A. Governing Law: Whenever reference is made in this section to "state law" it shall mean and refer to any act of the General Assembly regulating certain games of chance, including but not limited to the Raffles and Poker Runs Act, all as amended from time to time. Raffles and poker runs are licensed by the governing body with jurisdiction over the Key Location. A license shall authorize the holder of such license to sell raffle chances throughout the State, including beyond the borders of Kane County.
B. Licensing Agent. As used in this section the terms RAFFLE LICENSING AGENT, POKER RUN LICENSING AGENT or LICENSING AGENT, means the Kane County Clerk. Unless the context otherwise requires, all words and phrases used herein shall have the same meaning as the same or similar words or phrases defined and used in state law. The licensing agent shall act on a license application within 30 days from the date of application.
C. Definitions.
BUSINESS: | A voluntary organization composed of individuals and businesses who have joined together to advance the commercial, financial, industrial, and civic interests of a community. |
CHARITABLE: | An organization or institution organized and operated to benefit an indefinite number of the public. The service rendered to those eligible for benefits must also confer some benefit on the public. |
EDUCATIONAL : | An organization or institution organized and operated to provide systematic instruction in useful branches of learning by methods common to schools and institutions of learning which compare favorably in their scope and intensity with the course of study presented in tax supported schools. |
FIRE PROTECTION AGENCY: | An agency of this State or a unit of local government in this State that is vested by law or ordinance with the duty to protect life and property from fire and explosion. |
FRATERNAL: | An organization of persons having a common interest, the primary interest of which is to both promote the welfare of its members and to provide assistance to the general public in such a way as to lessen the burdens of government by caring for those that otherwise would be cared for by the government. |
KEY LOCATION: | The location where the winning chances in the raffle are determined or where a poker run concludes and the prizes are awarded. |
LABOR: | An organization composed of workers organized with the objective of betterment of the conditions of those engaged in such pursuit and the development of a higher degree of efficiency in their respective occupations. |
LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY: | An agency of this State or a unit of local government in this State that is vested by law or ordinance with the duty to maintain public order and to enforce criminal laws or ordinances. |
NET PROCEEDS: | The gross receipts from the conduct of raffles, less reasonable sums expended for prizes, local license fees, and other operating expenses incurred as a result of operating a raffle |
NONPROFIT: | An organization or institution organized and conducted on a not for profit basis with no personal profit inuring to anyone as a result of the operation. |
POKER RUN: | A prize-awarding event organized by an organization licensed under this section in which participants travel to multiple predetermined locations, including a Key Location, to play a randomized game based on an element of chance. "Poker run" includes dice runs, marble runs, or other events where the objective is to build the best hand or highest score by obtaining an item or playing a randomized game at each location. |
RAFFLE: | A form of lottery, as defined in subsection (b) of Section 28-2 of the Criminal Code of 2012, conducted by an organization licensed under Illinois law in which the player pays or agrees to pay something of value for a chance, represented and differentiated by a number or by way of a combination of numbers or by some other medium, one or more of which chances is to be designated the winning chance and the winning chance is to be determined through a drawing or by some other method based on an element of chance by an act or set of acts on the part of the persons conducting or connected with the lottery except the winning chance shall not be determined by the outcome of a publicly exhibited sporting contest. |
RELIGIOUS: | Any church, congregation, society, or organization founded for the purpose of religious worship. |
VETERANS: | An organization or association composed of members of which substantially all are individuals who are veterans or spouses, widows, or widowers of veterans, the primary purpose of which is to promote the welfare of its members and to provide assistance to the general public in such a way as to confer a public benefit. |
D. Permissible Applicants: Raffle and poker run licenses shall be issued only to bona fide religious, charitable, labor, business, fraternal, educational, veterans and other bona fide not-for-profit organizations that operate without profit to their members and which have been in existence continuously for a period of five (5) years immediately before making application for a license and which have had during that entire five (5) year period been engaged in carrying out their objectives or to a non-profit fundraising organization that the licensing authority determines is organized for the sole purpose of providing financial assistance to an identified individual or group of individuals suffering extreme financial hardship as the result of an illness, disability, accident or disaster. Law enforcement agencies and statewide associations that represent law enforcement officials are also permissible applicants. Fire protection agencies and associations that represent fire protection officials are also permissible applicants.
E. Application Requirements. No person, firm or corporation shall conduct raffles or poker runs without having first obtained a license as herein specified. The license and application for a license must specify the following:
1. The name and address of the applicant and the type of organization of the applicant.
2. The Key Location(s), as defined in Section C5 above, for the raffle or poker run.
3. The time period during which raffle chances will be sold or issued. The time period during which a poker run will be conducted and the name and address of each poker run’s predetermined locations.
4. The place and date of chartering or incorporation of the applicant, if applicable
5. The time or times of determination of winning chances.
6. A list of prizes and the retail value of each prize to be awarded in a single raffle.
7. The price to be charged for each raffle chance issued or sold.
8. The license application must contain a sworn statement attesting to the not-for-profit character of the prospective licensee organization, signed by the presiding officer and the secretary of that organization.
F. Ineligible Applicants. The following are ineligible for any license under this section:
1. Any person whose felony conviction will impair the person’s ability to engage in the license position;
2. Any person who is or has been a professional gambler or professional gambling promoter;
3. Any person who is not of good moral character;
4. Any organization in which a person defined in Section F.1., F.2., or F.3., above has a proprietary, equitable or credit interest, or in which such person is active or employed.
5. Any organization in which a person defined in Section F.1., F.2., or F.3., above is an officer, director, or employee, whether compensated or not; and
6. Any organization in which a person defined in Section F.1., F.2., or F.3., above is to participate in the management or operation of a raffle or poker run as defined in this section.
7. If the Licensing Agent refuses to issue a license to the applicant, the applicant will be notified of the denial in writing. The notice will include the following: (a) a statement about the decision to refuse to issue a license; (b) a list of the convictions of the licensing authority will impair the applicant’s ability to engage in the position for which a license is sought; (c) a list of convictions forming the sole or partial basis for the refusal to issue a license; (d) and a summary of the appeal process or the earliest the applicant might reapply for a license, whichever is applicable. Review of any such denial will consider the factors enumerated in 230 ILCS 5/3.1(b).
G. Conduct of Raffles and Poker Runs.
1. The entire net proceeds of any raffle or poker run must be exclusively devoted to the lawful purposes of the organization permitted to conduct that game.
2. No person except a bona fide director, officer, employee, or member of the sponsoring organization may manage or participate in the management or operation of the raffle or poker run. No person may receive any remuneration or profit for managing or participating in the management or operation of the raffle or poker run. However, sponsoring organizations may contract with third parties who, acting at the direction of and under the supervision of the sponsoring organization, provide bona fide services to the sponsoring organization in connection with the operation of a raffle and may pay reasonable compensation for such services. Such services include the following: (a) advertising, marketing and promotion, (b) legal, (c) procurement of goods, prizes, wares and merchandise for the purpose of operating the raffle, (d) rent, if the premises upon which the raffle will be held is rented, (e) accounting, auditing and bookkeeping, (f) website hosting (g) mailing and delivery, (h) banking and payment processing, and (i) other services relating to the operation of the raffle.
3. A licensee may rent the premises on which to determine the winning chance or chances in a raffle provided that the rent is not determined by a percentage of the receipts or profits from the raffle.
4. Raffle chances may be sold throughout the state, including beyond the borders of Kane County but winning chances may be determined only at those locations specified on the license for a raffle.
5. A person under the age of 18 years may participate in the conducting of raffles or chances or poker runs only with the permission of a parent or guardian. A person under the age of 18 years may be within the area where winning chances at a raffle or winning hands or scores in a poker run are being determined only when accompanied by his or her parent or guardian.
H. Raffle Manager; Bond. All management, operation, and conduct of raffle shall be under the supervision of a single raffle manager designated by the organization. The manager shall give a fidelity bond in an amount in an amount equal to the sum of the aggregate retail value of the prices as set out in the application in favor of the organization conditioned upon his or her honesty in the performance of his or her duties. Terms of the bond shall provide that notice shall be given in writing to the Licensing Agent not less than 30 days prior to its cancellation. If the retail value of the prizes exceeds fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000.00), such bond shall be a corporate surety. The Kane County Board may waive this bond requirement by including a waiver provision provided that a license containing such waiver provision shall be granted only by the affirmative vote of the requisite number of members of the licensed organization or if the licensed organization does not have members, of members of the governing board of the organization, to constitute an affirmative action of the licensed organization. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to apply to poker runs.
I. Records.
1. Each organization licensed to conduct raffles and chances or poker run events shall keep records of its gross receipts, expenses, and net proceeds for each single gathering or occasion at which winning chances in a raffle or winning hands or scores in a poker run are determined. All deductions from gross receipts for each single gathering or occasion shall be documented with receipts or other records indicating the amount, a description of any purchased items or service or other reason for the deduction, and the recipient. The distribution of net proceeds shall be itemized as to the payee, purpose, amount, and date of payment.
2. Gross receipts from the operation of raffles or poker runs shall be segregated from other revenues of the organization, including bingo gross receipts if bingo games are also conducted by the same nonprofit organization pursuant to a license therefore issued by the Illinois Department of Revenue, and placed in a separate account. Each organization shall have separate records of its raffles and poker runs. The personal accounts for gross receipts, expenses, and net proceeds from the operation of raffles and poker runs shall not be the same person who accounts for other revenues of the organization.
3. Each organization licensed to conduct raffles or poker runs shall report promptly after the conclusion of each raffle or poker run to its membership or, if the organization does not have members, to its governing board. Each organization licensed to conduct raffles or poker runs shall report promptly to Licensing Agent its gross receipts, expenses, and net proceeds from the raffle or poker run, and the distribution of net proceeds itemized as required herein.
4. Records required by this section shall be preserved for three (3) years. An organization shall make available the records relating to the operation of raffles or poker runs for public inspection at reasonable times and places.
J. Raffle and Poker Run License Fees. Aggregate prize value less than $500.00, no fee and considered automatically licensed without the necessity of an application; aggregate prize value $500.00 to $5,000.00, fee of $14.00; aggregate prize value $5,001.00 to $500,000.00 or more, fee of $25.00.
K. Violations; Penalties: Violation of this section or any section or subsection hereof shall be chargeable as an ordinance violation with a fine not to exceed $1,000.00 per violation of each section or subsection or in such amount as prescribed in 55 ILCS 5/5-1113, as from time to time amended. (Ord. 19-445, 12-10-2019; amd. Ord. 24-257, 6-11-2024)