
monitoring the lottery terminals utilizing direct communication
systems, or other technological advances and procedures, ensuring
honesty and integrity in the operation of the lottery.
Nothing in this article shall be construed to allow
lotteries, video lotteries, wagering or gambling on anywaterfront, stream or waterway of this state.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to rescind new lottery
games and programs initiated between June 30, 1992 and July 1,
1993, and to prohibit the lottery commission from implementing
new lottery games or programs by emergency rules and regulations
or without the approval of the Legislature.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.