Read the full stored bill text
Florida Senate
-
2026
CS for SB 204
By
the Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and
General Government; and Senator Bradley
601-02831-26 2026204c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to gaming; amending s. 546.10, F.S.;
3 requiring certain organizations, before purchasing,
4 installing, or operating a game or machine on their
5 premises, or that already have a game or machine
6 installed on their premises, and are in doubt about
7 whether such game or machine meets the definition of
8 an amusement game or machine, to petition the Florida
9 Gaming Control Commission for a declaratory statement
10 on whether the operation of such game or machine is
11 authorized or prohibited; prohibiting such
12 organizations from purchasing or installing a game or
13 machine until such declaratory statement is issued;
14 prohibiting such organizations from petitioning the
15 commission if the game, machine, premises, or
16 organization in question is the subject of a criminal
17 investigation; requiring the commission to issue a
18 declaratory statement within a specified timeframe;
19 prohibiting the commission from denying a petition if
20 it was validly requested; specifying the information
21 that must be included in a petition; providing that
22 the declaratory statement is valid only for the game
23 or machine for which it is requested and is invalid if
24 the specifications for the game or machine have been
25 changed; providing that the declaratory statement is
26 binding on the commission and may be introduced as
27 evidence in subsequent proceedings; providing
28 construction; amending s. 849.15, F.S.; defining
29 terms; providing criminal penalties for specified
30 offenses relating to the manufacture, possession, and
31 sale of slot machines or devices; providing that
32 shipments of legal gaming devices to Indian lands are
33 deemed legal shipments under certain circumstances;
34 providing an effective date.
35
36 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
37
38 Section 1. Present subsections (8) and (9) of section
39 546.10, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (9)
40 and (10), respectively, and a new subsection (8) is added to
41 that section, to read:
42 546.10 Amusement games or machines.—
43
(8)(a)1. Before purchasing
a game or machine
and
installing
44
it
on the premises of any veterans’ service organization granted
45
a federal charter under Title 36, U.S.C., or a division,
46
department, post, or chapter of such organization, for which an
47
alcoholic beverage license has been issued,
if
the organization
48
is in doubt about whether
the game or
machine meets the
49
definition of an amusement
game or
machine under this section,
50
the organization
must
petition the Florida Gaming Control
51
Commission for a declaratory statement
pursuant to
s. 120.565 on
52
whether the operation of the game or machine would be authorized
53
under this section or would be a violation of this section or
54
chapter 849. A
n organization
awaiting
such
declaratory statement
55
from the commission may not purchase or install
the
game or
56
machine until the declaratory statement is issued.
57
2. If there is a game or machine currently on the premises
58
of any veterans’ service organization granted a federal charter
59
under Title 36, U.S.C., or a division, department, post, or
60
chapter of such organization, for which an alcoholic beverage
61
license has been issued
,
and the veterans’ service organization
62
is in doubt about whether
the game or
machine meets the
63
definition of an amusement
game or
machine under this section,
64
the organization
, before operating the game or machine,
must
65
petition the commission for a declaratory statement pursuant to
66
s. 120.565 on whether the operation of the game or machine would
67
be authorized under this section or would be a violation of this
68
section or chapter 849. If the game, machine, premises, or
69
organization is the subject of an ongoing criminal
70
investigation, the organization may not petition the commission
71
for a declaratory statement under this subsection.
72
3. The commission shall issue a declaratory statement
73
within 60 days after receiving a petition requesting such
74
statement. The commission may not deny a petition that is
75
validly requested pursuant to this subsection and
s.
120.565.
76
(b) A petition made under this subsection must provide
77
enough information for the commission to issue the declaratory
78
statement and must be accompanied by the exact specifications
79
for the type of game or machine
which
the organization will
80
purchase or install or currently has on the premises. The
81
declaratory statement is valid only for the game or machine for
82
which it is requested and is invalid if the specifications for
83
the game or machine have been changed.
84
(c) The declaratory statement is binding on the commission
85
and may be introduced in any subsequent proceedings as evidence
86
of a good faith effort to comply with this section or chapter
87
849.
88
(d) This subsection does not prevent the commission or any
89
other criminal justice agency as defined in s. 943.045 from
90
detecting, apprehending, and arresting a person for any alleged
91
violation of this chapter, chapter 24, part II of chapter 285,
92
chapter 550, chapter 551, or chapter 849, or any rule adopted
93
pursuant thereto, or of any law of this state.
94
(e) This subsection does not require an owner or an
95
operator of an amusement game or machine under this section to
96
request or obtain a declaratory statement in order to operate
97
pursuant to this section.
98 Section 2. Section 849.15, Florida Statutes, is amended to
99 read:
100 849.15 Manufacture, sale, possession, etc., of slot
101 machines or devices prohibited.—
102
(1)
As used in this section, the term:
103
(a)
“
O
wnership interest”
means a person who is
an officer,
104
a director, or a managing member of
any
business,
establishment,
105
premises, or other location.
106
(
b
)
“Person of authority” means a person who, at any
107
business, establishment, premises, or other location at which a
108
slot machine or device is offered for play, has:
109
1.
Actual authority to act on behalf of the business,
110
establishment, premises, or other location; or
111
2.
Any ownership interest in the business, establishment,
112
premises, or other location.
113
(2)
(1)
It is unlawful:
114 (a) To manufacture, own, store, keep, possess, sell, rent,
115 lease, let on shares, lend or give away, transport, or expose
116 for sale or lease, or to offer to sell, rent, lease, let on
117 shares, lend or give away, or permit the operation of, or for
118 any person to permit to be placed, maintained, or used or kept
119 in any room, space, or building owned, leased or occupied by the
120 person or under the person’s management or control, any slot
121 machine or device or any part thereof; or
122 (b) To make or to permit to be made with any person any
123 agreement with reference to any slot machine or device, pursuant
124 to which the user thereof, as a result of any element of chance
125 or other outcome unpredictable to him or her, may become
126 entitled to receive any money, credit, allowance, or thing of
127 value or additional chance or right to use such machine or
128 device, or to receive any check, slug, token or memorandum
129 entitling the holder to receive any money, credit, allowance or
130 thing of value.
131
(3)(a)
Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c), a
132
person who violates subsection (2) commits a misdemeanor of the
133
second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.
134
775.083, if the violation involves five or
fewer
slot machines
135
or devices.
136
(b)
A person commits a felony of the third degree,
137
punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084,
138
if he or she violates subsection (2)
,
and
:
139
1.
The violation involves six or more slot machines or
140
devices; or
141
2.
The person has one prior conviction for a violation of
142
this section.
143
(c)
A person commits a felony of the second degree,
144
punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084,
145
if he or she violates subsection (2)
,
and:
146
1.
At the time of the violation, the person was a person of
147
authority and the violation involves six or more slot machines
148
or devices; or
149
2.
The person has two or more prior convictions for a
150
violation of this section.
151
(4)
(2)
Pursuant to section 2 of that chapter of the
152 Congress of the United States entitled “An act to prohibit
153 transportation of gaming devices in interstate and foreign
154 commerce,” approved January 2, 1951, being ch. 1194, 64 Stat.
155 1134, and also designated as 15 U.S.C. ss. 1171-1177, the State
156 of Florida, acting by and through the duly elected and qualified
157 members of its Legislature, does hereby in this section, and in
158 accordance with and in compliance with the provisions of section
159 2 of such chapter of Congress, declare and proclaim that any
160 county of the State of Florida within which slot machine gaming
161 is authorized pursuant to chapter 551 is exempt from the
162 provisions of section 2 of that chapter of the Congress of the
163 United States entitled “An act to prohibit transportation of
164 gaming devices in interstate and foreign commerce,” designated
165 as 15 U.S.C. ss. 1171-1177, approved January 2, 1951. All
166 shipments of gaming devices, including slot machines, into any
167 county of this state within which slot machine gaming is
168 authorized pursuant to chapter 551 and the registering,
169 recording, and labeling of which have been duly performed by the
170 manufacturer or distributor thereof in accordance with sections
171 3 and 4 of that chapter of the Congress of the United States
172 entitled “An act to prohibit transportation of gaming devices in
173 interstate and foreign commerce,” approved January 2, 1951,
174 being ch. 1194, 64 Stat. 1134, and also designated as 15 U.S.C.
175 ss. 1171-1177, shall be deemed legal shipments thereof into this
176 state provided the destination of such shipments is an eligible
177 facility as defined in s. 551.102 or the facility of a slot
178 machine manufacturer or slot machine distributor as provided in
179 s. 551.109(2)(a).
180
(5)
All shipments of legal gaming devices, including legal
181
slot machines, to Indian lands located within this state shall
182
be deemed legal shipments thereof
,
provided that such Indian
183
lands are held in federal trust for the benefit of a federally
184
recognized Indian tribe that is a party to a tribal-state
185
compact with the state pursuant to the federal Indian Gaming
186
Regulatory Act of 1988, 18 U.S.C. ss. 1166-1168 and 25 U.S.C.
187
ss. 2701 et seq.
188 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.