(A) Every device designed for gambling which is incapable of lawful use or every device used unlawfully for gambling shall be considered a gambling device and shall be subject to seizure, confiscation, and destruction by municipal authorities. As used in this section, a “GAMBLING DEVICE” includes any slot machine, and includes any machine or device constructed for the reception of money or other thing of value and so constructed as to return or cause someone to return on chance to the player thereof money, property, or a right to receive money or property. With the exception of any device designed for gambling which is incapable of lawful use, no gambling device shall be forfeited or destroyed unless an individual with a property interest in the device knows of the unlawful use thereof.
(B) Every gambling device shall be seized and forfeited as contraband to the city. Any money or other thing of value integrally related to acts of gambling shall be seized and forfeited as contraband to the city.
(C) Hearing upon Seizure. If the owner of the moneys or things of value seized pursuant to this chapter desires to appeal the seizure, said owner must make a request for a hearing on the seizure no later than the next business day after the seizure. Said request shall be in writing, specifying the basis upon which the seizure is being appealed, and shall be filed with the Corporation Counsel’s office. If the request is timely filed, an Administrative Adjudication Hearing Officer shall conduct such hearing within 72 hours, or as soon thereafter as is practicable excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. All interested persons shall be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard at the hearing. The formal rules of evidence will not apply and hearsay evidence shall be admissible. If, after the hearing, the Hearing Officer determines there is probable cause to believe that the moneys or things of value are subject to seizure and forfeiture pursuant to this chapter, the Hearing Officer shall order the continued seizure of the moneys or things of value until the full evidentiary hearing. If, after the hearing, the Hearing Officer determines that probable cause does not exist for the seizure, the moneys or things of value shall be returned to the owner.
(‘64 Code, § 22-20) (Ord. 7140, passed 8-20-85; Am. Ord. 9071, passed 11-1-16)
Statutory reference:
Seizure of gambling devices and funds; exemptions, see ILCS Ch. 720, Act 5, § 28-5