BILL REQ. #:  H-1496.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/02/07.   

     AN ACT Relating to the exclusion of certain persons from licensed gambling premises; adding a new section to chapter 9.46 RCW; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 9.46 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The legislature declares that the exclusion of certain persons from gambling premises that conduct licensed gambling activities is necessary to carry out the policies of this chapter and to effectively maintain the strict regulation of gambling.
     (2)(a) The commission may, by rule, provide for the establishment of a list of persons who are to be excluded from licensed gambling premises.
     (b) The commission's rules must define the standards for exclusion and must include standards relating to persons:
     (i) Who are career or professional offenders or involved in organized crime;
     (ii) Who have been convicted of a criminal violation of a gambling law of any state or of the United States, or who have been convicted of any felony including, but not limited to, theft, extortion, conspiracy to defraud, or any similar offense involving, or in connection with, any gambling activity; or
     (iii) Who have been excluded under similar involuntary exclusion laws or rules of any other state or nation that regulates gambling.
     (c) Race, color, creed, national origin or ancestry, gender, or other prohibited or unlawful discriminatory reasons shall not be used to place any person upon the list of exclusion.
     (3)(a) Any person listed on the commission's exclusion list will remain listed until the person proves by clear and convincing evidence that they are eligible to be removed from the commission's exclusion list.
     (b) The commission's rules must include the standards and processes for removal.
     (4) The commission may impose sanctions upon a licensee if the licensee knowingly fails to exclude from its gambling premises any person placed by the commission on the list of persons to be excluded.
     (5)(a) Any list compiled by the commission of persons to be excluded shall not be deemed an all-inclusive list. Licensees must keep from their gambling premises persons known to them to fall within the standards defined under subsection (2)(b) of this section.
     When the commission places the name of a person on a list under this section, the commission must serve notice to the person by personal service or by certified mail to the last known address of the person. If personal service is not accomplished and there is no last known address, the commission must publish a notice daily for one week in a newspaper of general circulation in Thurston county, and publish a notice on the commission's official internet web site.
     (b) Within thirty days after service of the notification, the person named for exclusion may request a hearing before an administrative law judge. The commission has the affirmative obligation to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that the person named for exclusion satisfies the criteria for exclusion established by this section and the commission's rules.
     (c) Failure to request a hearing within thirty days after service precludes a person from having an administrative hearing.
     (d) If, upon completion of the hearing for exclusion, an administrative law judge determines that the person named does not satisfy the criteria for exclusion established by this section and the commission's rules, the administrative law judge must issue an initial order denying the listing. The order is subject to review by the commission.
     (e) If, upon completion of a hearing for exclusion, an administrative law judge determines that placement of the name of the person on the exclusion list is appropriate, the administrative law judge must make and enter an initial order to that effect. The order is subject to review by the commission.
     (6) This section does not limit the right of a licensee to exercise its common law right to exclude or eject permanently from its premises any person who disrupts the operations of its premises, threatens the security of its premises or its occupants, or is disorderly or intoxicated.
     (7) A person on the list of excluded persons shall not collect any winnings or recover any losses arising as a result of any licensed gambling activity. Additionally, any money or thing of value which has been obtained by, or is owed to, any person placed on the list of excluded persons must be forfeited by order of the commission, pursuant to RCW 9.46.231, following notice to the person and to all claimants and opportunity to be heard.
     (8) A person on the list of excluded persons who enters a gambling premises is guilty of a gross misdemeanor punishable under RCW 9A.20.021.