1-1 By: Sibley S.B. No. 970
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 8, 1999; March 8, 1999, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Economic Development;
1-4 March 17, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
1-5 Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 2; March 17, 1999,
1-6 sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 970 By: Sibley
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to the criminal offenses applicable to gambling and
1-11 gambling devices.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. Section 47.01, Penal Code, is amended by amending
1-14 Subdivision (4) and adding Subdivision (10) to read as follows:
1-15 (4) "Gambling device" means any electronic,
1-16 electromechanical, or mechanical contrivance [not excluded under
1-17 Paragraph (B)] that for a consideration affords the player an
1-18 opportunity to obtain anything of value, the award of which is
1-19 determined solely or partially by chance, even though accompanied
1-20 by some skill, whether or not the prize is automatically paid by
1-21 the contrivance. The term[:]
1-22 [(A)] includes, but is not limited to, gambling
1-23 device versions of bingo, keno, blackjack, lottery, roulette, slot
1-24 machine, video poker, or similar electronic, electromechanical, or
1-25 mechanical games, or facsimiles thereof, that operate by chance or
1-26 partially so, that as a result of the play or operation of the game
1-27 award credits or free games, and that record the number of free
1-28 games or credits so awarded and the cancellation or removal of the
1-29 free games or credits[; and]
1-30 [(B) does not include any electronic,
1-31 electromechanical, or mechanical contrivance designed, made, and
1-32 adapted solely for bona fide amusement purposes if the contrivance
1-33 rewards the player exclusively with noncash merchandise prizes,
1-34 toys, or novelties, or a representation of value redeemable for
1-35 those items, that have a wholesale value available from a single
1-36 play of the game or device of not more than 10 times the amount
1-37 charged to play the game or device once or $5, whichever is less].
1-38 (10) "Bona fide amusement device" means an amusement
1-39 game for which skill is the predominate requirement to win or be
1-40 awarded a thing of value. The thing of value must be merchandise
1-41 retained and redeemed on the premises. The thing of value may not
1-42 be cash, a cash equivalent, or redeemable for cash. The value of
1-43 any thing awarded from a single play shall not exceed $5. The
1-44 average wholesale value of all merchandise retained on the premises
1-45 for award as a thing of value may not exceed $10 and the wholesale
1-46 value of any single item of merchandise may not exceed $250. A
1-47 bona fide amusement device does not include a device that awards a
1-48 thing of value and allows amendment, cancellation, removal, or
1-49 recording of the number of free games or credits the player has
1-50 accumulated as a result of playing the device or game. Any device
1-51 that is an electronic, electromechanical, or mechanical contrivance
1-52 as enumerated in Subdivision (4), or any device that is
1-53 substantially or deceptively similar to a contrivance enumerated in
1-54 Subdivision (4), is not a "bona fide amusement device."
1-55 SECTION 2. Subsection (e), Section 47.02, Penal Code, is
1-56 amended to read as follows:
1-57 (e) It is an affirmative [a] defense to prosecution under
1-58 this section that a person played for something of value other than
1-59 money using a bona fide amusement device [an electronic,
1-60 electromechanical, or mechanical contrivance excluded from the
1-61 definition of "gambling device" under Section 47.01(4)(B)].
1-62 SECTION 3. Section 47.06, Penal Code, is amended by adding
1-63 Subsection (h) to read as follows:
1-64 (h) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under
2-1 Subsection (a) that the device possessed was a bona fide amusement
2-2 device.
2-3 SECTION 4. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-4 (b) The change in law made by this Act applies only to an
2-5 offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. For
2-6 the purposes of this section, an offense is committed before the
2-7 effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
2-8 before that date.
2-9 (c) An offense committed before the effective date of this
2-10 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
2-11 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
2-12 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
2-13 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-14 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-15 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-16 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-17 * * * * *