CHAPTER 517 Gambling

(b) “Bet” means the hazarding of anything of value upon the result of an event, undertaking or contingency, but does not include a bona fide business risk.

(c) “Scheme of chance” means a lottery, numbers game, pool or other scheme in which a participant gives a valuable consideration for a chance to win a prize.

(d) “Game of chance” means poker, craps, roulette, a slot machine, a punch board or other game in which a player gives anything of value in the hope of gain, the outcome of which is determined largely or wholly by chance.

(e) “Scheme or game of chance conducted for profit” means any scheme or game of chance designed to produce income for the person who conducts or operates the scheme or game of chance, but does not include a charitable bingo game.

(f) “Gambling device” means:

(1) A book, totalizer or other equipment for recording bets;

(2) A ticket, token or other device representing a chance, share or interest in a scheme of chance, except a charitable bingo game, or evidencing a bet;

(3) A deck of cards, dice, gaming table, roulette wheel, slot machine, punch board or other apparatus designed for use in connection with a game of chance;

(4) Any equipment, device, apparatus or paraphernalia specially designed for gambling purposes.

(g) “Gambling offense” means any of the following:

(1) A violation of Sections 517.02 to 517.08 or Ohio R.C. 2915.02 to 2915.11;

(2) A violation of an existing or former municipal ordinance or law of this or any other state or the United States substantially equivalent to any section listed in subsection (g)(1) hereof.

(3) An offense under an existing or former municipal ordinance or law of this or any other state or the United States, of which gambling is an element;

(4) A conspiracy or attempt to commit, or complicity in committing an offense under subsection (g)(1), (2) or (3) hereof.

(h) “Charitable organization” means any tax exempt religious, educational, veteran's, fraternal, service, nonprofit medical, volunteer rescue service, volunteer firemen's, senior citizen's, youth athletic or youth athletic park organization. An organization is tax exempt if the organization is and has received from the Internal Revenue Service a determination letter that is currently in effect, stating that the organization is exempt from Federal income taxation under subsection 501(a) and described in subsections 501(c)(3), (4), (8), (10) or (19) of the Internal Revenue Code. To qualify as a charitable organization, an organization, except a volunteer rescue service or volunteer firemen's organization, shall have been in continuous existence as such in this State for a period of two years immediately preceding either the making of an application for a bingo license under Ohio R. C. 2915.08 or the conducting of any scheme of chance or game of chance as provided in Section 517.02(c).

(i) “Religious organization” means any church, body of communicants or group that is not organized or operated for profit, that gathers in common membership for regular worship and religious observances.

(j) “Educational organization” means any organization within this State that is not organized for profit, the primary purpose of which is to educate and develop the capabilities of individuals through instruction, and that operates or contributes to the support of a school, academy, college or university.

(k) “Veteran's organization” means any individual post of a national veteran's association or an auxiliary unit of any individual post of a national veteran's association, which post or auxiliary unit has been incorporated as a nonprofit corporation for at least two years and has received a letter from the State headquarters of the national veteran's association indicating that the individual post or auxiliary unit is in good standing with the national veteran's association. As used in this subsection, “national veteran's association” means any veteran's association that has been in continuous existence as such for a period of at least ten years and either is incorporated by an act of the United States Congress or has a national dues-paying membership of at least 5,000 persons.

(l) “Volunteer firemen's organization” means any organization of volunteer firemen, as defined in Ohio R.C. 146.01, that is organized and operated exclusively to provide financial support for a volunteer fire department or a volunteer fire company.

(m) “Fraternal organization” means any society, order or association within this State, except a college or high school fraternity, that is not organized for profit, that is a branch, lodge or chapter of a national or state organization, that exists exclusively for the common business or brotherhood of its members and that has been in continuous existence in the State for a period of five years.

(n) “Volunteer rescue service organization” means any organization of volunteers organized to function as an emergency medical service organization as defined in Ohio R.C. 4765.01.

(o) “Service organization” means any organization, not organized for profit, that is organized and operated exclusively to provide, or to contribute to the support of organizations or institutions organized and operated exclusively to provide, medical and therapeutic services for persons who are crippled, born with birth defects or have any other mental or physical defect or those organized and operated exclusively to protect, or to contribute to the support of organizations or institutions organized and operated exclusively to protect, animals from inhumane treatment.

(p) “Nonprofit medical organization” means any organization, that has been incorporated as a nonprofit corporation for at least five years and that has continuously operated and will be operated exclusively to provide, or to contribute to the support of organizations or institutions organized and operated exclusively to provide, hospital, medical, research or therapeutic services for the public.

(q) “Senior citizen's organization” means any private organization, not organized for profit, that is organized and operated exclusively to provide recreational or social services for persons who are fifty-five years of age or older and that is described and qualified under subsection 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

(r) “Charitable bingo game” means any bingo game that is conducted by a charitable organization that has obtained a bingo license pursuant to Ohio R. C. 2915.08 and the proceeds of which are used for a charitable purpose.

(s) “Bingo” means:

(1) A game with all of the following characteristics:

A. The participants use bingo cards that are divided into twenty-five spaces arranged in five horizontal and five vertical rows of spaces with each space, except the central space, being designated by a combination of a letter and a number and the central space being designated as a free space;

B. The participants cover the spaces on the bingo cards that correspond to combinations of letters and numbers that are announced by a bingo game operator;

C. A bingo game operator announces combinations of letters and numbers that appear on objects that a bingo game operator selects by chance, either manually or mechanically from a receptacle that contains seventy-five objects at the beginning of each game, each object marked by a different combination of a letter and a number that corresponds to one of the seventy-five possible combinations of a letter and a number that can appear on the bingo cards;

D. The winner of the bingo game includes any participant who properly announces during the interval between the announcements of letters and numbers as described in subsection (s)(1)C. hereof, that a predetermined and preannounced pattern of spaces has been covered on a bingo card being used by the participant.

(2) Any scheme or game other than a game as defined in subsection (s)(1) hereof with the following characteristics:

A. The participants use cards, sheets or other devices that are divided into spaces arranged in horizontal, vertical or diagonal rows of spaces, with each space, except free spaces, being designated by a single letter, number or symbol; by a combination of letters, numbers or symbols; by a combination of a letter and a number, a letter and a symbol, or a number and a symbol; or by any combination of letters, numbers and symbols, with some or none of the spaces being designated as a free, complimentary or similar space;

B. The participants cover the spaces on the cards, sheets or devices that correspond to letters, numbers, symbols or combinations of such that are announced by a bingo game operator or otherwise transmitted to the participants;

C. A bingo game operator announces, or otherwise transmits to the participants, letters, numbers, symbols or any combination of such as set forth in subsection (s)(2)A. hereof that appear on objects that a bingo game operator selects by chance that correspond to one of the possible letters, numbers, symbols or combinations of such that can appear on the bingo cards, sheets or devices;

D. The winner of the bingo game is any participant who properly announces that a predetermined and preannounced pattern of spaces has been covered on a card, sheet or device being used by the participant.

(t) “Conduct” means to back, promote, organize, manage, carry on or prepare for the operation of a scheme or game of chance but does not include any act performed by a bingo game operator.

(u) “Bingo game operator” means any person, except security personnel, who performs work or labor at the site of a bingo game including, but not limited to, collecting money from participants, handing out bingo cards or objects to cover spaces on the bingo cards, selecting from a receptacle the objects that contain the combination of letters and numbers that appear on the bingo cards, calling out the combinations of letters and numbers, distributing prizes to the winner of the bingo game and preparing, selling and serving food or beverages.

(v) “Participant” means any person who plays bingo by covering the spaces on a bingo card that correspond to combinations of letters and numbers that are announced by a bingo game operator.

(w) “Bingo session” means a period, not to exceed five continuous hours, during which a person conducts one or more bingo games.

(x) “Gross receipts” means all money or assets, including admission fees, that a person receives from a bingo session that the person conducts without the deduction of any amounts for prizes paid out during the session or for the expenses of conducting the bingo session. “Gross receipts” does not include any money directly taken in from the sale of food or beverages by a charitable organization conducting a bingo session, or by a bona fide auxiliary unit or society of a charitable organization, at a bingo session conducted by the charitable organization, provided all of the following apply:

(1) The auxiliary unit or society has been in existence as a bona fide auxiliary unit or society of the charitable organization for at least two years prior to the bingo session;

(2) The person who purchases the food or beverage receives nothing of value except the food or beverage and items customarily received with the purchase of that food or beverage;

(3) The food and beverages are sold at customary and reasonable prices;

(4) No person preparing, selling or serving the food or beverages at the site of the bingo game receives directly or indirectly any form of compensation for the preparation, sale or service of the food or beverages.

(y) “Security personnel” includes any person who either is a sheriff, deputy sheriff, marshal, deputy marshal, township constable, or a police officer of a municipal corporation or has successfully completed a peace officer's training course pursuant to Ohio R.C. 109.71 to 109.79 and who is hired to provide security for the premises on which a bingo game is conducted.

(z) “To use gross receipts for a charitable purpose” means that the proceeds of the bingo game are used by, or given, donated or otherwise transferred to, any organization that is described in subsection 509(a)(1), (2) or (3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is either a governmental unit or an organization that is tax exempt under subsection 501(a) and described in subsection 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; that the proceeds of the bingo game are used by, or given, donated or otherwise transferred to a veteran's organization, as defined in subsection (k) hereof, that is a post, chapter or organization of war veterans, or an auxiliary unit or society of, or a trust or foundation for, any such post, chapter or organization organized in the United States or any of its possessions, at least seventy-five percent of the members of which are war veterans and substantially all of the other members of which are individuals who are veterans (but not war veterans) or are cadets, or are spouses, widows or widowers of war veterans, or such individuals, provided that no part of the net earnings of such post or organization inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual, and further provided that the bingo game proceeds are used by the post or organization for the charitable purposes set forth in Ohio R C. 5739.02(B)(12), are used for awarding scholarships to or for attendance at an institution mentioned in Ohio R. C. 5739.02(B)(12), are donated to a governmental agency, or are used for nonprofit youth activities, the purchase of United States or City flags that are donated to schools, youth groups or other bona fide nonprofit organizations, promotion of patriotism or disaster relief; that the proceeds of the bingo game are used by, or given, donated or otherwise transferred to a fraternal organization that has been in continuous existence in this State for fifteen years for use exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, literary or educational purposes, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals and contributions for such use would qualify as a deductible charitable contribution under subsection 170 of the Internal Revenue Code; or that the proceeds of the bingo game are used by a volunteer firemen's organization and are used by the organization for the purposes set forth in subsection (l) hereof.

(aa) “Internal Revenue Code” means the “Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 100 Stat. 2085, 26 U.S.C. 1, as now or hereafter amended.

(bb) “Youth athletic organization” means any organization, not organized for profit, that is organized and operated exclusively to provide financial support to, or to operate, athletic activities for persons who are twenty-one years of age or younger by means of sponsoring, organizing, operating or contributing to the support of an athletic team, club, league or association.

(cc) “Youth athletic park organization” means any organization, not organized for profit, that satisfies both of the following:

A. It owns, operates and maintains playing fields that satisfy both of the following:

1. The playing fields are used at least 100 days per year for athletic activities by one or more organizations, not organized for profit, each of which is organized and operated exclusively to provide financial support to, or to operate, athletic activities for persons who are eighteen years of age or younger by means of sponsoring, organizing, operating or contributing to the support of an athletic team, club, league or association.

2. The playing fields are not used for any profit-making activity at any time during the year.

B. It uses the proceeds of the bingo games it conducts exclusively for the operation, maintenance and improvement of its playing fields of the type described in paragraph (cc)A. hereof.

(ORC 2915.01)

517.02 GAMBLING.

(a) No person shall:

(1) Engage in bookmaking, or knowingly engage in conduct that facilitates bookmaking;

(2) Establish, promote or operate, or knowingly engage in conduct that facilitates any scheme or game of chance conducted for profit;

(3) Knowingly procure, transmit, exchange or engage in conduct that facilitates the procurement, transmission or exchange of, information for use in establishing odds or determining winners in connection with bookmaking or with any scheme or game of chance conducted for profit;

(4) Engage in betting or in playing any scheme or game of chance, except a charitable bingo game, as a substantial source of income or livelihood;

(5) With purpose to violate subsection (a)(1), (2), (3) or (4) hereof, acquire, possess, control or operate any gambling device.

(b) For purposes of subsection (a)(1) hereof, a person facilitates bookmaking if he in any way knowingly aids an illegal bookmaking operation, including without limitation placing a bet with a person engaged in or facilitating illegal bookmaking. For purposes of subsection (a)(2) hereof, a person facilitates a scheme or game of chance conducted for profit if he in any way knowingly aids in the conduct or operation of any such scheme or game, including without limitation playing any such scheme or game.

(d) This section does not apply to:

(1) Schemes of chance conducted by a charitable organization that is and has received from the Internal Revenue Service a determination letter that is currently in effect, stating that the organization is exempt from Federal income taxation under subsection 501(a) and described in subsection 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, provided that all of the money or assets received from such scheme of chance after deduction only of prizes paid out during the conduct of the scheme of chance are used by, or given, donated or otherwise transferred to, any organization that is described in subsection 509(a)(1), (2) or (3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is either a governmental unit or an organization that is tax exempt under subsection 501(a) and described in subsection 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and provided that the scheme of chance is not conducted during, or within ten hours of, a bingo game conducted for amusement purposes only pursuant to Section 517.09;

(2) Games of chance, if all of the following apply:

A. The games of chance are not craps for money, roulette for money or slot machines;

B. The games of chance are conducted by a charitable organization that is, and has received from the Internal Revenue Service a determination letter that is currently in effect, stating that the organization is, exempt from Federal income taxation under subsection 501(a) and described in subsection 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; (A.O.)

C. The games of chance are conducted at festivals of the organization that are conducted either for a period of four consecutive days or less and not more than twice a year or for a period of five consecutive days not more than once a year, and are conducted on premises owned by the charitable organization for a period of no less than one year immediately preceding the conducting of the games of chance, on premises leased from a governmental unit, or on premises that are leased from a veteran’s fraternal organization and that have been owned by the lessor veteran’s or fraternal organization for a period of no less than one year immediately preceding the conducting of the games of chance. A charitable organization shall not lease premises from a veteran’s or fraternal organization to conduct a festival described in this paragraph if the veteran’s or fraternal organization has already leased the premises four times during the preceding year to charitable organizations for that purpose. If a charitable organization leases premises from a veteran’s or fraternal organization to conduct a festival described in this paragraph, the charitable organization shall not pay a rental rate for the premises per day of the festival that exceeds the rental rate per bingo session that a charitable organization may pay under Section 517.06(a)(3) when it leases premises from another charitable organization to conduct bingo games.

(Ord. 19-02. Passed 4-15-02.)

D. All of the money or assets received from the games of chance after deduction only of prizes paid out during the conduct of the games of chance are used by, or given, donated or otherwise transferred to, any organization that is described in subsection 509(a)(1), 509(a)(2) or 509(a)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is either a governmental unit or an organization that is tax exempt under subsection 501(a) and described in subsection 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code;

E. The games of chance are not conducted during, or within ten hours of, a bingo game conducted for amusement only pursuant to Section 517.09.

(3) Any fishing tournament operated under a permit issued under Ohio R.C. 1533.92, as “fishing tournament” is defined in Ohio R.C. 1531.01.

(e) No person shall receive any commission, wage, salary, reward, tip, donation, gratuity or other form of compensation, directly or indirectly, for operating or assisting in the operation of any scheme or game of chance.

(f) Subsection (d) hereof shall not be construed to authorize the sale, lease or other temporary or permanent transfer of the right to conduct schemes of chance or games of chance, as granted by subsection (d) hereof, by any charitable organization that is granted that right.

(g) Whoever violates this section is guilty of gambling, a misdemeanor of the first degree, provided the offender has not previously been convicted of any gambling offense. (ORC 2915.02)

517.03 OPERATING A GAMBLING HOUSE.

(a) No person, being the owner or lessee, or having custody, control or supervision of premises, shall:

(1) Use or occupy such premises for gambling in violation of Section 517.02;

(2) Recklessly permit such premises to be used or occupied for gambling in violation of Section 517.02;

(b) Whoever violates this section is guilty of operating a gambling house, a misdemeanor of the first degree, if the offender has not previously been convicted of a gambling offense.

(c) Premises used or occupied in violation of this section constitute a nuisance subject to abatement pursuant to Ohio R.C. Chapter 3767.

(ORC 2915.03)

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