(REPRINTED WITH ADOPTED AMENDMENTS) SECOND REPRINT
Assembly Bill No. 538-Committee on Judiciary
May 27, 1997
____________
Referred to Committee on Judiciary
SUMMARY--Makes dog racing unlawful in certain circumstances. (BDR 15-1619)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: Yes.
Effect on the State or on Industrial Insurance: No.
EXPLANATION - Matter in italics is new; matter in brackets [ ] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to dog racing; making it a crime to conduct dog racing as a gaming activity in this state; prohibiting the Nevada gaming commission from issuing a license to conduct dog racing or pari-mutuel wagering in connection with any dog race; providing a penalty; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1 NRS 202.450 is hereby amended to read as follows:
202.4501. A public nuisance is a crime against the order and economy of the state.
2. Every place:
(a) Wherein any gambling, bookmaking or pool selling is conducted without a license as provided by law, or wherein any swindling game or device, or bucket shop, or any agency therefor is conducted, or any article, apparatus or device useful therefor is kept;
(b) Wherein any fighting between animals or birds is conducted;
(c) Wherein any dog races are conducted [without a license as provided by law;] as a gaming activity;
(d) Wherein any intoxicating liquors are kept for unlawful use, sale or distribution; or
(e) Where vagrants resort,
is a public nuisance.
3. Every act unlawfully done and every omission to perform a duty, which act or omission:
(a) Annoys, injures or endangers the safety, health, comfort or repose of any considerable number of persons;
(b) Offends public decency;
(c) Unlawfully interferes with, befouls, obstructs or tends to obstruct, or renders dangerous for passage, a lake, navigable river, bay, stream, canal, ditch, millrace or basin, or a public park, square, street, alley, bridge, causeway or highway; or
(d) In any way renders a considerable number of persons insecure in life or the use of property,
is a public nuisance.
4. Agricultural activity conducted on farmland consistent with good agricultural practice and established before surrounding nonagricultural activities is not a public nuisance unless it has a substantial adverse effect on the public health or safety. It is presumed that an agricultural activity which does not violate a federal, state or local law, ordinance or regulation constitutes good agricultural practice.
5. A shooting range is not a public nuisance with respect to any noise attributable to the shooting range if the shooting range is in compliance with the provisions of all applicable statutes, ordinances and regulations concerning noise:
(a) As those provisions existed on October 1, 1997, for a shooting range that begins operation on or before October 1, 1997; or
(b) As those provisions exist on the date that the shooting range begins operation, for a shooting range in operation after October 1, 1997.
A shooting range is not subject to any state or local law related to the control of noise that is adopted or amended after the date set forth in paragraph (a) or (b), as applicable, and does not constitute a nuisance for failure to comply with any such law.
6. As used in this section, "shooting range" has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 40.140.
Sec. 2 Chapter 207 of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto a new section to read as follows:
A person who conducts dog racing as a gaming activity in this state is guilty of a misdemeanor.
Sec. 3 NRS 244.3525 is hereby amended to read as follows:
244.35251. The chairman or clerk of the board of county commissioners to enforce NRS 244.335 to 244.340, inclusive, the chairman or clerk of the license board of the county to enforce NRS 244.345 [and 244.347,] and the chairman or clerk of the liquor board of the county to enforce NRS 244.350, 244.3501 and 244.351 may:
(a) Administer oaths and require testimony under oath;
(b) Pay witnesses a reasonable allowance for travel and subsistence; and
(c) Appoint hearing officers who may administer oaths and receive testimony given under oath.
2. Each hearing officer appointed pursuant to paragraph (c) of subsection 1 must be a resident of this state who is a graduate of:
(a) An accredited law school; or
(b) An accredited, 4-year college and has at least 5 years' experience in public administration,
and who has completed a course of instruction in administrative law, relating to the provisions of this chapter, offered by the office of the district attorney for the county. This course must consist of at least 4 hours of instruction in a classroom.
3. Any notice given by the board must be served in the manner required for civil actions.
Sec. 4 NRS 466.015 is hereby amended to read as follows:
466.015The purposes of this chapter are to encourage the breeding of horses [and greyhounds] in this state, to produce an additional source of revenue for [the] this state and to protect the general public.
Sec. 5 NRS 466.028 is hereby amended to read as follows:
466.028"Pari-mutuel wagering" means a system of placing wagers on a horse [or greyhound] race whereby the wager is placed at a window and equipment is used to pay a person's winnings in the precise amount of money wagered by persons who did not win, after deducting taxes owed and commissions charged by the race track.
Sec. 6 NRS 466.045 is hereby amended to read as follows:
466.045No member of the board or commission may own or otherwise have a financial interest in any horse [or greyhound] which is entered in any race meet licensed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
Sec. 7 NRS 466.080 is hereby amended to read as follows:
466.0801. The account for racing and pari-mutuel wagering is hereby created within the state general fund. The board shall administer the account.
2. The board shall distribute the proceeds of the taxes collected pursuant to NRS 466.120 and subsection 1 of NRS 466.125 in the following order of priority:
(a) One percent of all pari-mutuel money handled [on greyhound races, and] on horse races which are not conducted by a state fair association, agricultural society, county fair and recreation board or other association to which state or county aid is given [,] to the city in which the races are conducted or, if the races are conducted outside any city, to the county in which they are conducted.
(b) Not more than 1 percent of all pari-mutuel money handled [on greyhound races, and] on horse races which are not conducted by a state fair association, agricultural society, county fair and recreation board or other association to which state or county aid is given [,] to the account for racing and pari-mutuel wagering.
(c) The remainder to the state general fund.
3. A licensee who has paid the taxes required by subsection 1 of NRS 466.125 may apply to the board to receive a grant from the account for racing and pari-mutuel wagering. The board may recommend approval and the commission, in its discretion, may approve a grant to the licensee for the exclusive use of providing capital improvements to the racing facility of the licensee, a purse for racing or promotion of the facility, in proportion to the amount of taxes paid to the commission by the licensee. The board may not recommend approval and the commission may not approve a grant if sufficient money is not available to pay the expenses of the board and the commission for the administration of this chapter.
Sec. 8 NRS 466.095 is hereby amended to read as follows:
466.095The Nevada gaming commission shall not issue any license under this chapter to conduct dog racing or pari-mutuel wagering in connection with any [greyhound] dog race . [unless:
1. Greyhound racing is permitted by a special charter of a city to be conducted in that city and a license to conduct the race has been issued by the city council or other governing body of that city;
2. The county license board of a county whose population is less than 100,000 has issued a license to conduct the race in the county outside of an incorporated city; or
3. The track at which the greyhound racing will be held is located in a county whose population is 400,000 or more has issued a license to conduct the race and the race is to be conducted on the premises of a resort hotel.]
Sec. 9 NRS 466.100 is hereby amended to read as follows:
466.1001. Any natural person, association or corporation desiring to conduct horse racing within the State of Nevada must apply to the board for a license so to do. The application must be in such form and supply such data and information as the board prescribes.
2. The board shall investigate the applicant, and any other person whom it believes necessary to determine the applicant's suitability to receive a license to conduct racing. The cost of the investigation must be paid by the applicant. The board shall recommend in writing to the commission either approval or denial of the license. If denial is recommended, the board shall prepare and file with the commission its written reasons for that recommendation. If the board recommends denial, the commission may grant the license only by unanimous vote of the members present.
3. Each license issued by the commission to conduct horse racing must be conditioned upon the licensee's approving any locations which may be established in this state for off-track pari-mutuel wagering as required by 15 U.S.C § 3004(b)(1)(A) as enacted and as this subsection may be amended from time to time.
4. The commission may revoke, modify or suspend a license, fine a licensee or refuse to issue a license if it has reasonable cause to believe that the public interest can best be served by such an action. Any such action, except the refusal to issue a license, must comply with the procedures set forth in NRS 463.310 to 463.3145, inclusive. The judicial review provided in NRS 463.315 to 463.318, inclusive, is available to any person aggrieved by the final decision of the commission to revoke or suspend a license or fine a licensee.
5. A license to conduct horse [or dog] racing issued by the commission continues to be valid without renewal unless it is suspended or revoked or the licensee changes the location at which he conducts racing or ceases to conduct racing.
Sec. 10 NRS 466.110 is hereby amended to read as follows:
466.1101. No person, corporation or association may be given a license to conduct more than 300 days [each] of horse [and greyhound racing, separately or simultaneously] racing in any 1 year on any one track within the State of Nevada.
2. The commission may, at any time or times, in its discretion, authorize any person, corporation or association to transfer its racing meet or meetings from its own track or place for holding races to the track or place for holding races of any other person, corporation or association. No such authority to transfer may be granted without express consent of the person, corporation or association owning or leasing the track to which the transfer is made, but nothing in this section affects in any manner the license fees, requirements, rights, conditions, terms and provisions of NRS 466.120 or the provision for taxes contained in NRS 466.125.
Sec. 11 NRS 466.125 is hereby amended to read as follows:
466.1251. [Except as otherwise provided in NRS 466.127, each] Each licensee conducting racing with pari-mutuel wagering shall pay to the commission for the use of the state a tax at the rate of 2 percent on all pari-mutuel money handled on horse [or mule races and 4 percent on all pari-mutuel money handled on greyhound races] races during the race meeting.
2. State fair associations, agricultural societies, county fair and recreation boards, county agricultural associations and nonprofit organizations formed to conduct race meetings shall pay 1 percent of the pari-mutuel money handled during race meetings.
3. Each licensee conducting racing with pari-mutuel wagering, except a state fair association, agricultural society, county fair and recreation board or other association to which state or county aid is given, shall distribute not less than 8 percent of all pari-mutuel money handled on horse [or mule] races as purses to the owners of the horses [or mules] winning those races.
Sec. 12 NRS 466.155 is hereby amended to read as follows:
466.1551. It is unlawful for any person to operate a system of pari-mutuel wagering on any licensed horse race [or dog race] at any location other than:
(a) The enclosure wherein the race which is the subject of the wagering occurs; or
(b) A licensed gaming establishment which has been approved to conduct off-track pari-mutuel wagering.
2. All other forms of wagering or betting on the results of any of the races licensed under this chapter outside the enclosure or licensed establishment are also illegal, unless expressly authorized by the commission.
Sec. 13 NRS 466.170 is hereby amended to read as follows:
466.1701. The commission, on the recommendation of the board, shall adopt regulations for the licensing, supervising, disciplining, suspending, fining and barring from racing, on any track under the jurisdiction of the board or commission, of horses, [greyhounds,] owners, breeders, authorized agents, subagents, nominators, trainers, jockeys, jockey apprentices, jockey agents and any other person, persons, organizations, associations or corporations whose activities affect the conduct or operation of licensed race meetings.
2. At a licensed race meeting or race, a person shall not enter a horse [or greyhound] or participate as an owner, agent, nominator, trainer, jockey, jockey apprentice, or jockey agent, without first procuring from the board a license so to do, and paying such fees as the commission determines to be reasonable therefor. The board may issue such licenses, and may revoke them at any time for cause.
3. The regulations of the commission may include, but are not limited to, the following:
(a) A requirement for fingerprinting, or other method of identification, of applicants and licensees;
(b) A requirement for information concerning [applicants'] the antecedents, habits and character [;] of applicants; and
(c) The procedure and form of application which applicants must follow and complete [prior to] before consideration of their applications by the board.
4. The commission, on the recommendation of the board, may adopt regulations for the conducting of pari-mutuel wagering under this chapter. The regulations must be similar to the [commission's] regulations of the commission relating to the conduct of gaming adopted pursuant to chapter 463 of NRS.
Sec. 14 NRS 466.210 is hereby amended to read as follows:
466.210[1.] The provisions of this chapter are intended to be statewide and exclusive in their effect, and no city, county or other political subdivision of this state may [, except as provided in NRS 244.347 or subsection 2 of this section,] make or enforce any local law, ordinance or regulation upon the subject of racing.
[2. A county or a city may prohibit greyhound racing outside or inside the corporate limits respectively. A city whose charter so provides may permit greyhound racing.]
Sec. 15 NRS 466.220 is hereby amended to read as follows:
466.2201. Any person failing to appear before the commission at the time and place specified in answer to a summons issued pursuant to NRS 466.180, or refusing to testify, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
2. Any person aiding or abetting in the conduct of any meeting in this state at which races of horses [or greyhounds] are permitted for any stake, purse or reward, except in accordance with a license issued and unsuspended or unrevoked by the commission, is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
3. Except as otherwise provided by this section or other specific statute, any violation of the provisions of this chapter or the regulations of the commission is a misdemeanor.
Sec. 16 NRS 244.347, 466.024, 466.118, 466.127 and 466.215 are hereby repealed.
Sec. 17 Any license which has been issued by the Nevada gaming commission pursuant to chapter 466 of NRS that authorizes a person to conduct dog racing or pari-mutuel wagering in connection with any dog race is hereby revoked effective on October 1, 1997.
Sec. 18 The provisions of section 2 of this act do not apply to offenses that are committed before October 1, 1997.
Sec. 19 The provisions of subsection 1 of NRS 354.599 do not apply to any additional expenses of a local government that are related to the provisions of this act.
Sec. Section 1 of this act becomes effective at 12:01 a.m. on October 1, 1997.
LEADLINES OF REPEALED SECTIONS
244.347Greyhound racing in county whose population is less than 100,000 or is 400,000 or more: Licensing; approval by Nevada gaming commission.
466.024"Greyhound" defined.
466.118Applicability of chapter 463 of NRS to disposition of interest in business licensed to conduct greyhound racing.
466.127Fee to be paid in lieu of tax for pari-mutuel wagering on greyhound races in large counties; additional costs to be paid by licensee; itemized accounting of costs.
466.215Unlawful acts in greyhound races.