City social gaming rules vary
From our weekly issue dated December 23, 2009
Early next year, the Cave Junction City Council might consider allowing citizens to vote on allowing social gaming — bingo, lotto, raffles or Monte Carlo events — to occur within city limits.
Several other municipalities have passed ordinances enabling the practice, and many are similar in nature.
The state grants municipalities authority to regulate those activities under Oregon Revised Statute 167.121. It states that “counties and cities may, by ordinance, authorize the playing or conducting of a social game in a private business, private club or in a place of public accommodation. Such ordinances may provide for regulation or licensing of the social games authorized.”
A separate statute, ORS 464.420, states that “a county or city may prohibit the operation of bingo, lotto, raffles or Monte Carlo events. If the county or city does not prohibit the operation of bingo, lotto, raffles or Monte Carlo events, then such games shall be regulated only as provided under state law.”
Junction City, in Lane County a few miles from Eugene, has a three-page social gaming ordinance that was passed by its council and approved by its mayor on Nov. 14, 2006. The ordinance defines social games as “other than lotteries, between players in a private business, in a private club or in a place of public accommodation where no house player, house bank, or house odds exist and there is no house income from the operation of the social games.”
That city’s ordinance does not require a license for social games conducted in “residential establishments” or by nonprofit organizations.
The licensing process established through Junction City’s ordinance calls for the owner of would-be social gaming establishments to provide information about themselves and the type of company involved. Licenses can be granted if the applicant has no previous convictions for felonies such as fraud, forgery, theft, burglary, robbery, sex offenses or assaults.
Persons who have been convicted of five misdemeanors during the past five years, or convicted of or forfeited bail for any crime involving gambling, also are denied the license, under Junction City’s ordinance. It also establishes a process for annual renewals of the licenses, and states that all social games must be open to public inspection during all hours of operation.
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Nobody under 18 years of age is allowed to participate in such games, and licenses can be temporarily suspended. Any suspension can be appealed to the city council within 10 days of notice.
A revocation process also is established through Junction City’s ordinance, with violations punishable by a $500 fine, a 180-day jail sentence, or both.
The city of Fairview in Multnomah County has a one-page social gaming ordinance that passed on Dec. 3, 2008. Under it, the city authorizes social gaming for “charitable, fraternal and religious organizations.”
Also allowing social gaming is the college town of Corvallis. It has a five-page ordinance with many provisions similar to those contained in Junction City’s document.
Portland has a two-page ordinance that makes the issuance of the permit contingent upon permission from the chief of police or a “proper designee.”
The Cave Junction City Council is scheduled to continue its discussion on a possible social gaming ordinance during its Monday, Jan. 11 meeting.
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