230 ILCS 5/26 — Illinois Code / Chapter 230 / Act 5 / Section 26
Section 26
Status: in_force

(230 ILCS 5/26) (from Ch. 8, par. 37-26) Sec. 26. Wagering. (a) Any licensee may conduct and supervise the pari-mutuel system of wagering, as defined in Section 3.12 of this Act, on horse races conducted by an Illinois organization licensee or conducted at a racetrack located in another state or country in accordance with subsection (g) of Section 26 of this Act. Subject to the prior consent of the Board, licensees may supplement any pari-mutuel pool in order to guarantee a minimum distribution. Such pari-mutuel method of wagering shall not, under any circumstances if conducted under the provisions of this Act, be held or construed to be unlawful, other statutes of this State to the contrary notwithstanding. Subject to rules for advance wagering promulgated by the Board, any licensee may accept wagers in advance of the day the race wagered upon occurs. (b) Except for those gaming activities for which a license is obtained and authorized under the Illinois Lottery Law, the Charitable Games Act, the Raffles and Poker Runs Act, or the Illinois Gambling Act, no other method of betting, pool making, wagering or gambling shall be used or permitted by the licensee. Each licensee may retain, subject to the payment of all applicable taxes and purses, an amount not to exceed 17% of all money wagered under subsection (a) of this Section, except as may otherwise be permitted under this Act. (b-5) An individual may place a wager under the pari-mutuel system from any licensed location authorized under this Act provided that wager is electronically recorded in the manner described in Section 3.12 of this Act. Any wager made electronically by an individual while physically on the premises of a licensee shall be deemed to have been made at the premises of that licensee. (c) (Blank). (c-5) The sum held by any licensee for payment of outstanding pari-mutuel tickets, if unclaimed prior to December 31 of the next year, shall be retained by the licensee for payment of such tickets until that date. Within 10 days thereafter, the balance of such sum remaining unclaimed, less any uncashed supplements contributed by such licensee for the purpose of guaranteeing minimum distributions of any pari-mutuel pool, shall be evenly distributed to the purse account of the organization licensee and the organization licensee, except that the balance of the sum of all outstanding pari-mutuel tickets generated from simulcast wagering and inter-track wagering by an organization licensee located in a county with a population in excess of 230,000 and borders the Mississippi River or any licensee that derives its license from that organization licensee shall be evenly distributed to the purse account of the organization licensee and the organization licensee. (d) A pari-mutuel ticket shall be honored until December 31 of the next calendar year, and the licensee shall pay the same and may charge the amount thereof against unpaid money similarly accumulated on account of pari-mutuel tickets not presented for payment. (e) No licensee shall knowingly permit any minor, other than an employee of such licensee or an owner, trainer, jockey, driver, or employee thereof, to be admitted during a racing program unless accompanied by a parent or guardian, or any minor to be a patron of the pari-mutuel system of wagering conducted or supervised by it. The admission of any unaccompanied minor, other than an employee of the licensee or an owner, trainer, jockey, driver, or employee thereof at a race track is a Class C misdemeanor. (f) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Act, an organization licensee may contract with an entity in another state or country to permit any legal wagering entity in another state or country to accept wagers solely within such other state or country on races conducted by the organization licensee in this State. Beginning January 1, 2000, these wagers shall not be subject to State taxation. Until January 1, 2000, when the out-of-State entity conducts a pari-mutuel pool separate from the organization licensee, a privilege tax equal to 7 1/2% of all monies received by the organization licensee from entities in other states or countries pursuant to such contracts is imposed on the organization licensee, and such privilege tax shall be remitted to the Department of Revenue within 48 hours of receipt of the moneys from the simulcast. When the out-of-State entity conducts a combined pari-mutuel pool with the organization licensee, the tax shall be 10% of all monies received by the organization licensee with 25% of the receipts from this 10% tax to be distributed to the county in which the race was conducted. An organization licensee may permit one or more of its races to be utilized for pari-mutuel wagering at one or more locations in other states and may transmit audio and visual signals of races the organization licensee conducts to one or more locations outside the State or country and may also permit pari-mutuel pools in other states or countries to be combined with its gross or net wagering pools or with wagering pools established by other states. (g) A host track may accept interstate simulcast wagers on horse races conducted in other states or countries and shall control the number of signals and types of breeds of racing in its simulcast program, subject to the disapproval of the Board. The Board may prohibit a simulcast program only if it finds that the simulcast program is clearly adverse to the integrity of racing. The host track simulcast program shall include the signal of live racing of all organization licensees. All non-host licensees and advance deposit wagering licensees shall carry the signal of and accept wagers on live racing of all organization licensees. Advance deposit wagering licensees shall not be permitted to accept out-of-state wagers on any Illinois signal provided pursuant to this Section without the approval and consent of the organization licensee providing the signal. For one year after August 15, 2014 (the effective date of Public Act 98-968), non-host licensees may carry the host track simulcast program and shall accept wagers on all races included as part of the simulcast program of horse races conducted at race tracks located within North America upon which wagering is permitted. For a period of one year after August 15, 2014 (the effective date of Public Act 98-968), on horse races conducted at race tracks located outside of North America, non-host licensees may accept wagers on all races included as part of the simulcast program upon which wagering is permitted. Beginning August 15, 2015 (one year after the effective date of Public Act 98-968), non-host licensees may carry the host track simulcast program and shall accept wagers on all races included as part of the simulcast program upon which wagering is permitted. All organization licensees shall provide their live signal to all advance deposit wagering licensees for a simulcast commission fee not to exceed 6% of the advance deposit wagering licensee's Illinois handle on the organization licensee's signal without prior approval by the Board. The Board may adopt rules under which it may permit simulcast commission fees in excess of 6%. The Board shall adopt rules limiting the interstate commission fees charged to an advance deposit wagering licensee. The Board shall adopt rules regarding advance deposit wagering on interstate simulcast races that shall reflect, among other things, the General Assembly's desire to maximize revenues to the State, horsemen purses, and organization licensees. However, organization licensees providing live signals pursuant to the requirements of this subsection (g) may petition the Board to withhold their live signals from an advance deposit wagering licensee if the organization licensee discovers and the Board finds reputable or credible information that the advance deposit wagering licensee is under investigation by another state or federal governmental agency, the advance deposit wagering licensee's license has been suspended in another state, or the advance deposit wagering licensee's license is in revocation proceedings in another state. The organization licensee's provision of their live signal to an advance deposit wagering licensee under this subsection (g) pertains to wagers placed from within Illinois. Advance deposit wagering licensees may place advance deposit wagering terminals at wagering facilities as a convenience to customers. The advance deposit wagering licensee shall not charge or collect any fee from purses for the placement of the advance deposit wagering terminals. The costs and expenses of the host track and non-host licensees associated with interstate simulcast wagering, other than the interstate commission fee, shall be borne by the host track and all non-host licensees incurring these costs. The interstate commission fee shall not exceed 5% of Illinois handle on the interstate simulcast race or races without prior approval of the Board. The Board shall promulgate rules under which it may permit interstate commission fees in excess of 5%. The interstate commission fee and other fees charged by the sending racetrack, including, but not limited to, satellite decoder fees, shall be uniformly applied to the host track and all non-host licensees. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, an organization licensee, with the consent of the horsemen association representing the largest number of owners, trainers, jockeys, or standardbred drivers who race horses at that organization licensee's racing meeting, may maintain a system whereby advance deposit wagering may take place or an organization licensee, with the consent of the horsemen association representing the largest number of owners, trainers, jockeys, or standardbred drivers who race horses at that organization licensee's racing meeting, may contract with another person to carry out a system of advance deposit wagering. Such consent may not be unreasonably withheld. Only with respect to an appeal to the Board that consent for an organization licensee that maintains its own advance deposit wagering system is being unreasonably withheld, the Board shall issue a final order within 30 days after initiation of the appeal, and the organization licensee's advance deposit wagering system may remain operational during that 30-day period. The actions of any organization licensee who conducts advance deposit wagering or any person who has a contract with an organization licensee to conduct advance deposit wagering who conducts advance deposit wagering on or after January 1, 2013 and prior to June 7, 2013 (the effective date of Public Act 98-18) taken in reliance on the changes made to this subsection (g) by Public Act 98-18 are hereby validated, provided payment of all applicable pari-mutuel taxes are remitted to the Board. All advance deposit wagers placed from within Illinois must be placed through a Board-approved advance deposit wagering licensee; no other entity may accept an advance deposit wager from a person within Illinois. All advance deposit wagering is subject to any rules adopted by the Board. The Board may adopt rules necessary to regulate advance deposit wagering through the use of emergency rulemaking in accordance with Section 5-45 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. The General Assembly finds that the adoption of rules to regulate advance deposit wagering is deemed an emergency and necessary for the public interest, safety, and welfare. An advance deposit wagering licensee may retain all moneys as agreed to by contract with an organization licensee. Any moneys retained by the organization licensee from advance deposit wagering, not including moneys retained by the advance deposit wagering licensee, shall be paid 50% to the organization licensee's purse account and 50% to the organization licensee. With the exception of any organization licensee that is owned by a publicly traded company that is incorporated in a state other than Illinois and advance deposit wagering licensees under contract with such organization licensees, organization licensees that maintain advance deposit wagering systems and advance deposit wagering licensees that contract with organization licensees shall provide sufficiently detailed monthly accountings to the horsemen association representing the largest number of owners, trainers, jockeys, or standardbred drivers who race horses at that organization licensee's racing meeting so that the horsemen association, as an interested party, can confirm the accuracy of the amounts paid to the purse account at the horsemen association's affiliated organization licensee from advance deposit wagering. If more than one breed races at the same race track facility, then the 50% of the moneys to be paid to an organization licensee's purse account shall be allocated among all organization licensees' purse accounts operating at that race track facility proportionately based on the actual number of host days that the Board grants to that breed at that race track facility in the current calendar year. To the extent any fees from advance deposit wagering conducted in Illinois for wagers in Illinois or other states have been placed in escrow or otherwise withheld from wagers pending a determination of the legality of advance deposit wagering, no action shall be brought to declare such wagers or the disbursement of any fees previously escrowed illegal. (1) Between the hours of 6:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. an inter-track wagering licensee other