Ohio Code 2915.09 – Illegally conducting bingo game – rules
(A) No charitable organization that conducts bingo shall fail to do any of the following:
Attorney's Note
Under the Ohio Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Felony of the fourth degree | 6 to 18 months | up to $5,000 |
| Misdemeanor of the first degree | up to 180 days | up to $1,000 |
| Minor misdemeanor | up to $150 |
Terms Used In Ohio Code 2915.09
- Another: when used to designate the owner of property which is the subject of an offense, includes not only natural persons but also every other owner of property. See Ohio Code 1.02
- Bingo: means either of the following:
(1) A game with all of the following characteristics:
(a) The participants use bingo cards or sheets, including paper formats and electronic representation or image formats, that are divided into twenty-five spaces arranged in five horizontal and five vertical rows of spaces, with each space, except the central space, being designated by a combination of a letter and a number and with the central space being designated as a free space. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Bingo game operator: means any person, except security personnel, who performs work or labor at the site of bingo, including, but not limited to, collecting money from participants, handing out bingo cards or sheets or objects to cover spaces on bingo cards or sheets, selecting from a receptacle the objects that contain the combination of letters and numbers that appear on bingo cards or sheets, calling out the combinations of letters and numbers, distributing prizes, selling or redeeming instant bingo tickets or cards, selling or redeeming electronic instant bingo tickets, credits, or vouchers, accessing an electronic instant bingo system other than as a participant, supervising the operation of a punch board, selling raffle tickets, selecting raffle tickets from a receptacle and announcing the winning numbers in a raffle, and preparing, selling, and serving food or beverages. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Bingo session: means a period that includes both of the following:
(1) Not to exceed five continuous hours for the conduct of one or more games described in division (O)(1) of this section, instant bingo, and electronic instant bingo;
(2) A period for the conduct of instant bingo and electronic instant bingo for not more than two hours before and not more than two hours after the period described in division (S)(1) of this section. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Bingo supplies: means bingo cards or sheets; instant bingo tickets or cards; electronic bingo aids; raffle tickets; punch boards; seal cards; instant bingo ticket dispensers; electronic instant bingo systems; and devices for selecting or displaying the combination of bingo letters and numbers or raffle tickets. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- charitable organization: means either of the following:
(1) An organization that is exempt from federal income taxation under subsection 501(a) and described in subsection 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code;
(2) A volunteer rescue service organization, volunteer firefighter's organization, veteran's organization, fraternal organization, or sporting organization that is exempt from federal income taxation under subsection 501(c)(4), (c)(7), (c)(8), (c)(10), or (c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Code. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Charitable purpose: means that the net profit of bingo, other than instant bingo or electronic instant bingo, is used by, or is given, donated, or otherwise transferred to, any of the following:
(1) Any organization that is described in subsection 509(a)(1), 509(a)(2), or 509(a)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is either a governmental unit or an organization that is tax exempt under subsection 501(a) and described in subsection 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code;
(2) A veteran's organization that is a post, chapter, or organization of veterans, or an auxiliary unit or society of, or a trust or foundation for, any such post, chapter, or organization organized in the United States or any of its possessions, at least seventy-five per cent of the members of which are veterans and substantially all of the other members of which are individuals who are spouses, widows, or widowers of veterans, or such individuals, provided that no part of the net earnings of such post, chapter, or organization inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual, and further provided that the net profit is used by the post, chapter, or organization for the charitable purposes set forth in division (B)(12) of section 5739. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Conduct: means to back, promote, organize, manage, carry on, sponsor, or prepare for the operation of bingo or a game of chance, a scheme of chance, or a sweepstakes. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Distributor: means any person who purchases or obtains bingo supplies and who does either of the following:
(1) Sells, offers for sale, or otherwise provides or offers to provide the bingo supplies to another person for use in this state;
(2) Modifies, converts, adds to, or removes parts from the bingo supplies to further their promotion or sale for use in this state. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Electronic bingo aid: means an electronic device used by a participant to monitor bingo cards or sheets purchased at the time and place of a bingo session and that does all of the following:
(a) It provides a means for a participant to input numbers and letters announced by a bingo caller. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Electronic instant bingo: means a form of bingo that consists of an electronic or digital representation of instant bingo in which a participant wins a prize if the participant's electronic instant bingo ticket contains a combination of numbers or symbols that was designated in advance as a winning combination, and to which all of the following apply:
(a) Each deal has a predetermined, finite number of winning and losing tickets and a predetermined prize amount and deal structure, provided that there may be multiple winning combinations in each deal and multiple winning tickets. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Expenses: means the reasonable amount of gross profit actually expended for all of the following:
(1) The purchase or lease of bingo supplies;
(2) The annual license fee required under section 2915. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Fraternal organization: means any society, order, state headquarters, or association within this state, except a college or high school fraternity, that is not organized for profit, that is a branch, lodge, or chapter of a national or state organization, that exists exclusively for the common business or sodality of its members. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Gambling offense: means any of the following:
(1) A violation of this chapter;
(2) A violation of an existing or former municipal ordinance or law of this or any other state or the United States substantially equivalent to any provision of this chapter or a violation of section 2915. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Gross receipts: means all money or assets, including admission fees, that a person receives from bingo without the deduction of any amounts for prizes paid out or for the expenses of conducting bingo. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures; this provision does not affect any law relating to signatures. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Instant bingo: means a form of bingo that shall use folded or banded tickets or paper cards with perforated break-open tabs, a face of which is covered or otherwise hidden from view to conceal a number, letter, or symbol, or set of numbers, letters, or symbols, some of which have been designated in advance as prize winners, and may also include games in which some winners are determined by the random selection of one or more bingo numbers by the use of a seal card or bingo blower. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- 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.
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- Net profit: means gross profit minus expenses. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Participant: means any person who plays bingo. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Prize: means any gift, award, gratuity, good, service, credit, reward, or any other thing of value that may be transferred to a person, whether possession of the prize is actually transferred, or placed on an account or other record as evidence of the intent to transfer the prize. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Security personnel: includes any person who either is a sheriff, deputy sheriff, marshal, deputy marshal, township constable, or member of an organized police department of a municipal corporation or has successfully completed a peace officer's training course pursuant to sections 109. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Sporting organization: means a hunting, fishing, or trapping organization, other than a college or high school fraternity or sorority, that is not organized for profit, that is affiliated with a state or national sporting organization, including but not limited to, the league of Ohio sportsmen, and that has been in continuous existence in this state for a period of three years. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Volunteer rescue service organization: means any organization of volunteers organized to function as an emergency medical service organization, as defined in section 4765. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Whoever: includes all persons, natural and artificial; partners; principals, agents, and employees; and all officials, public or private. See Ohio Code 1.02
(1) Own all of the equipment used to conduct bingo or lease that equipment from a charitable organization that is licensed to conduct bingo, or from the landlord of a premises where bingo is conducted, for a rental rate that is not more than is customary and reasonable for that equipment;
(2) Except as otherwise provided in division (A)(3) of this section, use all of the gross receipts from bingo for paying prizes, for reimbursement of expenses for or for renting premises in which to conduct a bingo session, for reimbursement of expenses for or for purchasing or leasing bingo supplies used in conducting bingo, for reimbursement of expenses for or for hiring security personnel, for reimbursement of expenses for or for advertising bingo, or for reimbursement of other expenses or for other expenses listed in division (GG) of section 2915.01 of the Revised Code, provided that the amount of the receipts so spent is not more than is customary and reasonable for a similar purchase, lease, hiring, advertising, or expense. If the building in which bingo is conducted is owned by the charitable organization conducting bingo and the bingo conducted includes a form of bingo described in division (O)(1) of section 2915.01 of the Revised Code, the charitable organization may deduct from the total amount of the gross receipts from each session a sum equal to the lesser of six hundred dollars or forty-five per cent of the gross receipts from the bingo described in that division as consideration for the use of the premises.
(3) Use, or give, donate, or otherwise transfer, all of the net profit derived from bingo described in division (O)(1) of section 2915.01 of the Revised Code for a charitable purpose listed in its license application and described in division (V) of section 2915.01 of the Revised Code, or distribute all of the net profit from the proceeds of the sale of instant bingo or electronic instant bingo as stated in its license application and in accordance with section 2915.101 of the Revised Code, as applicable.
(B) No charitable organization that conducts a bingo game described in division (O)(1) of section 2915.01 of the Revised Code shall fail to do any of the following:
(1) Conduct the bingo game on premises that are owned by the charitable organization, on premises that are owned by another charitable organization and leased from that charitable organization for a rental rate not in excess of the lesser of six hundred dollars per bingo session or forty-five per cent of the gross receipts of the bingo session, on premises that are leased from a person other than a charitable organization for a rental rate that is not more than is customary and reasonable for premises that are similar in location, size, and quality but not in excess of four hundred fifty dollars per bingo session, or on premises that are owned by a person other than a charitable organization, that are leased from that person by another charitable organization, and that are subleased from that other charitable organization by the charitable organization for a rental rate not in excess of four hundred fifty dollars per bingo session. No charitable organization is required to pay property taxes or assessments on premises that the charitable organization leases from another person to conduct bingo sessions. If the charitable organization leases from a person other than a charitable organization the premises on which it conducts bingo sessions, the lessor of the premises shall provide the premises to the organization and shall not provide the organization with bingo game operators, security personnel, concessions or concession operators, bingo supplies, or any other type of service. A charitable organization shall not lease or sublease premises that it owns or leases to more than three other charitable organizations per calendar week for conducting bingo sessions on the premises. A person that is not a charitable organization shall not lease premises that it owns, leases, or otherwise is empowered to lease to more than three charitable organizations per calendar week for conducting bingo sessions on the premises. In no case shall more than nine bingo sessions be conducted on any premises in any calendar week.
(2) Display its license conspicuously at the premises where the bingo session is conducted;
(3) Conduct the bingo session in accordance with the definition of bingo set forth in division (O)(1) of section 2915.01 of the Revised Code.
(C) No charitable organization that conducts a bingo game described in division (O)(1) of section 2915.01 of the Revised Code shall do any of the following:
(1) Pay any compensation to a bingo game operator for operating a bingo session that is conducted by the charitable organization or for preparing, selling, or serving food or beverages at the site of the bingo session, permit any auxiliary unit or society of the charitable organization to pay compensation to any bingo game operator who prepares, sells, or serves food or beverages at a bingo session conducted by the charitable organization, or permit any auxiliary unit or society of the charitable organization to prepare, sell, or serve food or beverages at a bingo session conducted by the charitable organization, if the auxiliary unit or society pays any compensation to the bingo game operators who prepare, sell, or serve the food or beverages;
(2) Pay consulting fees to any person for any services performed in relation to the bingo session;
(3) Pay concession fees to any person who provides refreshments to the participants in the bingo session;
(4) Except as otherwise provided in division (C)(4) of this section, conduct more than three bingo sessions in any seven-day period. A volunteer firefighter’s organization or a volunteer rescue service organization that conducts not more than five bingo sessions in a calendar year may conduct more than three bingo sessions in a seven-day period after notifying the attorney general when it will conduct the sessions.
(5) Pay out more than six thousand dollars in prizes for bingo games described in division (O)(1) of section 2915.01 of the Revised Code during any bingo session that is conducted by the charitable organization. “Prizes” does not include awards from the conduct of instant bingo.
(6) Conduct a bingo session at any time during the eight-hour period between two a.m. and ten a.m., at any time during, or within ten hours of, a bingo game conducted for amusement only pursuant to section 2915.12 of the Revised Code, at any premises not specified on its license, or on any day of the week or during any time period not specified on its license. Division (A)(6) of this section does not prohibit the sale of instant bingo tickets beginning at nine a.m. for a bingo session that begins at ten a.m. If circumstances make it impractical for the charitable organization to conduct a bingo session at the premises, or on the day of the week or at the time, specified on its license, or if a charitable organization wants to conduct bingo sessions on a day of the week or at a time other than the day or time specified on its license, the charitable organization may apply in writing to the attorney general for an amended license pursuant to division (J) of section 2915.08 of the Revised Code. A charitable organization may apply twice in each calendar year for an amended license to conduct bingo sessions on a day of the week or at a time other than the day or time specified on its license. If the amended license is granted, the organization may conduct bingo sessions at the premises, on the day of the week, and at the time specified on its amended license.
(7) Permit any person whom the charitable organization knows, or should have known, is under the age of eighteen to work as a bingo game operator;
(8) Permit any person whom the charitable organization knows, or should have known, has been convicted of a felony or gambling offense in any jurisdiction to be a bingo game operator;
(9) Permit the lessor of the premises on which the bingo session is conducted, if the lessor is not a charitable organization, to provide the charitable organization with bingo game operators, security personnel, concessions, bingo supplies, or any other type of service;
(10) Purchase or lease bingo supplies from any person except a distributor issued a license under section 2915.081 of the Revised Code;
(11)(a) Use or permit the use of electronic bingo aids except under the following circumstances:
(i) For any single participant, not more than ninety bingo faces can be played using an electronic bingo aid or aids.
(ii) The charitable organization shall provide a participant using an electronic bingo aid with corresponding paper bingo cards or sheets.
(iii) The total price of bingo faces played with an electronic bingo aid shall be equal to the total price of the same number of bingo faces played with a paper bingo card or sheet sold at the same bingo session but without an electronic bingo aid.
(iv) An electronic bingo aid cannot be part of an electronic network other than a network that includes only bingo aids and devices that are located on the premises at which the bingo is being conducted or be interactive with any device not located on the premises at which the bingo is being conducted.
(v) An electronic bingo aid cannot be used to participate in bingo that is conducted at a location other than the location at which the bingo session is conducted and at which the electronic bingo aid is used.
(vi) An electronic bingo aid cannot be used to provide for the input of numbers and letters announced by a bingo caller other than the bingo caller who physically calls the numbers and letters at the location at which the bingo session is conducted and at which the electronic bingo aid is used.
(b) The attorney general may adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119 of the Revised Code that govern the use of electronic bingo aids. The rules may include a requirement that an electronic bingo aid be capable of being audited by the attorney general to verify the number of bingo cards or sheets played during each bingo session.
(12) Permit any person the charitable organization knows, or should have known, to be under eighteen years of age to play bingo described in division (O)(1) of section 2915.01 of the Revised Code.
(D)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (D)(3) of this section, no charitable organization shall provide to a bingo game operator, and no bingo game operator shall receive or accept, any commission, wage, salary, reward, tip, donation, gratuity, or other form of compensation, directly or indirectly, regardless of the source, for conducting bingo or providing other work or labor at the site of bingo during a bingo session.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in division (D)(3) of this section, no charitable organization shall provide to a bingo game operator any commission, wage, salary, reward, tip, donation, gratuity, or other form of compensation, directly or indirectly, regardless of the source, for conducting instant bingo, electronic instant bingo, or both other than at a bingo session at the site of instant bingo, electronic instant bingo, or both other than at a bingo session.
(3) Nothing in division (D) of this section prohibits an employee of a fraternal organization, veteran’s organization, or sporting organization from selling instant bingo tickets or cards to the organization’s members or invited guests, as long as no portion of the employee’s compensation is paid from any receipts of bingo.
(E) Notwithstanding division (B)(1) of this section, a charitable organization that, prior to December 6, 1977, has entered into written agreements for the lease of premises it owns to another charitable organization or other charitable organizations for the conducting of bingo sessions so that more than two bingo sessions are conducted per calendar week on the premises, and a person that is not a charitable organization and that, prior to December 6, 1977, has entered into written agreements for the lease of premises it owns to charitable organizations for the conducting of more than two bingo sessions per calendar week on the premises, may continue to lease the premises to those charitable organizations, provided that no more than four sessions are conducted per calendar week, that the lessor organization or person has notified the attorney general in writing of the organizations that will conduct the sessions and the days of the week and the times of the day on which the sessions will be conducted, that the initial lease entered into with each organization that will conduct the sessions was filed with the attorney general prior to December 6, 1977, and that each organization that will conduct the sessions was issued a license to conduct bingo games by the attorney general prior to December 6, 1977.
(F) This section does not prohibit a bingo licensed charitable organization or a game operator from giving any person an instant bingo ticket as a prize.
(G) Whoever violates division (A)(2) of this section is guilty of illegally conducting a bingo game, a felony of the fourth degree. Except as otherwise provided in this division, whoever violates division (A)(1) or (3), (B)(1), (2), or (3), (C)(1) to (11), or (D) of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. If the offender previously has been convicted of a violation of division (A)(1) or (3), (B)(1), (2), or (3), (C)(1) to (11), or (D) of this section, a violation of division (A)(1) or (3), (B)(1), (2), or (3), (C), or (D) of this section is a misdemeanor of the first degree. Whoever violates division (C)(12) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, or if the offender previously has been convicted of a violation of division (C)(12) of this section, a felony of the fourth degree.
Last updated August 4, 2021 at 4:32 PM