20 ILCS 1605/21

(20 ILCS 1605/21) (from Ch. 120, par. 1171)

Sec. 21. All lottery sales agents or distributors shall be liable to the Lottery for any and all tickets accepted or generated by any employee or representative of that agent or distributor, and such tickets shall be deemed to have been purchased by the agent or distributor unless returned to the Lottery within the time and in the manner prescribed by the Director. All moneys received by such agents or distributors from the sale of lottery tickets or shares, less the amount retained as compensation for the sale of the tickets or shares and the amount paid out as prizes, shall be paid over to a lottery representative or deposited in a bank or savings and loan association approved by the State Treasurer, as prescribed by the Director.

No bank or savings and loan association shall receive public funds as permitted by this Section, unless it has complied with the requirements established pursuant to Section 6 of the Public Funds Investment Act.

Each payment or deposit shall be accompanied by a report of the agent's receipts and transactions in the sale of lottery tickets in such form and containing such information as the Director may require. Any discrepancies in such receipts and transactions may be resolved as provided by the rules and regulations of the Department.

If any money due the Lottery by a sales agent or distributor is not paid when due or demanded, it shall immediately become delinquent and be billed on a subsequent monthly statement. If on the closing date for any monthly statement a delinquent amount previously billed of more than $50 remains unpaid, interest in such amount shall be accrued at the rate of 2% per month or fraction thereof from the date when such delinquent amount becomes past due until such delinquent amount, including interest, penalty and other costs and charges that the Department may incur in collecting such amounts, is paid. In case any agent or distributor fails to pay any moneys due the Lottery within 30 days after a second bill or statement is rendered to the agent or distributor, such amount shall be deemed seriously delinquent and may be referred by the Department to a collection agency or credit bureau for collection. Any contract entered into by the Department for the collection of seriously delinquent accounts with a collection agency or credit bureau may be satisfied by a commercially reasonable percentage of the delinquent account recouped, which shall be negotiated by the Department in accordance with commercially accepted standards. Any costs incurred by the Department or others authorized to act in its behalf in collecting such delinquencies may be assessed against the agent or distributor and included as a part of the delinquent account.

In case of failure of an agent or distributor to pay a seriously delinquent amount, or any portion thereof, including interest, penalty and costs, the Department may issue a Notice of Assessment. In determining amounts shown on the Notice of Assessment, the Department shall utilize the financial information available from its records. Such Notice of Assessment shall be prima facie correct and shall be prima facie evidence of delinquent sums due under this Section at any hearing before the Board, or its Hearing Officers, or at any other legal proceeding. Reproduced copies of any of the Department's records relating to an account, including, but not limited to, notices of assessment, suspension, revocation, and personal liability and any other such notice prepared in the Department's ordinary course of business and books, records, or other documents offered in the name of the Department, under certificate of the Director or any officer or employee of the Department designated in writing by the Director shall, without further proof, be admitted into evidence in any hearing before the Board or its Hearing Officers or any legal proceeding and shall be prima facie proof of the information contained therein. The Attorney General may bring suit on behalf of the Department to collect all such delinquent amounts, or any portion thereof, including interest, penalty and costs, due the Lottery.

Any person who accepts money that is due to the Department from the sale of lottery tickets under this Act, but who wilfully fails to remit such payment to the Department when due or who purports to make such payment but wilfully fails to do so because his check or other remittance fails to clear the bank or savings and loan association against which it is drawn, in addition to the amount due and in addition to any other penalty provided by law, shall be assessed, and shall pay, a penalty equal to 5% of the deficiency plus any costs or charges incurred by the Department in collecting such amount.

The Director may make such arrangements for any person(s), banks, savings and loan associations or distributors, to perform such functions, activities or services in connection with the operation of the lottery as he deems advisable pursuant to this Act, the State Comptroller Act, or the rules and regulations of the Department, and such functions, activities or services shall constitute lawful functions, activities and services of such person(s), banks, savings and loan associations or distributors.

All income arising out of any activity or purpose of the Department shall, pursuant to the State Finance Act, be paid into the State Treasury except as otherwise provided by the rules and regulations of the Department and shall be covered into a special fund to be known as the State Lottery Fund. Banks and savings and loan associations may be compensated for services rendered based upon the activity and amount of funds on deposit.

(Source: P.A. 97-464, eff. 10-15-11; 98-499, eff. 8-16-13.)