The rules contained in this section shall govern all disciplinary actions against licensees including, but not limited to, suspension and revocation of a terminal operators license or a Class V liquor license.
(A) Grounds for disciplinary actions.
(1) Holders of any license issued under this chapter shall be subject to imposition of fines, suspension, revocation or restriction of license, or other disciplinary action for any act or failure to act by themselves or by their agents or employees that violates any provision of this chapter, is injurious to the public health, safety, morals, good order and general welfare of the people of the state or the village, or that would discredit or tend to discredit the Illinois video gaming industry, the state or the village. Without limiting the provisions of this division (A)(1), the following acts or omissions may be grounds for discipline:
(a) Failing to comply with or make provision for compliance with the Video Gaming Act, the regulations promulgated under the Video Gaming Act and this chapter, any federal, state or local law or regulation, or a control system or protocol mandated by the Illinois Gaming Board or the village;
(b) Failing to comply with any order or ruling of the Illinois Gaming Board or its agents pertaining to the regulation of video gaming in the state;
(c) Failing to comply with any order or ruling of the Liquor Commissioner or the village's officers, employees or agents pertaining to the regulation of video gaming in the village;
(d) Receiving goods or services from a licensee or other person in violation of the Video Gaming Act's or this chapter's licensing requirements, or in violation of any restriction, condition or prohibition of a license;
(e) Being suspended or ruled ineligible or having a license revoked or suspended by the Illinois Gaming Board, the village or in any state or gaming or video gaming jurisdiction;
(f) Employing, associating with, or participating in any enterprise or business with a documented or identifiable organized crime group or recognized organized crime figure;
(g) Employing, associating with, or participating in any enterprise or business with persons of notorious or unsavory reputation or who have extensive police records, or who have failed to cooperate with any officially constituted investigatory or administrative body;
(h) Failing to establish and maintain standards and procedures designed to prevent ineligible or unsuitable persons from being employed by the licensee, including any person known to have been found guilty of cheating or using any improper device in connection with any game or gaming device regulated under the Video Gaming Act or under the law of any gaming jurisdiction;
(i) Misrepresenting any information to the Illinois Gaming Board, the Liquor Commissioner or the village;
(j) Intentionally making, causing to be made, or aiding, assisting, or procuring another to make any false statement in any report, disclosure, application, permit, form, or any other document, including improperly notarized documents, required by the Video Gaming Act, the regulations promulgated under the Video Gaming Act or this chapter;
(k) Submitting tardy, inaccurate, or incomplete material or information to the Liquor Commissioner;
(l) Obstructing or impeding the lawful activities of the Illinois Gaming Board or its agents, the Liquor Commissioner or the village's officers, employees or agents;
(m) Willfully or repeatedly failing to pay amounts due or to be remitted to the state or the village;
(n) Failing to timely pay amounts due or to be remitted to the state or the village;
(o) Failing to timely pay a fine imposed by the Illinois Gaming Board or the village;
(p) Failing to respond in a timely manner to communications from the Illinois Gaming Board or the village;
(q) Being unavailable to the Illinois Gaming Board, the village or their representatives or agents;
(r) Aiding and abetting a violation by an Illinois Gaming Board member, village official or employee, or other government official, of a requirement established by statute, resolution, ordinance, personnel code or code of conduct;
(s) Violation of the Video Gaming Act, the regulations promulgated under the Video Gaming Act or this chapter;
(t) Facilitating, enabling or participating in the use of coin operated amusement devices for gambling purposes on or after December 16, 2009;
(u) Engaging in, or facilitating, any unfair methods of competition or unfair or deceptive acts or practices, including, but not limited to, the use or employment of any deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise or misrepresentation, or the concealment, suppression or omission of any material fact in the conduct of any video gaming operation;
(v) Failing to maintain minimum qualifications for licensure; and
(w) Any cause that, if known by the Liquor Commissioner, would have disqualified the applicant from receiving a license.
(3) A person who has had his or her license revoked by the Liquor Commissioner may not reapply for a license.
(B) Notice of proposed disciplinary action against licensees.
(1) When notified of facts sufficient to support disciplinary action against a licensee, the Liquor Commissioner shall immediately notify the licensee of the proposed disciplinary action. The notice shall advise the licensee of the following:
(a) A statement of the facts supporting the proposed disciplinary action;
(b) A description of the rule or statutory section the licensee has violated;
(c) A statement or description of the matters asserted and the consequences of the failure to respond; and
(d) The name and mailing address of the village.
(2) The Liquor Commissioner shall serve the notice of proposed disciplinary action on the licensee by personal service or U.S. certified mail or U.S. regular mail to the last known address of the licensee. Service is complete four days after mailing.
(C) Hearings in disciplinary actions.
(1) Should a licensee wish to contest the proposed disciplinary action, the licensee must submit a response to the notice of proposed disciplinary action described in division (B) of this section to the Liquor Commissioner.
(2) All responses shall be in writing and shall include an original and one copy. The response shall contain the following:
(a) The name, current address and current telephone number of the licensee.
(b) A clear and concise statement admitting or denying each of the factual allegations set forth in the notice of proposed disciplinary action, with each admission or denial being shown in separately numbered paragraphs corresponding to the separately numbered paragraphs in the notice of proposed disciplinary action.
(c) For all factual allegations that the licensee denies, a clear and concise statement of facts upon which the licensee relies or will rely on at a hearing.
(d) A signature of the licensee.
(e) A verification of the licensee in the following form: The undersigned certifies that the statements set forth in this request are true and correct, except as to matters therein stated to be on information and belief and as to such matters the undersigned certifies as aforesaid that he or she verily believes the same to be true.
(f) The response must be notarized.
(g) The response must be filed within ten days after receipt of the notice of proposed disciplinary action. A response shall be deemed filed on the date on which it is postmarked.
(4) If a response is not filed within ten days after receipt of the notice of proposed disciplinary action then the proposed disciplinary action becomes effective and final immediately.
(5) No response shall be deemed filed if it fails to comply with any of the requirements of this section.
(6) The licensee may submit a response by:
(a) Personal delivery;
(b) Certified mail, postage prepaid; or
(c) Overnight express mail, postage prepaid.
(7) All responses must be submitted to the Liquor Commissioner at the village's offices.
(8) If a response is properly filed, the Liquor Commissioner will conduct a hearing.
(D) Appearances.
(1) All licensees may be represented by an attorney who is licensed to practice in Illinois. All attorneys who appear in a representative capacity on behalf of a licensee must file a written appearance setting forth:
(a) The name, address and telephone number of the attorney;
(b) The name and address of the licensee the attorney represents; and
(c) An affirmative statement that the attorney is licensed to practice in Illinois.
(2) Only individual attorneys may file appearances. Any licensee's attorney who has not filed an appearance may not address the Liquor Commissioner or sign pleadings.
(3) An attorney may only withdraw his or her appearance upon written notice to the Liquor Commissioner.
(4) An individual may appear on his or her own behalf.
(5) A partner may appear on behalf of a partnership.
(6) A corporation and a limited liability company must be represented by an attorney.
(7) The village will be represented by its corporation counsel.
(E) Proceedings. The village shall establish the charges contained in the notice of proposed disciplinary action by a preponderance of the evidence.
(F) Evidence.
(1) The hearing need not be conducted according to the technical rules of evidence. Any relevant evidence may be admitted and shall be sufficient in itself to support a finding if it is the sort of evidence on which responsible persons are accustomed to rely in the conduct of serious affairs, regardless of the existence of any common law or statute that might make improper the admission of evidence over objection in a civil action. Hearsay may support a finding of the Liquor Commissioner if it is the best evidence available, has sufficient indicia of trustworthiness and reliability and is of the type reasonably and customarily relied on in the gaming industry.
(a) If relevant, and not precluded from the hearing by section 6(d) of the Illinois Gambling Act, 230 ILCS 10/6(d), relating to all licensed applicants, the official Illinois Gaming Board records or certified copies of the records shall be admissible into evidence if the records tend to prove or disprove an allegation contained in the complaint.
(b) Official Illinois Gaming Board records are documents either prepared by or provided to the Illinois Gaming Board for the purpose of conducting its regular business.
(c) If relevant and not precluded from the hearing by a statute, regulation or ordinance, official village records or certified copies of the records shall be admissible into evidence.
(d) Official village records are documents either prepared by or provided to the village for the purpose of conducting its regular business.
(2) The parties should, to the fullest extent possible, stipulate to all matters that are not or fairly should not be in dispute.
(3) The parties may make objections to evidentiary offers. When an objection is made, the Liquor Commissioner may receive the disputed evidence subject to a ruling at a later time.
(4) The Liquor Commissioner may take official notice of any generally accepted information or technical or scientific matter within the field of video gaming, and any other fact that may be judicially noticed by courts of this state. The parties shall be informed of any information, matter or facts so noticed, including any village staff memoranda or data, and shall be given reasonable opportunity to refute that information.
(G) Prohibition on ex parte communication. No licensee or its representative shall communicate directly or indirectly with the Liquor Commissioner regarding any pending disciplinary matter, except upon notice to and opportunity for all parties to participate.
(H) Hearing.
(1) Upon conclusion of the hearing the Liquor Commissioner shall render a written order including written findings of fact and conclusions of law on which the Liquor Commissioner's decision is based. The findings of fact shall be based exclusively on the evidence and on matters officially noticed.
(2) Copies of the Liquor Commissioner's final order shall be served on the licensee by personal delivery, certified mail or overnight express mail to licensee's last known address.
(3) The Liquor Commissioner's final order shall become effective upon personal delivery to the licensee or upon posting by certified or overnight express mail to applicant's last known address.
(I) Sanctions and penalties.
(1) The Liquor Commissioner may impose sanctions and penalties if the Liquor Commissioner finds that a party has acted in bad faith, for the purpose of delay, or has otherwise abused the hearing process. Such sanctions and penalties include, but are not limited to, default judgment or directed finding on one or more issues.
(2) If a licensee fails to testify on his or her own behalf with respect to any question propounded to him or her, the Liquor Commissioner may infer that such testimony or answer would have been adverse to the licensee's case.
(3) Failure of a licensee to appear at a hearing or scheduled proceeding shall constitute an admission of all matters and facts contained in the complaint. In such cases the Liquor Commissioner may take action based upon that admission or upon any other evidence, including affidavits, without any further notice to the licensee.
(J) Penalties.
(1) The Liquor Commissioner may impose fines, suspend, revoke or restrict any license issued under this chapter or impose other disciplinary action for any act or failure to act by the licensee or by the licensee's agents or employees that violates any provision of the Video Gaming Act or the regulations promulgated under the Video Gaming Act or this chapter.
(2) Any person, firm, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or other entity recognized in law who violates any provision of this chapter for which another penalty is not specifically provided shall be subject to a fine of not less than $150 nor more than $1,500. Each and every day that a violation occurs or exists shall constitute a separate and distinct offense for which a fine may be imposed. In addition to the penalties provided herein, the village shall have available to it all remedies in law or in equity or as may be otherwise provided for by the ordinances of the village.
(3) Every gambling device found in a licensed video gaming location in the village operating gambling games in violation of this chapter shall be subject to seizure and confiscation, and shall be turned over to the Illinois Gaming Board as provided in Section 1800.1110 of the Illinois Administrative Code.
(4) Any village liquor license issued by the Liquor Commissioner under the provisions of Chapter 11 of this Code to any operator of a licensed video gaming location that operates or permits the operation of a video gaming terminal within its establishment in violation of this chapter may be immediately revoked.
(Ord. 2020-09-29, passed 9-21-2020)