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REFERENCE TITLE: event wagering; application information; nonconfidential |
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State of Arizona Senate Fifty-sixth Legislature First Regular Session 2023
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SB 1614 |
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Introduced by Senator Gonzales
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An Act
amending section 5-1305, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to event wagering.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 5-1305, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
5-1305. License review; approval; fees; material change; exemption; display; transferability
A. On receipt of a completed application and the required fee, the department shall conduct the necessary background investigation to ensure the applicant is qualified for licensure. On completion of the necessary background investigation, the department shall either issue a license or deny the application. If the application is denied, the department shall forward a statement setting forth the grounds for denial to the applicant together with all other documents on which the department relied, to the extent allowed by law.
B. The department may conduct additional background investigations of any person required to be licensed at any time while the license remains valid. The issuance of a license does not create or imply a right of employment or continued employment. The event wagering operator or limited event wagering operator may not employ and, if already employed, shall terminate an event wagering employee if it is determined that the person meets any of the following criteria:
1. Has been convicted of any gaming offense.
2. Has been convicted of a felony in the seven years before submitting an application unless that felony has been set aside.
3. Has ever been convicted of a felony related to extortion, burglary, larceny, bribery, embezzlement, robbery, racketeering, money laundering, forgery, fraud, murder, voluntary manslaughter, a sexual offense that requires the individual to register pursuant to section 13-3821 or kidnapping.
4. Knowingly and wilfully provides materially important false statements or information or omits materially important information on the person's employment application or background questionnaire.
5. Is a person whose prior activities, criminal record, if any, or reputation, habits and associations pose a threat to the public interest or to the effective regulation and control of gaming or create or enhance the dangers of unsuitable, unfair or illegal practices, methods and activities in the conduct of gaming or the carrying on of the business and financial arrangements incidental thereto.
C. Not later than sixty days after the department receives a complete application, the department shall issue a license to the applicant unless the background investigation the department conducts discloses that the applicant has a criminal history or unless other grounds sufficient to disqualify the applicant are apparent on the face of the application. If more than ten applications are received for a particular license type, the department shall adopt a process for ensuring an equal opportunity for all qualified applicants to obtain a license. The department shall review and approve or deny an application for a license as provided in title 41, chapter 6, article 10.
D. For each application for licensure or renewal of a license that is approved under this section, the amount of the application fee must be credited toward the licensee's license fee and the licensee shall remit the balance of the initial license fee to the department on approval of a license. The fees collected from licensees under this section shall be deposited in the event wagering fund established by section 5-1318 and used by the department to pay the actual operating and administrative expenses incurred for event wagering.
E. Each person licensed under this chapter shall give the department written notice within thirty days after a material change is made to information provided in the licensee's application for a license or renewal.
F. Indian tribes within this state that are operating event wagering exclusively on Indian lands are exempt from the licensure requirements of this section. Event wagering on Indian lands is governed by the tribal-state gaming compact, its appendices, any amendments and the Indian gaming regulatory act (P.L. 100-497; 102 stat. 2467).
G. Each licensee shall display its license conspicuously in the licensee's place of business or have the license available for inspection by an agent of the department or a law enforcement agency. Each licensee that operates an event wagering platform shall conspicuously display a notice of the license on its platform's landing page.
H. The department shall keep all information, records, interviews, reports, statements, memoranda or other data supplied to or used by the department in the course of its review or investigation of an application for an event wagering operator license or renewal of a license confidential. The department shall immediately release any materials described in this subsection to any member of the legislature on written request. The materials described in this subsection are not exempt from disclosure in compliance with a court order, subpoena, statutory audit or pursuant to title 39, chapter 1, article 2.
I. A license issued under this chapter may not be transferred to another person or entity without prior approval of the department. The department shall work with applicants and licensees to ensure there is no gap in the validity of the license.