Pari-mutuel wagering activities-amendments-2.

24LSO-0600
2024
STATE OF WYOMING
24LSO-0600
Numbered
2.0

HOUSE BILL NO. HB0206

Pari-mutuel wagering activities-amendments-2.

Sponsored by: Representative(s) Newsome, Davis and Larson, JT and Senator(s) Ellis and Schuler

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to gaming; specifying persons involved in horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering activities who shall be subject to criminal background checks; specifying rulemaking requirements for the Wyoming gaming commission; providing definitions; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.

W.S. 11
‑
25
‑
104(e) and (f) is amended to read:

11
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25
‑
104.

Gaming commission; officers; director; meetings; quorum; records; licenses generally; effect of financial interest in events.

(e)

The commission may authorize by license or permit and supervise all the conduct of all events provided for and regulated by this act. The commission may make reasonable rules for the control, supervision and direction of applicants, permittees and licensees. The rules shall include procedures for resolving scheduling conflicts and settling disputes between permittees, for the supervising, disciplining, suspending, fining and barring from pari
‑
mutuel events of all persons required to be licensed or permitted by this act, and for the holding, conducting and operating of all pari
‑
mutuel events pursuant to this act.
The rules shall include requirements for internal controls for all aspects of pari
‑
mutuel wagering, including procedures for system integrity, system security, operations and accounting.
The commission may require that license applicants be fingerprinted for identification purposes as a condition of licensing. The commission shall announce the place, time and duration of pari
‑
mutuel events for which license or permit fees shall be required and establish reasonable fees for all licenses and permits provided for by this act. The fees shall be established to ensure that the costs of administering this act are recovered through the total revenues received under this act. The commission shall establish security access safeguards for licensees to use for advance deposit pari
‑
mutuel wagering. The commission shall prohibit advance deposit pari
‑
mutuel advertising that it determines to be deceptive to the public.

(f)

Each permittee,
participant and
licensee, any current and prospective employee, volunteer and contract
employee of a permittee or
participant who is directly involved in the
licensee and each person who has access to restricted areas or animals housed on permitted event grounds for
horse racing or
for
pari
‑
mutuel
wagering
activities
of the permittee or participant, as defined in commission rule and regulation,
shall be licensed by the commission and shall comply with all rules and regulations and all orders issued by the commission. No person shall hold any event with pari
‑
mutuel wagering without obtaining a permit.
The commission shall require that all permittees, licensees, current and prospective employees, volunteers and contract employees of a permittee or licensee and each person who has access to restricted areas or animals housed on permitted event grounds for horse racing or for pari
‑
mutuel activities submit fingerprints to the Wyoming division of criminal investigation to perform a criminal history background check pursuant to W.S. 7
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19
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201 in order to obtain state and national criminal history record information. The division may share the results of the criminal history background check with the commission pursuant to W.S. 7
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19
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106(a)(xxxv). For purposes of this subsection, permittees, licensees, current and prospective employees, volunteers and contract employees of a permittee or licensee, shall include the following as defined:

(i)

"Assistant starter" means a person who handles a horse in the starting gate on race day and during training;

(ii)

"Assistant trainer" means a person who is designated by the trainer to make decisions on behalf of the trainer during the trainer’s absence;

(iii)

"Clerk of scales" means a person whose primary responsibility is to weigh the riders before and after a race to ensure proper weight is carried;

(iv)

"Commission or permittee employee" means a person who is an employee that by virtue of their required duties has access to restricted areas of the permitted event grounds or has access to information that is limited by law or confidential in nature and could effectuate or manipulate wagering activity or wagering information;

(v)

"Commission safety officer" means a person who is employed by the commission to monitor activities and practices in the stable area, barn area and on the racetrack for compliance with this act and rules of the commission;

(vi)

"Commission veterinarian" means a Wyoming licensed veterinarian hired directly by the commission;

(vii)

"Exercise rider" means a person who exercises a horse during a training session;

(viii)

"Farrier" means a person who provides hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses hooves and placing of shoes on hooves, if necessary;

(ix)

"Groom" means a person who cleans stalls, bathes, brushes and provides general care to a race horse;

(x)

"Horseman's bookkeeper" means a person whose primary responsibility is to keep and preserve books which will reflect the deposits or other credits and withdrawals or other charges that may be made by an owner or other licensee;

(xi)

"Host facility" means a person who leases their property to a permitholder to operate or host pari
‑
mutuel wagering;

(xii)

"Identifier" means a person who verifies the identity of each race horse prior to the race;

(xiii)

"Jockey" means a person who is a race rider of a horse, including a licensed jockey or an apprentice jockey;

(xiv)

"Jockey agent" means a person who handles the daily business of a jockey or apprentice;

(xv)

"Mutuel employee" means a person who acts under the direction of the mutuel managers and sells betting tickets;

(xvi)

"Mutuel manager" means a person who is an employee of the permittee who manages the mutuel department overseeing all wagering activity;

(xvii)

"Owner" means a person who is the owner, part owner or lessee of a horse;

(xviii)

"Paddock judge" means a person who is responsible for the paddock area and saddling routine of the race horses;

(xix)

"Pari
‑
mutuel service provider" means any business or person providing goods or services to a pari
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mutuel permitholder who is required to have access to designated and secured areas of the pari
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mutuel event or provides direct services for the support of players or wagering terminals;

(xx)

"Patrol judge" means a person who observes the progress of a race from various vantage points around the track;

(xxi)

"Permitholder" means a person or entity holding a permit issued by the Wyoming gaming commission to operate a pari
‑
mutuel facility;

(xxii)

"Permittee official" means any mutuel manager, steward, events judge, placing judge, patrol judge, paddock judge, clerk of scale, identifier, starter, horsemen bookkeeper, track safety officer, racing secretary and track superintendent who by virtue of their position has unrestricted access to the pari
‑
mutuel event grounds and animals participating;

(xxiii)

"Placing judge" means a person who posts the order of finish in a race;

(xxiv)

"Pony rider" means a person that rides a horse while leading another race horse, either during a training session or escorting the race horse to the post on race days;

(xxv)

"Private practice veterinarian" means a Wyoming licensed veterinarian hired to provide services to owners and trainers;

(xxvi)

"Racing secretary" means a person who drafts conditions of races and assigns weights for handicap events;

(xxvii)

"Rodeo contestant" means a person who is a contestant in a pari
‑
mutuel rodeo event licensed by the commission;

(xxviii)

"Rodeo stock contractor" means a person who

provides livestock for the pari
‑
mutuel rodeo event;

(xxix)

"Security employee" means a person who is responsible for the protection of property, people, acting in accordance with the permittee's guidelines;

(xxx)

"Service provider employee" means a person who is an employee of the pari
‑
mutuel service providers who provide additional support to the vendor;

(xxxi)

"Starter" means a person who is

responsible for the official dispatching of horses for a race;

(xxxii)

"Steward or event judge" means a person who is the head event official, or their designee, charged with the duty of making sure the events comply with this act and the rules of the commission;

(xxxiii)

"Track safety officer" means a person who monitors the paddock and racetrack areas during all training and racing hours for safety related issues;

(xxxiv)

"Track superintendent" means a person who is responsible for all track maintenance, ensuring that the track surface is properly groomed and prepared for training and racing hours;

(xxxv)

"Trainer" means a person who is engaged in the training of race horses;

(xxxvi)

"Valet" means a person who assists in the saddling of horses for the jockeys in a pari
‑
mutuel event;

(xxxvii)

"Veterinarian assistant" means a person who is hired by a commission veterinarian or a private practice veterinarian to assist in providing veterinarian services under the direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian.

Section 2
.

This act is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution
.

(END)

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HB0206