California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 364

Introduced by Assembly Member Gipson

February 17, 2015

An act to amend Section 326.5 of the Penal Code, relating to gambling.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 364, as introduced, Gipson. Gambling: charity bingo.

The California Constitution authorizes the Legislature, by statute, to authorize cities and counties to provide for bingo games for charitable purposes. Existing law permits a city, county, or city and county to allow bingo, as defined, to be conducted by specified organizations for charitable purposes pursuant to an ordinance that allows those games to be conducted only in accordance with specified requirements. Existing law prohibits the total value of prizes available to be awarded during the conduct of those games from exceeding $500 in cash or kind, or both, for each separate game that is held.

This bill would increase the amount described above from $500 to $1,000.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 326.5 of the Penal Code is amended to
read:

326.5.  

(a) Neither the prohibition on gambling in this chapter
nor in Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 330) applies to any
bingo game that begin delete is conducted end delete begin insert meets all of the following conditions: end insert

begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert It is conducted end insert in a city, county, or city and county pursuant
to an ordinance enacted under Section 19 of Article IV of the State
Constitution, if the ordinance allows games to be conducted only
in accordance with this section and only by organizations exempted
from the payment of the bank and corporation tax by Sections
23701a, 23701b, 23701d, 23701e, 23701f, 23701g, 23701k,
23701w, and 23701l of the Revenue and Taxation begin delete Code and by end delete
begin insert Code. end insert

begin insert (2) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert It is conducted by a end insert mobilehome park begin delete associations, end delete
begin insert association, end insert senior citizens begin delete organizations, and end delete begin insert organization, or end insert
charitable begin delete organizations end delete begin insert organization end insert affiliated with a school
begin delete district; and if the end delete begin insert district. end insert

begin insert (3) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert The end insert receipts of begin delete those games end delete begin insert the bingo game end insert are used only
for charitable purposes.

(b) It is a misdemeanor for begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert person to receive or pay a
profit, wage, or salary from any bingo game authorized by Section
19 of Article IV of the begin delete State end delete begin insert California end insert Constitution. Security
personnel employed by the organization conducting the bingo
game may be paid from the revenues of bingo games, as provided
in subdivisions (j) and (k).

(c) A violation of subdivision (b) shall be punishable by a fine
not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000), which fine is
deposited in the general fund of the city, county, or city and county
that enacted the ordinance authorizing the bingo game. A violation
of any provision of this section, other than subdivision (b), is a
misdemeanor.

(d) The city, county, or city and county that enacted the
ordinance authorizing the bingo game may bring an action to enjoin
a violation of this section.

(e) Minors shall not be allowed to participate in any bingo game.

(f) An organization authorized to conduct bingo games pursuant
to subdivision (a) shall conduct a bingo game only on property
owned or leased by it, or property whose use is donated to the
organization, and which property is used by that organization for
an office or for performance of the purposes for which the
organization is organized. begin delete Nothing in this end delete begin insert This end insert subdivision begin delete shall
be construed to end delete begin insert does not end insert require that the property owned or leased
by, or whose use is donated to, the organization be used or leased
exclusively by, or donated exclusively to, that organization.

(g)  begin delete All end delete begin insert A end insert bingo begin delete games end delete begin insert game end insert shall be open to the public, not just
to the members of the authorized organization.

(h) A bingo game shall be operated and staffed only by members
of the authorized organization that organized it. Those members
shall not receive a profit, wage, or salary from begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert bingo game.
Only the organization authorized to conduct a bingo game shall
operate begin delete such a end delete begin insert the bingo end insert game, or participate in the promotion,
supervision, or any other phase of a bingo game. This subdivision
does not preclude the employment of security personnel who are
not members of the authorized organization at a bingo game by
the organization conducting the game.

(i)  begin delete Any end delete begin insert An end insert individual, corporation, partnership, or other legal
entity, except the organization authorized to conduct a bingo game,
shall not hold a financial interest in the conduct of a bingo game.

(j) With respect to organizations exempt from payment of the
bank and corporation tax by Section 23701d of the Revenue and
Taxation Code, all profits derived from a bingo game shall be kept
in a special fund or account and shall not be commingled with any
other fund or account. Those profits shall be used only for
charitable purposes.

(k) With respect to other organizations authorized to conduct
bingo games pursuant to this section, all proceeds derived from a
bingo game shall be kept in a special fund or account and shall not
be commingled with any other fund or account. Proceeds are the
receipts of bingo games conducted by organizations not within
subdivision (j). Those proceeds shall be used only for charitable
purposes, except as follows:

(1) The proceeds may be used for prizes.

(2) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), a portion of
the proceeds, not to exceed 20 percent of the proceeds before the
deduction for prizes, or two thousand dollars ($2,000) per month,
whichever is less, may be used for the rental of property and for
overhead, including the purchase of bingo equipment,
administrative expenses, security equipment, and security
personnel.

(B) For the purposes of bingo games conducted by the Lake
Elsinore Elks Lodge, a portion of the proceeds, not to exceed 20
percent of the proceeds before the deduction for prizes, or three
thousand dollars ($3,000) per month, whichever is less, may be
used for the rental of property and for overhead, including the
purchase of bingo equipment, administrative expenses, security
equipment, and security personnel. Any amount of the proceeds
that is additional to that permitted under subparagraph (A), up to
one thousand dollars ($1,000), shall be used for the purpose of
financing the rebuilding of the facility and the replacement of
equipment that was destroyed by fire in 2007. The exception to
subparagraph (A) that is provided by this subparagraph shall remain
in effect only until the cost of rebuilding the facility is repaid, or
January 1, 2019, whichever occurs first.

(3) The proceeds may be used to pay license fees.

(4) A city, county, or city and county that enacts an ordinance
permitting bingo games may specify in the ordinance that if the
monthly gross receipts from bingo games of an organization within
this subdivision exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000), a minimum
percentage of the proceeds shall be used only for charitable
purposes not relating to the conducting of bingo games and that
the balance shall be used for prizes, rental of property, overhead,
administrative expenses, and payment of license fees. The amount
of proceeds used for rental of property, overhead, and
administrative expenses is subject to the limitations specified in
paragraph (2).

(l) (1) A city, county, or city and county may impose a license
fee on each organization that it authorizes to conduct bingo games.
The fee, whether for the initial license or renewal, shall not exceed
fifty dollars ($50) annually, except as provided in paragraph (2).
If an application for a license is denied, one-half of any license
fee paid shall be refunded to the organization.

(2) In lieu of the license fee permitted under paragraph (1), a
city, county, or city and county may impose a license fee of fifty
dollars ($50) paid upon application. If an application for a license
is denied, one-half of the application fee shall be refunded to the
organization. An additional fee for law enforcement and public
safety costs incurred by the city, county, or city and county that
are directly related to bingo activities may be imposed and shall
be collected monthly by the city, county, or city and county issuing
the begin delete license; however, end delete begin insert license. However, end insert the fee shall not exceed
the actual costs incurred in providing the service.

(m) A person shall not be allowed to participate in a bingo game,
unless the person is physically present at the time and place where
the bingo game is being conducted.

(n) The total value of prizes available to be awarded during the
conduct of any bingo games shall not exceed begin delete five hundred end delete begin insert one
thousand end insert dollars begin delete ($500) end delete begin insert ($1,000) end insert in cash or kind, or both, for each
separate game begin delete which end delete begin insert that end insert is held.

(o) As used in this section, “bingo” means a game of chance in
which prizes are awarded on the basis of designated numbers or
symbols that are marked or covered by the player on a tangible
card in the player’s possession and that conform to numbers or
symbols, selected at random and announced by a live caller.
Notwithstanding Section 330c, as used in this section, the game
of bingo includes tangible cards having numbers or symbols that
are concealed and preprinted in a manner providing for distribution
of prizes. Electronics or video displays shall not be used in
connection with the game of bingo, except in connection with the
caller’s drawing of numbers or symbols and the public display of
that drawing, and except as provided in subdivision (p). The
winning cards shall not be known prior to the game by any person
participating in the playing or operation of the bingo game. All
preprinted cards shall bear the legend, “for sale or use only in a
bingo game authorized under California law and pursuant to local
ordinance.” Only a covered or marked tangible card possessed by
a player and presented to an attendant may be used to claim a prize.
It is the intention of the Legislature that bingo as defined in this
subdivision applies exclusively to this section and shall not be
applied in the construction or enforcement of any other begin delete provision
of end delete law.

(p) (1) Players who are physically present at a bingo game may
use hand-held, portable card-minding devices, as described in this
subdivision, to assist in monitoring the numbers or symbols
announced by a live caller as those numbers or symbols are called
in a live game. Card-minding devices may not be used in
connection with any game where a bingo card may be sold or
distributed after the start of the ball draw for that game. A
card-minding device shall do all of the following:

(A) Be capable of storing in the memory of the device bingo
faces of tangible cards purchased by a player.

(B) Provide a means for bingo players to input manually each
individual number or symbol announced by a live caller.

(C) Compare the numbers or symbols entered by the player to
the bingo faces previously stored in the memory of the device.

(D) Identify winning bingo patterns that exist on the stored
bingo faces.

(2) A card-minding device shall begin insert not end insert perform begin delete no end delete functions
involving the play of the game other than those described in
paragraph (1). Card-minding devices shall not do any of the
following:

(A) Be capable of accepting or dispensing any coins, currency,
or other representative of value or on which value has been
encoded.

(B) Be capable of monitoring any bingo card face other than
the faces of the tangible bingo card or cards purchased by the
player for that game.

(C) Display or represent the game result through any means,
including, but not limited to, video or mechanical reels or other
slot machine or casino game themes, other than highlighting the
winning numbers or symbols marked or covered on the tangible
bingo cards or giving an audio alert that the player’s card has a
prize-winning pattern.

(D) Determine the outcome of any game or be physically or
electronically connected to any component that determines the
outcome of a game or to any other bingo equipment, including,
but not limited to, the ball call station, or to any other card-minding
device. begin delete No other end delete begin insert Other end insert player-operated or player-activated
electronic or electromechanical begin delete device end delete begin insert devices end insert or equipment begin delete is end delete begin insert are
not end insert permitted to be used in connection with a bingo game.

(3) (A) A card-minding device shall be approved in advance
by the department as meeting the requirements of this section and
any additional requirements stated in regulations adopted by the
department. Any proposed material change to the device, including
begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert change to the software used by the device, shall be submitted
to the department and approved by the department prior to
implementation.

(B) In accordance with Chapter 5 (commencing with Section
19800) of Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, the
commission shall establish reasonable criteria for, and require the
licensure of, begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert person that directly or indirectly manufactures,
distributes, supplies, vends, leases, or otherwise provides
card-minding devices or other supplies, equipment, or services
related to card-minding devices designed for use in the playing of
bingo games by begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert nonprofit organization.

(C) A person or entity that supplies or services begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert
card-minding device shall meet all licensing requirements
established by the commission in regulations.

(4) The costs of any testing, certification, license, or
determination required by this subdivision shall be borne by the
person or entity seeking it.

(5) On and after January 1, 2010, the Department of Justice may
inspect all card-minding devices at any time without notice, and
may immediately prohibit the use of begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert device that does not
comply with the requirements established by the department in
regulations. The Department of Justice may at any time, without
notice, impound begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert device the use of which has been prohibited
by the commission.

(6) The Department of Justice shall issue regulations to
implement the requirements of this subdivision, and the California
Gambling Control Commission may issue regulations regarding
the means by which the operator of a bingo game, as required by
applicable law, may offer assistance to a player with disabilities
in order to enable that player to participate in a bingo begin delete game,
provided that end delete begin insert game. However, end insert the means of providing that
assistance shall not be through begin delete any end delete begin insert an end insert electronic,
electromechanical, or other device or equipment that accepts the
insertion of begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert coin, currency, token, credit card, or other means
of transmitting value, and begin insert that end insert does not begin delete constitute end delete begin insert constitute, end insert or is
not a part of a system that begin delete constitutes end delete begin insert constitutes, end insert a video lottery
terminal, slot machine, or device prohibited by Chapter 10
(commencing with Section 330).

(7) The following definitions apply for purposes of this
subdivision:

(A) “Commission” means the California Gambling Control
Commission.

(B) “Department” means the Department of Justice.

(C) “Person” includes a natural person, corporation, limited
liability company, partnership, trust, joint venture, association, or
begin delete any end delete other business organization.