Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 4835 – Exclusion or ejection of certain persons from video lottery …
(a) The Director shall by regulation provide for the establishment of a list of persons who are to be excluded or ejected from any video lottery agent‘s facility and excluded from participating in any capacity in the play of any table game, sports lottery game, video lottery game, or Internet lottery game. Persons shall be placed on the list by order of the Director, predicated upon the filing of a petition by the Division of Gaming Enforcement. Persons shall be placed on the list if a reasonable basis exists for believing that the person’s engagement in the games or presence in the facility is inimical to the interests of this State, or to the operation of a video lottery agent’s facilities, or both. Such provisions shall define the standards for exclusion and shall require the Director and the Division of Gaming Enforcement to consider any:
(1) Prior conviction of a crime which is a felony in this State or under the laws of the United States; or a crime involving moral turpitude; or a violation of the gaming laws of any state;
(2) Violation or conspiracy to violate any of the provisions of § 1471 of Title 11;
(3) The failure to disclose an interest in a video lottery facility for which the person must obtain a license;
(4) Wilful evasion of fees or taxes;
(5) Notorious or unsavory reputation which would adversely affect public confidence and trust that the Delaware Lottery is free from criminal or corruptive elements; or
(6) Written order of a governmental agency which authorizes the exclusion or ejection of the person from an establishment at which gaming or pari-mutuel wagering is conducted.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 4835
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Director: as used in this subchapter , shall mean the Director of the State Lottery Office. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 4803
- Internet lottery: shall mean all lottery games in which the player's interaction with the game operated by the Office occurs over the Internet (which, for purposes of this chapter, shall include any public or private computer or terminal network, whether linked electronically, wirelessly, through optical networking technology or other means), including Internet ticket games, the Internet video lottery and Internet table games. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 4803
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Sports lottery: shall mean a lottery in which the winners are determined based on the outcome of any professional or collegiate sporting event, including racing, held within or without the State, but excluding collegiate sporting events that involve a Delaware college or university and amateur or professional sporting events that involve a Delaware team. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 4803
- Sports lottery agent: means a person whom the Director has licensed to conduct sports lottery games. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 4803
- State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
- Table game: shall mean any game played in a video lottery facility with cards, dice or any mechanical, electromechanical or electronic device or machine (excluding keno, video lottery machines, and the Internet lottery) for money, credit or any representative of value, including, but not limited to, baccarat, blackjack, twenty-one, poker, craps, roulette, bingo, wheel of fortune or any variation of these games, whether or not similar in design or operation, provided that the game is expressly authorized by rule of the Director. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 4803
- United States: includes its territories and possessions and the District of Columbia. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
- Video lottery: shall mean any lottery conducted in a video lottery facility with a video lottery machine or a network of linked video lottery machines with an aggregate progression prize or prizes (excluding keno, table games, and the Internet lottery). See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 4803
- Video lottery agent: means a person whom the Director has licensed to conduct table games, video lottery games, sports lottery games, and Internet lottery games and who possesses either a horse racing meet license pursuant to Title 3 or Title 28 of the Delaware Code, a harness racing meet license pursuant to Title 3 of the Delaware Code, or both. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 4803
- Video lottery facility: shall mean a building containing a gaming area. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 4803
(b) The Director also shall provide by regulation for the establishment of a list of persons who are to be excluded from participating in any capacity in the play of any sports lottery game, whether such sports lottery game is conducted at a video lottery agent’s facility or a sports lottery agent‘s facility. The Director may place a person on the list of excluded sports lottery players by an order that shall be predicated upon the completion of an investigation conducted by the Division of Gaming Enforcement and its written report to the Director. Such regulatory provisions shall define the standards for exclusion from participation in any sports lottery games and shall require the Director to consider 1 or more of the following factors:
(1) Prior conviction of a crime that is related to sports betting in any jurisdiction.
(2) Anything that, in the opinion of the Director, would denigrate or undermine the integrity or overall soundness, financial stability, or reputation of the lottery, which may include a person’s reputation, habits, and associations that may pose a threat to the public interest of the State or the reputation or effective control of the lottery.
(c) (1) The Director may issue an emergency order to exclude any person from participating in any capacity in the play of any sports lottery game if the Director finds that the person poses an immediate threat that would denigrate or undermine the integrity or overall soundness, financial stability, or reputation of the lottery, which may include a person’s reputation, habits, and associations that may pose a threat to the public interest of the State or the reputation or effective control of the lottery.
(2) An emergency order shall set forth the grounds upon which it is issued and shall be effective immediately upon issuance and shall remain in effect until further order of the Director. In addition, an emergency order to exclude a person from participating in any capacity in the play of any sports lottery game shall be served upon the excluded sports lottery player within 7 calendar days of issuance. After the Division of Gaming Enforcement completes an investigation and report to the Director that confirms the excluded sports lottery player meets the criteria of this subsection or that the excluded sports lottery player does not meet the criteria of this subsection, the Director shall issue a further order regarding the excluded sports lottery player, which order may finalize the decision to exclude the sports lottery player or reverse the decision to exclude the sports lottery player.
(d) In considering placement on the exclusion list, it shall be improper to discriminate on any basis prohibited by § 711(b) of Title 19.
(e) Whenever the name and description of any person is placed on a list pursuant to this section, the Director shall serve notice of such fact to such person:
(1) By personal service;
(2) By certified mail to the last known address of such person; or
(3) By publication daily for 1 week in 1 of the principal newspapers published in the city of Dover and in 1 of the principal newspapers published in the city of Wilmington, Delaware.
(f) Within 30 days after service by mail or in person or 60 days after the last publication, the person named may demand a hearing before the Lottery Commission and show cause why that person’s name should be taken from such a list. Failure to demand a hearing within the time allotted in this section precludes the person from having an administrative hearing, but in no way affects that person’s right to petition for judicial review.
(g) Upon receipt of a demand for hearing, the Lottery Commission shall set a time and place for the hearing. This hearing must not be held later than 30 days after receipt of the demand for the hearing, unless the time of the hearing is changed by the Lottery Commission with the agreement of the Division of Gaming Enforcement, the Director, and the person demanding the hearing. At the hearing, the Division of Gaming Enforcement, or the Director, whichever initiated the placement of the person on the exclusion list or the list of excluded sports lottery players, shall have the affirmative obligation to establish a reasonable basis that the person named for exclusion satisfies the criteria for exclusion established by this section and any regulations hereunder.
(h) If, upon completion of the hearing, the Lottery Commission determines that:
(1) The Division of Gaming Enforcement or the Director has not met the burden of proof, an order shall be entered requiring that the person’s name be removed from the list of excluded persons or the list of excluded sports lottery players and requiring the Director to so notify all video lottery agents of the person’s removal from the list.
(2) Placing the person on the exclusion list or the excluded sports lottery players list was proper, an order shall be entered to that effect, and the Lottery Commission shall serve a copy of that order on the person so named pursuant to subsection (e) of this section, as well as all video lottery agents. This order is subject to review in the Superior Court, which shall have exclusive jurisdiction over appeals of exclusion listings from the Lottery Commission.
(i) Nothing contained in this section shall:
(1) Affect the common law right of a video lottery agent, as an owner or lessor of property, from excluding or ejecting any person from its property for any reason that is not unlawful or excluding any person from participation in Internet lottery games for any reason that is not unlawful; or
(2) Be applicable to any action undertaken by a video lottery agent in the exercise of such right.
77 Del. Laws, c. 219, § ?20; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § ?1; 78 Del. Laws, c. 285, §§ ?16, 17; 82 Del. Laws, c. 158, § 1; 83 Del. Laws, c. 421, § 1;