The following resolution was passed at the 1978 Session of the General Assembly and requested a joint subcommittee make a comprehensive study of the bingo laws of the Commonwealth.

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 115

Requesting a Joint Subcommittee composed of members of the Committees on General Laws of the House of Delegates and Senate to conduct a joint study of the bingo laws of the Commonwealth.

WHEREAS, the operation of bingo games by charitable organizations was legalized by the General Assembly in nineteen hundred seventy-three; and

WHEREAS, since such enactment, the General Assembly has received numerous requests for alterations and adjustments of the bingo laws; and

WHEREAS, the conduct of bingo games in the Commonwealth presently involves many people, both as players and as operators, and involves also considerable sums of money; and

WHEREAS, the number of people and amounts of money involved in bingo games is increasing; and

WHEREAS, the operation of bingo games by charitable organizations results in considerable revenues being raised by such organizations for charitable purposes; and

WHEREAS, periodic complaints about certain irregularities in the conduct of bingo games are coming before local governing bodies and before the General Assembly with increasingly distressing frequency; and

WHEREAS, it is highly desirable that any difficulties or inconsistencies in the bingo laws be expeditiously remedied by the General Assembly in the interest of those organizations which scrupulously conduct proper bingo games for charitable purposes; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That a Joint Subcommittee composed of members of the Committees on General Laws of the House of Delegates and the Senate is requested to undertake a comprehensive study of the bingo laws of the Commonwealth.

The Joint Subcommittee shall, upon completion of its study, submit for the consideration of the General Assembly such legislation as shall appear desirable.

Prior to the formal commencement of the deliberations of the Subcommittee, staff had surveyed all localities throughout the Commonwealth requesting relevant information in regard to existing bingo games; including the number of permit holders, frequency of play and amounts of gross receipts and disbursements. Approximately 68% of the cities, 62% of the counties and 32% of the towns responded. Based on these percentages, it was predicted that approximately 1200 organizations across the State conduct bingo games and that gross receipts approached 50 million dollars.

That background information prompted the joint subcommittee to hold six meetings. Three of those meetings were public hearings each of which was attended by in excess of 100 people representing a wide diversity of organizations.

II. Initial Concerns.

Several factors became paramount concerns from the onset of the subcommittee's work. Among those were the extremely large amount of money being exchanged in connection with the playing of bingo and the significant lack of uniformity from one jurisdiction to another in regard to the overall control of bingo operations. The subcommittee discussed inconsistencies ranging from the procedure utilized in obtaining an initial permit to the method employed to conduct games, and from the records of receipts to the reports of disbursements.

It is felt that the looseness with which 0 18.2-335 of the Code of Virginia (Bingo Laws) was drafted is a primary cause of the lack of uniformity and the essentially unregulated exchange of large amounts of money.

III. Findings.

The joint subcommittee finds that despite the wording of 0 18.2-335 of the Code of Virginia which is subject to abuse and violation, that the large number of organizations conducting bingo games do so within the spirit and intent of the law. However, a small percentage of organizations have taken advantage of the lack of regulation regarding bingo games and have utilized the statute to attain personal benefit which necessitates this study and the legislation attached hereto as Appendix I.

The specific findings of the joint subcommittee are numerous. The joint subcommittee is concerned with an individual organizations frequency of play, as well as the frequency of bingo operations at any one location. The lack of uniformity in both applying for bingo permits as well as the reporting of gross receipts and disbursements was a major point of concern. The subcommittee finds that such an unsystematic approach is inadequate to control possible violations.

In regard to "instant bingo" the subcommittee is split as to whether its benefits override the burdens and potential for abuse. However, the subcommittee does recognize the advantage to smaller organizations as the result of the playing of "instant bingo.'' The joint subcommittee finds that with the addition of sufficient guidelines for the conduct of instant bingo that its existence should be continued.

The joint subcommittee finds that the lack of working definitions associated with the conduct of bingo games creates a potential for abuse and misunderstanding on the part of both organizations and supervising localities and, therefore, recommends the attached legislation incorporating needed definitions.

Also of concern to the joint subcommittee is the enforcement of violations. The current statute provides that violations will constitute a class one misdemeanor. The subcommittee feels that the vast majority of violations are sufficiently punished by the penalties established. However, the subcommittee finds that those violations which involve any intent to defraud an organization or local officials should be dealt with more severely and thus warrant treatment as a felony.

In regard to the appropriate local official who is to be responsible for performing the requisite audit, the subcommittee finds that the duties associated therewith are of a varying nature than those generally delegated to a Commissioner of Accounts. However, given the lack of any other such official which all localities have access to, the subcommittee feels that the Commissioner of Accounts should be utilized to perform such audits, in the event that a locality should choose not to designate an official from their own employ.

Given the necessity to utilize the office the Commissioner of Accounts, as well as the complexity of a thorough audit in regard to bingo proceeds and disbursements, the subcommittee finds that the locality or the Commissioner of Accounts, whoever is to perform the audit should necessarily be compensated for such services and that such fee should be based on a percentage of the gross receipts of an organization.

As an ancillary element to the subcommittee's finding and concern with regard to large amounts of money which exchange hands in connection with the conduct of bingo games, the subcommittee feels that a limitation of prizes is warranted. Continuing "jackpots" in excess of $10,000 create an extremely competitive atmosphere among those organizations conducting bingo games. It is impossible for the smaller organizations to compete on such large scales and thus the intent of the legislature that bingo should be available as a fund raising activity for all charitable organizations is severely thwarted. Therefore, the subcommittee finds that a necessity exists for a uniform limitation of the size of prizes that may be offered.

IV. Recommendations.

The subcommittee recommends that the current bingo law be repealed and that the conduct of bingo games should be controlled by the establishment of a separate article in the Code of Virginia.

The joint subcommittee also recommends that such an article should include working definitions of such terms as bingo, organization, instant bingo and raffle. The procedure for obtaining a permit to conduct bingo games and for the reporting of gross receipts and disbursements should be more formal than has existed in the past and uniform forms containing specified information should be required.

The joint subcommittee make the following recommendations with regard to the conduct of bingo games. Organizations should be limited to the conduct of bingo to two days per week and the playing of bingo at any one location should be limited to three times in any one week.

A majority of the joint subcommittee recommends that instant bingo should be permitted on a local option basis, but that its playing should be limited to being a part of any regular bingo game and that it should be conducted only at such times as a regular bingo game is in progress and only at such location as is specified in the bingo permit application. The joint subcommittee recommends that localities be given the authority to adopt ordinances which would prohibit the playing of instant bingo.

The joint subcommittee strongly recommends that the attached legislation be introduced in the 1979 Session of the General Assembly to implement these recommendations and to resolve a great many of the inconsistencies and to address those areas of concern which have arisen as the result of this study. The legislative recommendations attached hereto are based on the overall finding of the joint subcommittee that the great majority of organizations that currently conduct bingo games, do so well within the purview of the existing statute and that the legislation will not substantially affect such organizations but will rather produce a more uniform and consistent operation of a large Statewide activity.