SB0198eng 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB0198 Engrossed LRB094 07766 AMC 37944 b

AN ACT concerning the lottery.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Lottery Law is amended by adding Sections 7.12, 7.13, 7.14, 7.15, and 7.16 as follows:

(20 ILCS 1605/7.12 new)

Sec. 7.12. Internet pilot program. The Department shall create a pilot program that allows the purchase of lottery tickets or shares on the Internet and that licenses agents to sell lottery tickets or shares over the Internet. The Department shall adopt rules necessary for the administration of this program. The provisions of this Act and the rules adopted under this Act shall apply to the sale of lottery tickets or shares and to the licensure of Internet agents under this program.

(20 ILCS 1605/7.13 new)

Sec. 7.13. Licensing of Internet agents; fees. The Department shall issue a license as an agent to sell lottery tickets or shares through the Internet if the applicant meets all of the qualifications specified in this Act and the rules adopted under this Act, except those related to the accessibility of his or her place of business or activity to the public and the ancillary nature of his or her business as a lottery sales agent, provided that the applicant owns and demonstrates that he or she can operate a secure and effective Internet-based system for selling lottery tickets or shares. Each application for a new Internet agent license must be accompanied by a one-time application fee as established by rule and not to exceed $25,000, and each application for renewal of an Internet agent license must be accompanied by a renewal fee as established by rule and not to exceed $12,500. In addition to the application fee, the Department may retain outside experts to evaluate the security and effectiveness of each applicant's Internet-based system and may charge applicants a uniform fee to recover the costs of those evaluations. Each Internet agent licensee granted on-line status pursuant to the Department's rules must pay a fee of $500 per month as partial reimbursement for telecommunications charges incurred by the Department in providing access to the Department's Internet lottery system.

(20 ILCS 1605/7.14 new)

Sec. 7.14. Posting of Internet agent license numbers and notices. Each agent licensed to sell lottery tickets or shares through the Internet shall prominently display his or her license number on his or her Internet site or sites, as well as on any portal to his or her Internet site or sites, and shall appropriately display any notices or statements that are required by this Act or the rules adopted under this Act to appear on the back of lottery tickets or to be posted or made available at a licensed non-Internet agent's place of business.

(20 ILCS 1605/7.15 new)

Sec. 7.15. Verification of age for Internet program; security for on-line lottery accounts. The Department shall, by rule, establish a procedure to verify that a person is 18 years of age or older before he or she may establish an on-line lottery account and purchase lottery tickets or shares through the Internet program. By rule, the Department shall establish funding procedures for on-line lottery accounts and shall provide a mechanism for each on-line lottery account to have a personal identification number to prevent the unauthorized use of on-line lottery accounts.

(20 ILCS 1605/7.16 new)

Sec. 7.16. Residency restrictions; limits on monthly Internet purchases; Internet program games. The Department may, by rule, limit the persons authorized to purchase lottery tickets on-line to Illinois residents and may, by rule, set a limitation on the monthly purchases that may be made through any individual lottery account. All Lotto and Mega Million games offered by the Illinois Lottery shall be offered to on-line players, but the Department is authorized to determine which additional lottery games may be offered through the Internet program.

Section 10. The Criminal Code of 1961 is amended by changing Section 28-1 as follows:

(720 ILCS 5/28-1) (from Ch. 38, par. 28-1)

Sec. 28-1. Gambling.

(a) A person commits gambling when he:

(1) Plays a game of chance or skill for money or other thing of value, unless excepted in subsection (b) of this Section; or

(2) Makes a wager upon the result of any game, contest, or any political nomination, appointment or election; or

(3) Operates, keeps, owns, uses, purchases, exhibits, rents, sells, bargains for the sale or lease of, manufactures or distributes any gambling device; or

(4) Contracts to have or give himself or another the option to buy or sell, or contracts to buy or sell, at a future time, any grain or other commodity whatsoever, or any stock or security of any company, where it is at the time of making such contract intended by both parties thereto that the contract to buy or sell, or the option, whenever exercised, or the contract resulting therefrom, shall be settled, not by the receipt or delivery of such property, but by the payment only of differences in prices thereof; however, the issuance, purchase, sale, exercise, endorsement or guarantee, by or through a person registered with the Secretary of State pursuant to Section 8 of the Illinois Securities Law of 1953, or by or through a person exempt from such registration under said Section 8, of a put, call, or other option to buy or sell securities which have been registered with the Secretary of State or which are exempt from such registration under Section 3 of the Illinois Securities Law of 1953 is not gambling within the meaning of this paragraph (4); or

(5) Knowingly owns or possesses any book, instrument or apparatus by means of which bets or wagers have been, or are, recorded or registered, or knowingly possesses any money which he has received in the course of a bet or wager; or

(6) Sells pools upon the result of any game or contest of skill or chance, political nomination, appointment or election; or

(7) Sets up or promotes any lottery or sells, offers to sell or transfers any ticket or share for any lottery; or

(8) Sets up or promotes any policy game or sells, offers to sell or knowingly possesses or transfers any policy ticket, slip, record, document or other similar device; or

(9) Knowingly drafts, prints or publishes any lottery ticket or share, or any policy ticket, slip, record, document or similar device, except for such activity related to lotteries, bingo games and raffles authorized by and conducted in accordance with the laws of Illinois or any other state or foreign government; or

(10) Knowingly advertises any lottery or policy game, except for such activity related to lotteries, bingo games and raffles authorized by and conducted in accordance with the laws of Illinois or any other state; or

(11) Knowingly transmits information as to wagers, betting odds, or changes in betting odds by telephone, telegraph, radio, semaphore or similar means; or knowingly installs or maintains equipment for the transmission or receipt of such information; except that nothing in this subdivision (11) prohibits transmission or receipt of such information for use in news reporting of sporting events or contests; or

(12) Knowingly establishes, maintains, or operates an Internet site that permits a person to play a game of chance or skill for money or other thing of value by means of the Internet or to make a wager upon the result of any game, contest, political nomination, appointment, or election by means of the Internet.

(b) Participants in any of the following activities shall not be convicted of gambling therefor:

(1) Agreements to compensate for loss caused by the happening of chance including without limitation contracts of indemnity or guaranty and life or health or accident insurance. ;

(2) Offers of prizes, award or compensation to the actual contestants in any bona fide contest for the determination of skill, speed, strength or endurance or to the owners of animals or vehicles entered in such contest. ;

(3) Pari-mutuel betting as authorized by the law of this State. ;

(4) Manufacture of gambling devices, including the acquisition of essential parts therefor and the assembly thereof, for transportation in interstate or foreign commerce to any place outside this State when such transportation is not prohibited by any applicable Federal law. ;

(5) The game commonly known as "bingo", when conducted in accordance with the Bingo License and Tax Act. ;

(6) Lotteries when conducted by the State of Illinois in accordance with the Illinois Lottery Law. This exemption includes any activity conducted by the Department of Revenue to sell lottery tickets pursuant to the provisions of the Illinois Lottery Law and its rules. ;

(6.1) The purchase of lottery tickets through the Internet for a lottery conducted by the State of Illinois under the program established in Section 7.12 of the Illinois Lottery Law.

(7) Possession of an antique slot machine that is neither used nor intended to be used in the operation or promotion of any unlawful gambling activity or enterprise. For the purpose of this subparagraph (b)(7), an antique slot machine is one manufactured 25 years ago or earlier. ;

(8) Raffles when conducted in accordance with the Raffles Act. ;

(9) Charitable games when conducted in accordance with the Charitable Games Act. ;

(10) Pull tabs and jar games when conducted under the Illinois Pull Tabs and Jar Games Act. ; or

(11) Gambling games conducted on riverboats when authorized by the Riverboat Gambling Act.

(c) Sentence.

Gambling under subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2) of this Section is a Class A misdemeanor. Gambling under any of subsections (a)(3) through (a)(11) of this Section is a Class A misdemeanor. A second or subsequent conviction under any of subsections (a)(3) through (a)(11), is a Class 4 felony. Gambling under subsection (a)(12) of this Section is a Class A misdemeanor. A second or subsequent conviction under subsection (a)(12) is a Class 4 felony.

(d) Circumstantial evidence.

In prosecutions under subsection (a)(1) through (a)(12) of this Section circumstantial evidence shall have the same validity and weight as in any criminal prosecution.

(Source: P.A. 91-257, eff. 1-1-00.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.